Course Design & Instructional Materials

State laws outline basic education goals and minimal instructional requirements for school districts. They require districts to have policies and procedures in place that guide their selection and adoption of instructional materials for use in classrooms.

Course Design is the process that includes identifying and sequencing essential content supporting students' skill development towards state learning standards. Course design involves providing appropriate instructional materials, professional development, and support systems for teachers as they implement the course.

Instructional Materials include all materials designed for use by students and their teachers as learning resources to help students to acquire facts, skills, and/or to develop cognitive processes. Types of instructional materials include core, alternative core, intervention, supplemental, and temporary supplemental.

These instructional materials, used to help students meet state learning standards, may be printed or digital, and may include textbooks, technology-based materials, other educational media, and assessments. They may carry different licensing types from open to all rights reserved.

Course Design & Instructional Materials Toolkit

The Course Design and Instructional Materials Selection and Adoption Toolkit document models a cyclical strategy for the regular review of courses based on district needs and provides links to state policies, guiding questions, useful resources, and district examples, that will help define best practices for considering instructional materials.

Toolkit Sections

• Introduction
• Identify Parameters: Laws, Policies, Standards, and Metrics
• Analyze Existing Course: Data and Stakeholder Needs
• Review and Select Instructional Materials: Research, Process, Tools, and Guidance
• Implement Course and Assess Effectiveness: Assessment and Ongoing Implementation Strategies
• Appendix A: Mathematics Core Instructional Materials Adoption
• Appendix B: English Language Arts Core Instructional Materials Adoption

Recommended Review Instruments & Resources

• Washington Instructional Materials Survey - see what other districts are using as their core instructional materials in English Language Arts and Mathematics in this interactive data dashboard from an optional district survey
• Independent Reviews of Instructional Materials by Educators-EdReports
• Curricular Resources and Annotated Reviews-Louisiana Department of Education
• Instructional Materials Evaluation Tool (IMET)-Student Achievement Partners - Achieve the Core
  Rubric for full -course review - mathematics and ELA
• EQuIP Rubrics-Achieve
  Rubric for review of lessons and units-ELA, mathematics, and science
• Washington Quality Review Rubric for Social Studies-OSPI
  Rubric for review of lessons and units - social studies
• Achieve OER Rubrics-Achieve
  Suite of rubrics for reviewing small grain size activities, games, simulations, exercises, etc, in any content area for overall quality. Not OER specific.
• Screening for Biased Content in Instructional Materials -How to analyze instructional materials for bias, such as racism and sexism (interactive form version)

Instructional Materials in Specific Content Areas

Visit the Resources by Subject Area and select the specific content area of interest. Included on these pages are learning standards, tools, professional development opportunities, assessments, important updates, and suggested resources.

State & Federal Rules

• RCW 28A.150.210-Basic education - Goals of school districts
• RCW 28A.150.220-Basic education - Minimal instructional requirements - Rules
• RCW 28A.320.230-Legal requirements for district selection and approval of instructional materials
• RCW 28A.150.230-District school directors' responsibilities
• RCW 28A.640.020-Regulations, guidelines to eliminate discrimination
• WAC 392-190.055-Textbooks and instructional materials, elimination of bias
• OSPI's Special Education Resource Library-Provides information and resources about state and school district responsibilities for providing specialized instructional materials on behalf of students with disabilities.

Online Learning Course & Provider Approval

The Online Learning page contains this information.

Open Educational Resources in the Classroom

OER are teaching and learning materials that are freely available that can be downloaded, edited, and shared to better serve all students. OER includes all kinds of content such as textbooks, lesson plans, assignments, games, and other educational materials.