Federal Way Public Schools is planning on investing $1.2 million into student literacy.

In a unanimous vote on Tuesday, the school board approved the implementation of a district-wide English language arts curriculum for high school students.

The financing will go toward purchasing Inquiry by Design student and teacher materials, professional development, leveled classroom libraries and custom novel study development, as well as Independent Reading Level Assessment and resources.

The board adopted the curriculum despite concerns by staff who spoke at the Feb. 28 meeting regarding their fears of how the removal of group novel study would impact students.

“It’s a rigorous program that affords choice, which equates to, in my view, engagement, and it removes any cultural biases that might have existed in prior select novels,” school board member Hiroshi Eto said about the curriculum adoption. “I did sense that some of the folks that came in February almost felt a loss of tradition, but when we’re seventh place out of eight schools in terms of English language, that tradition ain’t working.”

However, district officials say, under the new curriculum, teachers will identify two to three novels to read per grade level within the Inquiry by Design classroom libraries. Independent Reading Level Assessment classroom libraries will also provide students with fiction and non-fiction novels to read.

School district spokeswoman Kassie Swenson explained Inquiry by Design and Independent Reading Level Assessment are both part of the curriculum.

“The IRLA offers a student reading assessment and resources to personalize and support an individual student’s reading needs,” she said. “Teachers work with each student-scholar to accelerate their reading skills by guiding them to select independent reading for the student’s personalized reading goals.”

Last fall, ninth-grade teachers from all four high schools in the district assessed 1,000 students on their reading level in a pilot project. They discovered that only 5 percent of students are reading at grade level in the district, while 45 percent are considered at risk and 50 percent are considered to be at an “emergency” level of reading.

“Federal Way Public Schools student achievement data shows that more than half of our scholars are not reading at grade level when they enter ninth grade,” Shawn Simpson, coordinator of secondary instruction, said at the meeting.

According to 2016 Smarter Balanced Assessment data, the English language arts proficiency gap widens for students of different ethnicity. Approximately eight out of 10 Asian and white students are proficient compared to six out of 10 Hispanic and multiracial students, five out of 10 black students and three out of 10 Pacific Islander students who meet standards.

The shift to a streamlined curriculum for all the high schools began last fall after teachers expressed that as a top priority during Superintendent Tammy Campbell’s 100-day entry plan.

District officials said both new and experienced teachers “shared the negative impact of having to ‘re-create the wheel’ in writing curriculum when they should be focused on teaching their scholars.”

In September 2016, district officials sent out invitations to staff to participate in the adoption committee, and 40 teachers were chosen to participate in the pilot. That November, a 28-member committee convened with 20 teachers who reviewed seven curricula. After the committee narrowed the top two curricula down to Inquiry by Design and Collections, teachers piloted both and gave feedback. The Teaching for Learning department then held “feedback sessions,” surveyed teachers and students, and had a community open house. At the end of March, the committee unanimously recommended moving forward with Inquiry by Design and Independent Reading Level Assessment, of which the district’s Instruction Materials Committee approved.

Inquiry by Design and Independent Reading Level Assessment both align to state standards, as well as Campbell’s strategic plan.