This analysis features Five Cs standards developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). The history and philosophical foundation of ACTFL and the development of the foreign language standards are outlined. The Five Cs standards are discussed in regard to their scope and implications. A plan for conducting the microanalysis is outlined to determine to what extent elements specified in the standards are included in the Spanish language textbooks. Secular language texts exist that are clearly keyed to the standards as promulgated by ACTFL. This study examines the role of teachers as researchers and the national foreign language content standards as valid criteria, developing evaluation instrument(s), collecting and analyzing the data, and reporting in such a way that the elements can be reproduced to evaluate other language textbooks. It is anticipated that development of a valid rating system based on language learning standards can be developed to assist potential users in making decisions to adopt language textbooks for classrooms by using this method.