This exploratory analysis examines the text selection practices of four pairs of pre-service and in-service teachers during a course on content area reading instruction in English language arts. Each pair independently negotiated responsibilities for selecting the texts used in a series of four lessons. Results of this analysis identify several factors in the process of text selection that may influence the kinds of texts teachers choose for their classrooms, including teacher knowledge of texts, access to texts, and institutional constraints on text selection. The reasoning participants provided for the selections they made also points to the influence of the current emphasis on high-stakes assessment on teacher decision-making. Text selection is explored as a potential site for teacher agency and differentiation of instruction.