At its last meeting of 2024, the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) on Nov. 20 considered applications for instructional materials reviewers (IMRs) and content review experts (CREs) for the 2025 Mathematics Instructional Materials Adoption and voted on the list of individuals it is recommending to the State Board of Education (SBE).
Recruitment efforts took place between April and September 2024 and California Department of Education (CDE) staff presented 165 IMR and seven CRE applicants for consideration by the IQC — all of whom were approved.
The CDE made its selections “based on experience and expertise in standards-based mathematics instruction and programs as well as experience teaching multi-lingual learner students and students with disabilities. Geographical representation from the State of California and grade-level expertise were also considered,” according to the agenda.
The CREs all have a Ph.D. in math or statistics and consist of five college educators, a CEO of an online math academy and an Aerospace Corporation retiree.
Employees of local educational agencies and institutions of higher education make up the majority of IMRs.
CREs and IMRs will be compensated with a stipend for their time.
In January, the SBE will appoint reviewers who will then receive training in spring before Reviewer Deliberation Weeks in summer, where potential instructional programs will be reviewed. In September, following a public comment period, the IQC will make program adoption recommendations that the SBE will act on in November 2025.
In other news from the meeting:
- Commissioners received an Assembly Bill 167 model curriculum update. Cambodian American Studies, Hmong History and Cultural Studies and Vietnamese American Experience model curriculums went live Sept. 1 and the Orange County Department of Education is hosting rollout events throughout the state in the coming months. The Native American Studies Model Curriculum is on schedule for release in September 2025.
- Student board member Katherine Verrando of Capistrano Unified School District was sworn in and began her term, which will conclude in June 2025.
- An information item on preschool/transitional kindergarten learning foundations was bumped to the IQC’s next meeting.
The commission is scheduled to convene in the new year on Jan. 29-30, 2025.
