Instructional materials come in many formats, and their costs vary widely. Often it is difficult to understand the distinction between formats and what the materials cost. Increasingly, print materials also are available digitally, and digital resources may have elements teachers can print and share offline. Some products that traditionally offered only print materials have added interactive online elements to enhance student learning.
Pandemic-related school closures beginning in spring 2020 led many schools to implement approaches that combined print and digital instructional materials. The latter included blended, flipped, and hybrid learning. Students used digital materials such as videos, online modules, websites, and eBooks to learn, review, or practice concepts and skills. Teachers followed with interaction and feedback—both in person and virtually.
Similarly, the 2020 pandemic opened the floodgates of resources freely available on the internet. Some of these are labeled as Open Educational Resources (OER) and appear on sites that curate only OER materials. Learn more about OER in a class located in this Pathway.
As noted in the previous lesson, high-quality instructional materials have specific characteristics to check for. Not all free resources are high-quality. Premium resources—those paid for by a school or district—must also be viewed with a high-quality lens. Because accessibility and differentiation are key to high-quality instructional materials, these materials should offer both digital and print resources.
Schools and districts may create their own definitions of high-quality instructional materials, but there are numerous sources and reviews available. Some of these will be featured in this lesson.
INFOhio Resources: Premium or OER?
INFOhio licenses premium content and resources from vendors using grant funds. Resources such as Science Online, World Book's suite of products, and Bookflix are not "free" resources. However, because INFOhio licenses these and other resources, they are available at no cost to Ohio teachers, parents, and students. To learn more about INFOhio, take the Introduction to INFOhio class available in this Pathway. Educator Tools provides access to the premium content available from INFOhio, including training and support and lessons plans to help implement them with fidelity. ISearch is also a great way to to search INFOhio's premium content.
INFOhio offers tools to help teachers make the most of open access and Open Educational Resources. Open Space provides a platform to build community through groups and create and share new materials (OER) for other educators. Learn more about these repositories in the Open Space class available in this INFOhio Learning Pathway.
Curriculum
A comprehensive, coherent curriculum is important for growth and progress in schools. According to researcher David Steiner at Johns Hopkins University, "Curriculum is the means to achieve the goals expressed in the standards. It is the teaching and learning program, and can include lesson plans and activities, scope and sequence documents, textbooks, computer programs, and even related pedagogical advice and embedded formative assessments." Equitable access to curriculum is essential for all students. This equity exists when all students in a school or district have access to the same quality curriculum materials and instruction. According to The New Teacher Project's (TNTP) Opportunity Myth Study, high-quality curricula ensure that all students get what they need to be successful:
Having the opportunity to experience each of these conditions is essential for all students to be ready for graduation and college and careers. However, students of color, those from low-income homes, English language learners, and learners with mild to moderate learning disabilities have few opportunities to experience these conditions. Because of this, no matter how hard students work and despite their grades, they might not be as ready as their peers to succeed in college or careers. The TNTP study found that schools that were succeeding had patterns, and most importantly, a common vision and language to support the four conditions above. Having a coherent curriculum that aligns vertically is an important part of the common vision in a school or district. Variations from classroom to classroom in assignments and expectations can lead to an opportunity gap and the chance to be successful in a chosen future.
Choosing a high-quality curriculum that meets the needs of each student is important. To help schools and districts choose high-quality curriculum that meets the needs of each student, EdReports offers reviews of math, science, and English Language Arts curricula. These reviews look at both premium and OER programs and can help educators choose the best materials to meet their goals. You will learn more about EdReports in the next lesson, as well as Ohio Materials Matter, Ohio's reports database for the reviews available at no cost from EdReports.
Supplemental Materials
In addition to a curriculum, schools and districts may want to identify high-quality supplemental materials for instruction. These units, lessons, and activities are often found online and can be innovative and interactive. According to the Thomas B. Fordham Institute Advancing Educational Excellence Supplemental Curriculum Study from 2019, the four reasons educators seek supplemental materials is to:
In Rand Corporation's Implementation of K-12 State Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts and Literacy study, revised in 2017 revealed that all surveyed teachers reported using the internet to find supplemental materials. Researchers found that 95% used Google, 77% used Pinterest, and 73% used Teachers Pay Teachers. In fact, 55% of English language arts teachers used Teachers Pay Teachers at least once a week. A supplemental curriculum study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute shows why that figure may be problematic. The findings from this study are:
It is important that schools and districts work with building and grade-level teams to find vetted, high-quality supplemental materials to meet the needs of each student. Learn more about tools and resources to help with this task in the upcoming lesson, Supplemental Instructional Resources from INFOhio.
Using the list of instructional materials you created in the previous lesson, complete these tasks:
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