Frequently Asked
Questions
Choosing the right English language arts curriculum starts with asking questions. Whether you’re exploring Inquiry by Design for the first time or preparing to bring our curriculum into your classrooms, we’re here to help. Find answers to common questions about our approach, instructional materials, professional learning, implementation support, and connect with our team if you’d like to learn more.
What is Inquiry By Design?
Inquiry By Design is a grades 6 to 12 English Language Arts curriculum that connects reading, writing, discussion, language development, and knowledge building throughout the curriculum.
IBD helps students build understanding over time through engaging novels and rich texts, purposeful inquiry, meaningful classroom discussion, and writing that grows from what students read and think about.
The curriculum is designed so teachers do not have to stitch disconnected pieces together. The connections are built in, so teachers can focus on leading learning and students can focus on making meaning.
Inquiry By Design also offers a comprehensive secondary Spanish Language Arts (SLA) curriculum that prioritizes texts originally written in Spanish.
Is Inquiry By Design a middle school and high school ELA curriculum?
Yes. Inquiry By Design is a grades 6 to 12 English Language Arts curriculum for middle school and high school classrooms. The curriculum is designed so that learning connects and knowledge builds across grade-levels.
Does Inquiry By Design include print materials?
Yes. Inquiry By Design is a print-forward curriculum with classroom-ready print materials so students can read, annotate, discuss, and write directly from texts.
IBD is not dependent on a platform-first model. Every lesson is accompanied with digital slides that teachers can use during instruction, but the core learning experience is designed around texts, teacher-led instruction, student thinking, and classroom discussion.
This makes IBD a strong fit for districts looking for a practical balance of print and digital materials, especially when teachers need materials that are ready to use without adding another system to manage.
How does Inquiry By Design reduce teacher prep time while maintaining rigor?
Inquiry By Design reduces teacher prep time by building the instructional connections into the curriculum. Teachers don’t have to spend time assembling disconnected resources or navigating pages of supplemental materials. The curriculum is designed whole so teachers can focus on instruction and meaningful learning.
How does Inquiry By Design support multilingual learners?
Yes. Inquiry By Design supports multilingual learners by embedding language development into the core curriculum. This means that multilingual learners — and any students who need additional literacy support — are able to access the same texts and learning experiences as every other student.
Rather than treating multilingual learner support as a separate add-on, IBD builds language support into the work students are already doing.
What does “Connected by Design” mean?
Connected by Design means the curriculum is built so understanding develops through connected learning.
Reading, writing, discussion, language, and knowledge building are not treated as separate parts. They work together inside the lesson and throughout the curriculum, so each part of the learning helps strengthen the next.
When learning connects, students do more than complete assignments. They build knowledge, use language with purpose, and develop ideas over time. This creates sustained and meaningful learning.
What does instructional coherence mean in an ELA curriculum?
Instructional coherence means the parts of the curriculum work together to build understanding.
In a coherent ELA curriculum, texts are not random, questions are not isolated, writing does not sit apart from reading, and language development is not added after the fact.
Inquiry By Design builds coherence into the curriculum itself. Each lesson helps students connect what they read, say, write, and think. Each unit helps understanding grow over time.
How does Inquiry By Design help teachers lead the learning?
Inquiry By Design gives teachers a clear instructional path without turning teaching into a script.
The curriculum includes purposeful texts, questions, tasks, language supports, discussion structures, and writing opportunities that work together. Teachers have the structure they need, with the flexibility to use their judgment to respond to students in the moment or make instructional pivots.
Is Inquiry By Design scripted?
No. Inquiry By Design is not built around rigid, scripted teaching.
IBD provides strong lesson design, intentional sequencing, and embedded supports, but it preserves teacher agency. Teachers can respond to student thinking, adjust pacing when needed, deepen discussion, and make instructional decisions without losing coherence.
The goal is to support teachers and their expertise, not replace their professional judgment.
How easy is Inquiry By Design to implement?
Inquiry By Design is designed for real classroom use. Our curriculum is designed to be lean and easily navigable so teachers can implement lessons with minimal preparation, giving teachers time back for things like responding to student work.
Inquiry By Design also offers individualized professional learning for its partners to ensure that teachers and administrators have everything they need for continued success with implementation.
Does Inquiry By Design have an English Language Development (ELD) program?
Yes. Our 6–8 ELD curriculum is built to work alongside our ELA curriculum. Our ELD curriculum offers dedicated time for language development, using the same texts, topics, and writing tasks as their ELA classes, so language and content grow together. Lessons are aligned to California’s ELD standards and differentiated for Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging learners.
How does Inquiry By Design support knowledge building?
Inquiry By Design supports knowledge building by helping students connect ideas across texts, lessons, discussions, and writing.
Students return to meaningful questions, build understanding through evidence and critical thinking, and deepen their thinking over time. Skills are developed through the work of reading, interpreting, discussing, and writing about complex ideas.
Our curriculum facilitates learning that builds and sustains, not learning that resets with every new assignment.
How does Inquiry By Design support student engagement?
Inquiry By Design supports engagement by giving students meaningful ideas to work with and real reasons to read, talk, and write.
Students engage with thoughtfully-curated texts, explore relevant questions, listen to peers, support claims with evidence, and revise their thinking. The curriculum gives students room to think while giving teachers the structure to guide the learning. It is intentionally designed so curiosity leads to deeper understanding.
How does Inquiry By Design approach writing instruction?
Inquiry By Design integrates writing into the entire curriculum. Whether students are writing responses to analytical questions, annotating texts, outlining and crafting a narrative story or an argumentative essay, our curriculum doesn’t only use writing to support the development of craft, but it also uses writing as a way for students to make their thinking visible and refine their ideas.
In IBD, writing grows from the texts students read, the questions they explore, and the conversations they have.
How does Inquiry By Design support complex text analysis and rigor?
Inquiry By Design is designed so that all students can access grade-level texts. IBD gives students repeated opportunities to work with complex texts through close reading, annotation, questioning, discussion, and writing. Language development support is embedded into the curriculum, along with optional support to meet diverse student needs.
IBD supports rigor by helping students do meaningful intellectual work with grade-level texts and ideas and by scaffolding supports so they have the necessary skills, context, and knowledge to engage with challenging materials.
What kinds of assessments are included in Inquiry By Design?
Inquiry By Design includes both formative and summative assessments throughout the curriculum. Every lesson includes a variety of formative assessments, whether it’s turn-and-talks, whole class discussions, or written responses. These are meaningfully integrated into the curriculum and designed to give teachers real-time feedback on student learning so they can use their professional discretion about how best to support students.
Every unit also contains a Middle-of-Unit Assessment (MOU) and an End-of-Unit Assessment (EOU). These summative assessments are aligned with the standards associated with the unit and designed to give teachers more targeted, comprehensive feedback on student learning. Both assessment types are accompanied with optional extension lessons to provide opportunities for deeper feedback and for students to revise and refine their thinking and knowledge.
IBD supports assessment as part of learning, not just measurement after learning.
Does Inquiry By Design require a digital platform?
No. Inquiry By Design does not require a platform-first instructional model.
IBD is designed around classroom-ready print materials, rich texts, teacher-led instruction, student discussion, annotation, and writing. Our curriculum does provide optional slides that accompany every lesson, should teachers prefer a digital/visual component. Other digital resources may support planning or implementation, but the heart of the curriculum is the learning that happens around texts and ideas.
How is Inquiry By Design different from traditional ELA programs?
Many ELA programs organize instruction into separate parts: reading here, writing there, grammar somewhere else, language support added later, and scaffolds and differentiation as isolated components.
Inquiry By Design is different because the curriculum is built around connection. Reading, writing, discussion, language development, and knowledge building work together inside the lesson and throughout the units.
Teachers are not left to create coherence on their own. The curriculum is designed so learning connects from the start.
How should districts evaluate an ELA curriculum?
Districts should look for more than coverage. Every ELA curriculum is going to be connected to standards and texts. That’s the baseline.
A strong ELA curriculum should show evidence of knowledge building, complex text work, meaningful engagement, writing development, embedded language support, formative assessment, teacher usability, and implementation feasibility.
Districts should also watch for red flags: isolated skills, rigid pacing, scripted teaching, formulaic writing, or materials that require teachers to create coherence from disconnected parts.
We also know from research around reading comprehension and literacy development that print-based reading opportunities are critical for the development of strong, critical readers. Districts should seek out ELA curricula that emphasizes and prioritizes print-based reading experiences.
How much does Inquiry By Design cost?
Pricing depends on the grades, number of students, materials, implementation needs, and professional learning plan.
District teams can request a quote based on their adoption size and support needs. IBD can also help districts think through total cost of ownership, including instructional materials, teacher support, implementation planning, and professional learning.
The best way to understand cost is to review the curriculum, clarify the implementation model, and build a plan around the district’s goals.
How does Inquiry By Design align with California ELA/ELD adoption priorities?
California districts are looking closely at ELA, ELD, and SLA materials that work for multilingual learners from day one.
Inquiry By Design aligns with key priorities districts are evaluating: integrated reading, writing, language, and knowledge building; embedded language development; meaningful academic discourse; rich texts; assessment connected to learning; and classroom-ready implementation.
IBD is designed for districts that want materials to support rigorous learning, teacher usability, and multilingual learner success together.
Who is Inquiry By Design best for?
Inquiry By Design is a strong fit for districts that want a rigorous, research-backed connected ELA curriculum teachers can actually use.
IBD is especially relevant for districts looking for knowledge building, embedded multilingual learner support, meaningful writing, rich classroom discussion, classroom-ready print materials, and a curriculum that does not leave teachers responsible for stitching disconnected pieces together.
It is also a strong fit for districts that believe teachers should lead learning, not simply follow a script.
What is the best way to learn more about Inquiry By Design?
The best way to learn more is to see the curriculum in motion.
A curriculum walkthrough can show how a lesson works, how reading connects to writing and discussion, how language support is embedded, and how understanding builds across a unit.
District teams can also request sample materials, implementation guidance, pricing information, and support for curriculum committee review.
We are here to help.
Do you have more questions? Want to speak to one of our team members?