2020 Procedure

Course Design, Selection and Adoption of Instructional Materials

For the purposes of this procedure, the definitions from Policy 2020 will apply.

District course design and core instructional materials should be regularly reviewed to ensure their ongoing alignment with state law, teaching and learning standards, and research-based best practices. All students will receive high-quality core instruction and, as appropriate, strategic and intensive intervention supports matched to their needs.

I. Course Design

A. Existing Courses
The superintendent or designee will establish a regular cycle of course design review and development that includes examination by review committees composed of district subject area coordinators and, as appropriate, external content area experts. This review cycle should be based on student needs, changing demographics, and funding. The cycle should cover each content area to ensure current course relevance. The course design process should review the following:

1. Relevance, rigor, and alignment to state learning standards
2. Efficacy of core, alternative core, and intervention instructional materials that support student learning
3. Processes and resources used to assess student progress and address teacher professional learning

Based on this review, the following might occur:

1. Affirmation of continued use of current processes and instructional materials
2. Establishment of a timeline for completion of recommended tasks
3. Creation and assignment of tasks to subcommittees as required to select, write, or revise the course design
4. Recommendation of new instructional materials selection to the Instructional Materials Committee (IMC)
5. Design of course implementation and staff development plans
6. Identification of projected budget needs in accordance with established timelines
7. Maintained communications with impacted stakeholders

B. New Courses or Major Modifications to Existing Courses
The superintendent or designee will review new course offerings or major course modifications that propose significant changes to course objectives or scope before they are scheduled to ensure that the course is rigorous, uses appropriate instructional materials, and is carefully considered part of the school’s college and career pathways.

When implementing new or modified courses requires adopting new instructional resources, the IMC will consider those resources using the process outlined in this procedure.

II. Selection and Adoption of Instructional Materials

For the purposes of this procedure, instructional materials used in the district will be classified as core, alternative core, intervention, supplemental, and temporary supplemental. They shall be selected according to the following procedures. The principal is responsible for ensuring their certificated staff is familiar with this procedure. The district will provide the technical assistance necessary to accomplish this.

A. Roles and Responsibilities in the Selection and Adoption of Instructional Materials

B. Social Studies Instructional Materials Review or Adoption
In compliance with RCW 28A.320.170, when the board adopts or reviews the district’s social studies course design, it will incorporate the history, culture, and government of the nearest federally recognized Indian tribe or tribes using the John McCoy (lulilas) Since Time Immemorial: Tribal Sovereignty in Washington State instructional materials on the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) website. The district may adapt these resources for regional relevance or integrate them into existing instructional materials.

During regularly scheduled reviews and revisions of its social studies and history courses, the district will collaborate with any federally recognized tribe within or near its boundaries to incorporate expanded and improved instructional materials about Indian tribes and create classroom and community cultural exchange programs. OSPI’s Office of Native Education will help identify federally recognized Indian tribes whose reservations are in whole or in part within the district’s boundaries and those nearest to the district.

The district will collaborate with OSPI on instructional areas regarding tribal government and history that are statewide in nature, such as the concept of tribal sovereignty and the history of federal policy towards federally recognized Indian tribes.

C. Inclusive Instructional Materials
In compliance with RCW 28A.345.130, the board, within available materials, must adopt inclusive curricula and select diverse, equitable, inclusive, age-appropriate instructional materials that include the histories, contributions, and perspectives of historically marginalized and underrepresented groups including, but not limited to, people from various racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, people with differing learning needs, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people as the term is defined in RCW 43.114.010, and people with various socioeconomic and immigration backgrounds.

In adopting curricula and selecting instructional materials, the board must seek curricula and instructional materials that are culturally and experientially diverse as possible, recognizing that the availability of materials that include the histories, contributions, and perspectives of historically marginalized and underrepresented groups may vary.

D. Instructional Material Delivery Formats
Instructional materials may be delivered in many formats, including textbooks, technology-based materials, or other educational media.

E. Open Educational Resources
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are teaching and learning resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. A wide variety of free, high-quality instructional content is available, from supplemental to core instructional materials. Supplemental instructional materials may be found on OSPI’s Washington OER Hub. District staff are encouraged to consider OERs when selecting instructional materials. OERs are subject to the same selection and adoption procedures as other instructional materials outlined in this document.

F. Technology-based Resources
As new technologies rapidly evolve, district educational technology staff should be involved early in selecting and adopting core instructional materials and in developing policy regarding selecting digital supplemental materials. Key considerations include evaluating district technological impacts, ensuring compliance with student privacy and data protection laws, and promoting equitable access for students and teachers.

III. Core Instructional Material Selection

A. Instructional Materials Committee
The IMC is formed to establish and monitor the evaluation and recommendation of core materials used by the district in conformance with stated criteria. The committee will act upon requests for core material approval and evaluate and act upon a parent’s (“parent” means a parent or legal guardian of a student enrolled in the district) requests for reconsideration of core materials.

Committee meetings will be held on a schedule determined by the district. If necessary, the committee chairperson may call special meetings. The committee secretary will provide department heads, principals, and program developers with copies of the committee meeting schedule.

In alignment with RCW 28A.320.230, the IMC will include the following: representative members from the district’s professional staff, including those involved in curriculum development, and one or more parents of enrolled students, ensuring that parent members make up less than half of the committee’s total membership.

The district will provide parents with reasonable notice of the opportunity to serve on the IMC and the terms of office for members. The district will also develop and implement a comprehensive outreach program to recruit a diverse pool of parent members that reflects the district’s demographics and learning needs to the greatest extent possible. If the IMC cannot recruit at least one parent, it must report quarterly to the board and the public about its recruitment efforts.

The superintendent or designee will appoint members through the district’s committee process. The board must approve membership. The chairperson and the secretary will be permanent members of the committee. Other members will have three-year terms. Temporary appointments of one year or less may be made to fill vacancies.

B. Criteria for Selection of Core Instructional Materials
Core instructional materials shall be selected based on the degree to which they do the following:

1. Demonstrate a likelihood of impact as shown by scientific or evidence-based research
2. Enable implementation of the district’s developed curriculum and meet state standards and College Readiness requirements
3. Provide sufficient flexibility to meet the varied needs and abilities of the students served
4. Provide clear and appropriate differentiation components for English Language Learners, special education students, students with academic opportunity gaps, and highly capable students
5. Where appropriate, present balanced but differing views of issues, controversial or otherwise, so students may develop critical analysis and informed decision-making skills
6. Demonstrate consideration of appropriate formats (including technological, visual, and/or auditory components)
7. Support equitable access to learning and learning materials for all students, including the provision of appropriate, high-quality accessible instructional materials to all students with disabilities who require them
8. Are free of stereotyping and other forms of bias, recognizing that under certain circumstances, biased materials may serve as appropriate resources to present contrasting and differing points of view, and biased materials may be employed to teach students about bias, stereotyping, and propaganda in historical or contemporary contexts. The Washington model resource, Screening for Biased Content in Instructional Materials, published by OSPI, should be consulted when selecting non-biased materials.

C. Identification of Core Instructional Materials
Core materials shall be initially selected by certificated staff assigned by the superintendent or designee. Materials must meet the Criteria for the Selection of Core Materials described above.

D. Recommendation of Core Instructional Materials
The staff assigned by the superintendent will recommend core instructional materials for the IMC to review. The IMC will review those materials in accordance with this procedure to ensure compliance with the described selection criteria and will use the instructional material evaluation guidance on the OSPI Course Design & Instructional Materials website.

Based on its evaluation, the IMC will recommend instructional materials to the board for adoption.

As outlined in RCW 28A.320.230, recommendations must include culturally and experientially representative instructional materials including materials on the study of the role of contributions of individuals or groups that are part of a protected class under RCW 28A.642.010 and 28A.640.010, but the board will ultimately decide what instructional materials are used.

In accordance with RCW 28A.320.233, the board cannot refuse to approve or prohibit any instructional materials for student instruction because they relate to or include the study of the role and contributions of any individual or group who is part of a protected class as established by RCW 28A.642.210 and 28A.640.010.

E. Adoption of Core Instructional Materials
The board must approve core instructional materials before they are used in the classroom. Texts selected previously are exempt from this requirement.

F. Regularly Scheduled Core Material Updates
Any courses using district-adapted OER as their core instructional material shall annually convene a representative group of district teachers of the course to revise and improve the core material. Adaptations shall be based on teacher and student suggestions and data from state or district assessments identifying areas of lower student performance. Revised versions of the core material will be implemented for the following school year.

If the adaptations to the core material result in significant changes to course objectives or scope, the revised resource shall be forwarded to the IMC for consideration and formal recommendation for board adoption.

G. Exceptional Needs or Rapidly Changing Circumstances
The superintendent or designee may authorize the acquisition of alternative core instructional materials to meet exceptional needs or rapidly changing circumstances. However, expanded use of core instructional materials selected for exceptional needs will require adoption through the formal process.

H. Dual Credit Programs
Dual credit programs consistent with the requirements under Chapter 28A.600 RCW, may have varying course designs as necessitated by their course credit transfer requirements. See the OSPI Dual Credit Programs website for program-specific Frequently Asked Questions documents.

I. Field Testing
The superintendent or designee may consider using field testing as part of the adoption process. Field testing can provide a flexible opportunity to investigate the effectiveness of curricular approaches, instructional materials, or assessment resources through careful experimentation for an identified purpose based on student needs.

The superintendent may authorize trial-use core instructional material that is experimental and field-tested for no more than one school year before the materials must be adopted through the formal process.

J. Citizen Access to View Core Materials
Community members are invited to review any core instructional materials in current or proposed use. Such review may be accomplished at the school, district office, or online. The review and examination process should be arranged to avoid disrupting the educational program. Core materials should be reviewed with the knowledge of district objectives in mind.

K. Protest Procedure for Core Instructional Materials
In accordance with RCW 28A.320.230, the process for receiving, considering, and acting upon complaints regarding the district’s core instructional materials is described below.

1. 1. Submitting a Complaint: A parent may submit a written complaint about core instructional materials to the principal of the school where the materials are being used.
   2. Seeking Resolution: If the parent requests, the school will arrange a meeting with the parent, the principal, and a teacher using the materials in question to address the parent’s concerns and find solutions.
   3. Committee Review: If the issue cannot be resolved at the school level, the IMC will provide a written decision. The decision must be issued within 60 days of the meeting between the parent or within 90 days of receiving the complaint, whichever is later.
   4. Appeal Process: The parent, a teacher using the reviewed materials, or the principal may appeal the IMC’s decision by submitting a written request to the superintendent or designee. The superintendent’s or designee’s decision is final and cannot be appealed. Once a final decision is made, the same materials may not be reconsidered for at least three years unless the superintendent determines a significant change in circumstances has arisen.

The decisions made under this process must comply with RCW 28A.320.233, be based on the selection criteria for core instructional material described in this procedure and may apply only to the student or students whose parent or guardian submitted the complaint.

IV. Intervention Instructional Material Selection

Instructional materials designed to support strategic or intensive intervention for students at risk of not meeting established learning standards will be approved by the superintendent or designee based on evidence from reputable sources (e.g., National Center on Response to Intervention, Johns Hopkins Best Evidence Encyclopedia).

V. Alternative Core Instructional Material Selection

The superintendent or designee will establish procedures for approving schools’ use of alternative core materials for specialized course offerings or flexible learning environments. In many cases, the superintendent may decide that certificated staff designated by the building principal should select these alternative core materials.

VI. Supplemental Instructional Material Selection

Supplemental instructional materials will not require IMC approval or board adoption.

A. Selection of Supplemental Instructional Materials
The superintendent shall delegate responsibility for examining, evaluating, and selecting all supplemental and temporary supplemental materials to the principal or professional staff of the district. This includes preparing all student reading lists using state standards-aligned resources/repositories. Staff will rely on reason and professional judgment in selecting high-quality supplemental materials that align with state learning standards and are appropriate for their students’ instructional programs, developmental levels, and interests. While supplemental materials do not require item-by-item approval of the IMC, staff are expected to thoroughly review such materials and give due consideration to the text complexity, developmental level of students, appropriateness of language or images, bias against racial, gender, ethnic, or other social groups, and other sensitive issues.

In accordance with RCW 28A.320.233, principals and professional staff cannot refuse to approve or prohibit any supplemental instructional materials for student instruction because they relate to or include the study of the role and contributions of any individual or group who is part of a protected class as established by RCW 28A.642.210 and 28A.640.010.

B. Requests for Review and Removal of Supplemental Instructional Materials

1. Request for Review: A parent may submit a written request to review and remove supplemental instructional materials to the applicable teacher and principal.

2. Seeking Resolution: If the parent requests, the school will arrange a meeting with the parent, the principal, and the teacher to address the parent’s concerns and find solutions.

3. Principal’s Decision: If the issue cannot be resolved, the principal, in consultation with a teacher-librarian, will review the materials and issue a written decision on whether to remove them. The decision must be issued within 30 days of meeting with the parent or within 60 days of receiving the complaint if the parent doesn’t request a meeting.

4. Appeal Process: If the parent or teacher disagrees with the principal’s decision, they may appeal to the superintendent or designee in writing. The superintendent’s or designee’s decision is final and cannot be appealed. Once a final decision is made, the same materials may not be reconsidered for at least three years unless the superintendent determines a significant change in circumstances arises.

The decisions made under this process must comply with RCW 28A.320.233, will be based on the criteria for selecting supplemental instructional materials described in this procedure, and may apply only to the student or students whose parent submitted the complaint.

Excluding Student from a Program/Opt-Out
Upon a parent/guardian’s written request based on sincerely held religious beliefs, the District will excuse a student from identified lesson(s) or material(s) and provide a reasonable, non-stigmatizing alternative. Excused students will not be penalized academically. Requests should specify the material or unit; the District will respond within five (5) school days.

VII. Temporary Supplemental Material Selection

The district’s professional staff will rely on reason and professional judgment in selecting high-quality temporary supplemental materials appropriate for their students’ instructional programs, developmental levels, and interests.

Adoption Date: 04/99
Classification: Critical
Prior Revised Dates: 03/01; 06/04; 06/11; 07/13; 12/19; 10/25

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