Implementation
Spokane Public Schools received a grant from the state to help in their implementation of the EngageNY math curriculum. Spokane chose the Engage NY math curriculum for all its K-8 students and is in their first large-scale implementation of OER for all general education teachers, with a concentrated focus on K-8 mathematics. Engage NY includes free open resources aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which was a critical requirement in the instructional materials selection process. The New York State Education Department designed EngageNY using a federal education grant to create a K-12 math curriculum aligned to the CCSS. EngageNY recently added curriculum maps, which allow educators to quickly locate materials in either English Language Arts or Mathematics at any grade level. One of the reasons, Spokane chose EngageNY curriculum because it combines procedures and concepts with practice problems, and contextual understanding. For example, in Module 2 for 7th grade math, students can play the Integer Card Game, to form a conceptual understanding of integers. The module describes how the integer card game can be incorporated in each of the lessons. It also includes lesson exit tickets fluency exercises, and assessments.
Content Delivery
Spokane completed extensive field testing of the OER before a two-year roll out. Field tests included one or two units per grade with professional development sessions to support teachers. In the first year, 95% of teachers decided to use the OER. For the K-8 OER math implementation, 100% of the content is available digitally. Teachers can access online teacher guides and student books. Teachers can also access online exit tickets, homework, sprints, and fluencies, allowing teachers to easily differentiate instruction for students. Spokane has an online homework help math page that includes lessons, tutorials, and videos.
Spokane uploads OER materials to their learning management system (LMS). The LMS is only accessible by administrators and teachers, and allows the teachers to access the course materials from work, as well as home. The LMS includes K-6 long range plans, cross content road maps, standards-based grading and reporting focus documents, program guides, workshop model examples and expectations, newsletters, and interactive whiteboard lesson files and resources.
Spokane also provides logistical support for teachers including printing, purchasing and organizing of course manipulatives. Spokane prints teacher guides and student books for the teachers and students. Teachers and students can use either the printed or digital version of the OER materials.
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We use an LMS that is only accessible by administrators and teachers. It allows us to access the course materials from work, as well as home.
- Kristina Smith, Elementary Math, Spokane Public Schools
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Challenges
Currently, the WA OER Project is working to help address printing challenges by creating OER User Groups to provide support for those first adopters and a platform to share best practices and implementation resources. For example, the newly emerging EngageNY Mathematics User Group will include guidance from existing users as to what portions of the materials are critical to print and what sections are appropriate for whole classroom display or other delivery mechanisms.