The School and Textbook Committee was a famous organization of cultural communication set up by foreign missionaries. In 1877, the first conference of missionaries was held in Shanghai, and the participants felt they faced the same problems in terms of cultural and educational activities, regardless of their religious sects. Among these problems, the key ones were on the standardization of schooling length, compiling of textbooks and translation of scientific terms. All these should be given an overall consideration. Therefore, they set up the School and Textbook Committee, which consisted of seven missionaries.

In the second conference of the missionaries in China in 1890, the committee changed its name to the Educational Association of China, and began to admit Chinese priests. In 1916, the association was renamed as China Christian Educational Association. However, the School and Textbook Committee was its name known to the public all the time.

At the beginning, it was a committee affiliated to the Conference of Missionaries in China. After 1916, it became an independent organization, and issued its English journal Educational Quarterly. The committee published a large number of textbooks up to professional standards and made certain contribution to the educational development in modern China.