Florida Seeks Expert Reviewers for 96 Proposed Social Studies Textbooks, From Kindergarten to History of Communism

The Florida Department of Education is recruiting expert reviewers to vet a new round of K-12 social studies textbooks and other instructional materials for the 2027-28 school year, after receiving 96 bids from publishers. The call comes three years after a similar social studies adoption in which the department rejected about a third of the submitted titles over topics it deemed inappropriate, including references to social-emotional learning.

In an Oct. 23 memo to school district superintendents, Senior Chancellor Paul O. Burns asked for reviewers with expertise in the subjects up for adoption to judge whether the materials align with Florida's state academic standards. Reviewers will be paid $330 for each bid they evaluate, according to the memo.

What is up for adoption

The bids cover a wide sweep of courses. The memo lists social studies for kindergarten through fifth grade; middle school U.S. history, civics, world history, world geography, Florida history and personal financial literacy; and high school U.S. history, U.S. government, world history, economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy and law studies.

The list also includes courses that have drawn attention in recent years, among them African-American History, Holocaust Education Honors, Latin American History and two levels of History of Communism. The State Board of Education has repeatedly revised its anti-communism standards since first adopting them, amending them in February to address the U.S. removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and again in June to add the indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Hillsdale College, the Michigan school that has played a prominent role in Florida education policy under Gov. Ron DeSantis, has submitted content for several courses alongside major publishers such as McGraw Hill, Gallopade and Cengage's National Geographic Learning, according to the Times. The department earlier launched its own accelerated U.S. history course, FACT U.S. History, which uses as its recommended text "Land of Hope" by Wilfred M. McClay, Hillsdale's chair in classical history and Western civilization.

Who can apply

Reviewers must hold at least one of these credentials in the subject they want to review, according to the memo:

• A bachelor's degree or higher.
• Educator certification in the subject or a related field.
• Five or more years of teaching experience with evidence of content expertise and student achievement.
• Recognition as a subject content expert, such as awards or publications in the field.
• For Florida teachers with a state student growth score from the most recent school year, a rating of effective or highly effective.

Applicants create an account on the state's instructional materials review portal, flimadoption.org, and submit an online application listing degrees, teaching experience by grade level, related public service and professional affiliations. They must also complete a stipend justification form, an online W-9 through the state vendor system and a signed, notarized affidavit mailed to the department. The memo says an application is not complete, and will not be reviewed, until those forms arrive. All reviewers are subject to Florida's public records law.

The affidavit, required by state law, has reviewers swear they have no financial interest in any company that publishes or sells instructional materials, will not accept any reward from a publisher, and will not discuss materials under review with a publisher's agent outside of formal presentations.

How the review works

The entire evaluation happens online. Approved reviewers complete training on their portal dashboard, receive their assigned bids by email and score the materials against an evaluation rubric. No travel is required and no printed samples are mailed. The key steps and deadlines in the memo are below.

The $330-per-bid stipend is paid from fees the department may collect from publishers taking part in the adoption, under state law. Questions go to the department's instructional materials staff, and reviewers are told not to contact publishers directly.

Why the reviewer pool matters

Who reviews the books has become a point of scrutiny. When Florida adopted math books in 2022, some of the expert reviewers drew attention because their credentials did not necessarily match the state's criteria, the Times reported, leaving questions about how reviewers would be chosen in later cycles. That spring, the department rejected 54 of 132 submitted math textbooks, about 41%, saying many included prohibited topics such as critical race theory or Common Core methods, NPR reported at the time.

The 2023 social studies adoption followed a similar pattern. In May of that year, the department announced it had rejected more than 30 social studies books for the coming school year and had worked with publishers to edit at least 47 others, the Times reported. Edits included removing passages about Black Lives Matter and the murder of George Floyd from one book and a prompt about athletes kneeling during the national anthem from another. Some publishers told the Times they were unsure why their books fell short, and several rejected titles included lessons on empathy and character that fall under social-emotional learning, which Florida has banned.

Then-Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said at the time that the state wanted materials that "focus on historical facts and are free from inaccuracies or ideological rhetoric."

What it means for Florida classrooms

The memo frames the review as a way to evaluate "the quality of IM for use in district classrooms," and the titles that win state adoption will become the approved options for social studies courses beginning in the 2027-28 school year. The review also unfolds under new leadership at the department. Henry Mack is listed as commissioner of education on the memo's letterhead, succeeding Anastasios Kamoutsas, who announced the FACT U.S. History framework in May before leaving this summer to lead Polk State College, according to the Times.

The 2023 rejections fueled criticism from social studies educators. Charles White, executive director of the Social Science Education Consortium, told the Times then that the decisions added to a chilling environment and that he knew Florida teachers who were "scared to death to teach almost anything in their schools."

What's next

Reviewer applications are open now through the state portal. Once reviewers are approved and trained, bids will be assigned and evaluated over a three-week window per bid, after which the department will decide which titles to adopt. In 2023, publishers whose books landed on the not-recommended list were able to appeal, and some told the Times they planned to revise and resubmit. Questions about the process can be directed to the department's instructional materials office at IMStaff@fldoe.org or 850-245-3221.