Setting the Record Straight
Recently a group called Families Engaged, which is just Lynn Davenport and Mary Lowe (both talking
Empowering Texas Classrooms with High-Quality Resources
What is the TEA’s OER?
Open Education Resources are optional, high-quality instructional materials that are freely available for use. In simple terms, they are textbooks owned by the state that can be modified over time to make them better and improve them for students and teachers.
Tailored for TexansTexas
OER textbooks are built specifically for Texans based on Texas’ state standards, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
Evidence-Based Excellence
OER materials are also built using the best evidence from cognitive science, to ensure teachers have access to high-quality, on-grade-level materials, freeing up teacher time to provide the highest quality of instruction and differentiated support for students.
Flexibility and Freedom
Texas OER textbooks are being made available, subject to approval by the Texas State Board of Education, as an optional resource for schools.
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A Commitment to High-Quality Education
01 A New Era in Instructional Materials
In 2011, Senate Bill 6 marked a significant shift in how textbooks and instructional materials were approved and funded in Texas. This bill introduced the Instructional Materials and Technology Allotment (IMA), directing state funds to Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and expanding
the definition of instructional materials to include a wide range of resources, including online content. Senate Bill 6 also mandated that all selected curricula cover 100% of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
02 Addressing Learning Gaps Post-Pandemic
In response to the learning gaps exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Texas Education Agency and the State Board of Education introduced House Bill 1605. This bill provides new funding for state-approved materials while maintaining existing funds from the IMA. The Instructional Materials and Technology Allotment (IMTA) was restored to traditional levels (approximately $1 billion per biennium) under House Bill 1 of the 88th Texas Legislature.
03 Additional Funding for High-Quality Instructional Materials
House Bill 1605 established additional funding mechanisms:
- Public school systems receive $40 per student to support the purchase of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) approved by the State Board of Education.
- School systems that opt for Texas OER Textbooks receive an additional $20 per student to cover printing costs, with OER Textbooks being free to download.
04 Ensuring Quality Through Rigorous Review
The State Board of Education now combines an approval process with the Texas Resource Review and a rubric. All instructional materials providers and publishers must comply with a state-mandated review process to be listed as high-quality instructional materials.
Why its Important: Key Features of House Bill 1605
Enhancing Transparency and Quality in Instructional Materials
- Returns approval process of instructional materials back to the State Board of Education (SBOE).
- Must be 100% aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
- Ensures that all curriculum passed by the State Board of Education (SBOE) is instructionally appropriate for each grade level.
- Prohibits three-cueing in early literacy.
- Parents must have access to curricular materials through a parent portal. This is to provide added transparency for parents.
- Teachers cannot be required to use bi-weekly time to create initial instructional materials unless there is an additional duty agreement.
HB 1605 Also Protects Teacher’s time!
- A unit or weekly lesson plan that is included in instructional material, as defined by Section 31.002, and adopted by the board of trustees of the school district at which a teacher is employed is sufficient to satisfy a requirement to prepare written information. TEC§11.164
- Teachers cannot be required to use their biweekly planning time to create initial instructional materials unless there is a supplemental duty agreement with the teacher. TEC §21.4045
- Texas OER provides all the components of full-subject Tier 1 instructional materials.
- What is Tier 1 instruction? Tier 1 instruction provides all students with high-quality, initial classroom instruction tied to a guaranteed and viable curriculum.
Keeping Parents Involved
Parents/Texas residents are encouraged to review Texas OER and provide feedback to the SBOE through their public comment portal.
Any resident of Texas may report errors identified in instructional materials under consideration for approval. The error-reporting period begins when the pre-approval program submissions are posted on the State Board of Education’s (SBOE) website and ends on Friday, August 16, 2024. Copies of reported errors are provided to the SBOE and the publisher and posted on SBOE’s website. The SBOE will hold public hearings at the September 10–13, 2024 meeting allowing citizens the opportunity to provide oral testimony about instructional materials submitted for approval. Publishers will respond to all reported factual errors.
What is IMRA?
The Texas Education Agency recently introduced the Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA) process, which replaces the former State Board of Education (SBOE) Proclamation and the Texas Resource Review (TRR) processes. IMRA evaluates instructional materials and approves high-quality resources for use in Texas schools. Under House Bill 1605, the first reviews focus on English and Spanish language arts and reading products for grades K–5 (including phonics products in grades K–3) and mathematics products for grades K–Algebra Math. The IMRA process outlines how instructional materials will be reviewed. The SBOE has final authority on approvals, the process, and the criteria used. Texas Education Code (TEC), 31.022. and 31.023 identify several aspects of instructional material that must be included as part of the IMRA criteria. This includes:
- Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) Coverage
- Quality
- No three-cuing content in K-3 reading. (A method that utilizes letters, sentence structure, and context clues, rather than directly teaching phonics.)
- Suitable for grade and subject
- No obscene or harmful content, including compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), TEC, 28.0022, and Penal Code 43.22
- Free from factual error
- Physical and electronic specifications
- Parent portal compliance
- Other statutes of relevance to instructional materials and the IMRA criteria include TEC, 29.907, 29.9071, and 29,9072.
Examples of OER
In order to see the selected samples, below, you will have to login to SBOE’s website:
- Go to: https://sboe.texas.gov/imra
- Scroll to the "Access Materials Under Review" heading and select a content area to explore
- Review and acknowledge the license agreement on the pop-up window by clicking “I Agree”.
- Identify OER materials to review from the available list. Once a material is selected, users are routed to the Texas Gateway and prompted to log in.
- Select "Log in."
- Enter the login credentials:
- Once logged in, select the “My Favorites and Lists” icon/link to see the full list of OER materials.
- Select content to review.
Examples we would like to highlight:
- Kinder Skills- Unit 4- Phonics
- Grade 2 Skills- Teacher guide, Unit Introduction, page 17- Cursive
- Kinder- Unit 7- Serving our neighbors, Teacher Guide, Lesson 1: Helping our Neighbors- page 17
- Kinder- Unit 7, Lesson 6: The Good Samaritan, page 89
- Grade 5- Unit- Student Reader, Chapter 2: Letters from Birmingham Jail- Junteenth- Selected Excerpts from “Letters from Birmingham Jail”
- Grade 4- Unit 10- Novel Study: Number the Stars- Teacher’s Guide, Unit Introduction, page 1
- Grade 3- Unit 9- Colonial America- Teacher’s Guide, Lesson 9: Giving Thanks, page 218
Frequently Asked Questions
There is a lot of intentional misinformation regarding Amplify and the TEA OER. Some go as far as to label them the same thing. They are not. In fact, Amplify has nothing to do with the TEA OER.
Several years ago the TEA obtained all rights to the intellectual property of the Amplify Texas curriculum. This curriculum was used as a reference in creating the new TEA OER, however, TEA’s OER curriculum is materially different than any curriculum Amplify publishes.
Some ISD’s in Texas have contracts with Amplify or buy some of Amplifys curriculum. This should not be confused with the TEA, who does not have any contracts with the Amplify nor is Amplify a vendor in any way to the TEA. Anyone suggesting differently should be summarily dismissed.
The TEA’s Open Education Resource is a set of instructional material which includes student handbooks, teachers guides, and other supplemental resources, which, once adopted, will be free to use. They are designed to be printed and used in a physical book medium. Any public school, private school, or homeschool can use the materials. There are no licensing fees or any other fees, only the cost to print them.
Liberty University, who has it’s own OER, defines OER as: “Open Educational Resources (OER) are "teaching, learning, and research materials in any medium, digital or otherwise, that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation, and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions" Open Textbooks are free or low-cost substitutes for a traditional textbook.”
Another way of putting it is: what “open source” is to software “Open Education Resource” (OER) is to instructional materials. Educational materials which anyone can use free of charge.
Implying that because UNESCO once used the term in their Paris Declaration in 2012, that they own the term is silly. UNESCO has nothing to do with the TEA’s OER. Period. (Although I am waiting on certain folks to start claiming Liberty University is part of a UNESCO conspiracy.)
Since the Texas OER is considered an adopted instructional material and/or a textbook, Districts should not modify the curriculum they adopt. In order for Texas OER to be implemented with fidelity, it should not be changed or modified. While school districts remain the locus of control, they are also subject to audits as laid out in HB1605. Before implementing Texas OER school districts must create a transition plan for implementation, and must use the curriculum materials as they are adopted in the statewide instructional materials ordering system, known as EMAT.
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Why is the TEA OER Good for Texas Schools?
Before the passing of Texas Senate Bill 6 in 2011, the State Board of Education was