Texas Education Agency Unveils Newly Developed Texas Open Education Resource (OER) Textbooks (2024)

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The High-Quality TEKS-Aligned Instructional Materials Were Developed Using the Best Evidence from Cognitive Science to Build the Fundamentals in Reading and Mathematics

AUSTIN, TX – May 29, 2024 – The Texas Education Agency (TEA) today announced the availability of the Texas Open Education Resources (OER) textbooks, to begin a public feedback process. House Bill (HB) 1605 (88th Regular Session) directed the TEA to develop a set of state-owned instructional materials, Texas OER textbooks, to support teachers and improve student academic outcomes. These optional textbooks will help schools improve student learning, close achievement gaps and better support Texas teachers, both in mathematics and elementary literacy.

Texas OER textbooks are specifically designed for Texas schools and are aligned with the state standards, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). These resources were developed using the best evidence from cognitive science to ensure teachers have access to quality, on-grade-level materials that enable teachers to focus on delivering the highest-quality instruction and providing differentiated supports to students. The “open” nature of Texas OER textbooks means they are owned by the state, made available free to anyone, and can be modified over time to make them better for students and teachers.

There are two sets of Texas OER textbooks:

  • OER K-5 Reading & Language Arts (RLA) - Built to cover the English Reading and Language Arts TEKS, these materials weave together elements of the science of reading with a cross-curricular knowledge building approach consistent with a classical education model that is focused on the fundamentals. OER RLA immerses students in classic literature along with reading lessons about art, history, culture, science, and technology. As a product built for Texas students, the content features strong representation from the diverse people, places and history of Texas.
  • OER K-8/Algebra Mathematics - A comprehensive and clearly sequenced suite of materials that provide teachers with the knowledge and tools outlined in the Math TEKS, these materials guide students to be thinkers and doers of mathematics. These instructional materials are built on basic scientific insights about how people learn math, grown out of cognitive and developmental sciences. With OER Math textbooks, students will learn the fundamentals to build a strong foundation in mathematics, mastering arithmetic and memorizing math facts while steadily building their mathematical reasoning skills.

“These new Texas OER textbooks represent a significant step forward in our state’s commitment to providing exceptional instructional materials for Texas students and teachers,” said Texas Education Commissioner, Mike Morath. “Now with the SBOE and public review process beginning, we can use additional feedback to make the materials even better this year.”

In addition to directing TEA to develop state-owned instructional materials, HB 1605 established the new Instructional Materials Review and Approval (IMRA) process, which charges the State Board of Education (SBOE) with reviewing and approving high-quality instructional materials (HQIM). TEA is submitting these Texas OER textbooks to the SBOE’s IMRA 2024 process. The public will have the opportunity to review and offer comments on the product during this review process by visiting the SBOE’s IMRA webpage.

Texas OER textbooks are useful tools for teachers who are looking for on-grade-level, rigorous and relevant instructional materials where students see their experiences represented in the curriculum. These flexible and adaptable materials allow teachers to customize their instruction and cater to the unique needs of their students. By ensuring access to grade-level content for all students, OER materials promote academic success and bridge the knowledge gap between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Recognizing the vital role of parents in their child's education, Texas OER textbooks are readily accessible online, allowing parents and guardians to stay informed about the content of lesson plans and what their child is studying. Additionally, each unit taught from Texas OER textbooks comes with a family letter that teachers can send home, which outlines what students will be learning.

The development of Texas OER involved extensive collaboration with teachers and parents to ensure the content is relevant, engaging and effective. These materials have been meticulously developed to adhere to the SBOE’s quality and suitability rubrics and submitted as part of the SBOE’s Instructional Materials Review and Adoption process. Through IMRA, the SBOE will review and approve materials to approve those that meet the highest standards of quality.

If selected as SBOE-approved High-Quality Instructional Materials, Texas OER will be an optional resource for Texas school systems. School systems in Texas have local control over which instructional materials to use, a principle unchanged by HB 1605. 

For more information and to access and review the Texas OER textbooks and instructional materials, please visit sboe.texas.gov/imra.

To learn more about HB 1605, the IMRA process, and OER Materials, please visit TEA’s House Bill 1605 and IMRA webpage.

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Texas Education Agency Unveils Newly Developed Texas Open Education Resource (OER) Textbooks (2024)

FAQs

Is Texas Education Agency legit? ›

TEA is responsible for the oversight of public primary and secondary education in the state of Texas, involving over 1,000 individual school districts in the state and charter schools. It is also responsible for the safety of students.

What does OER mean in education? ›

Definition of Open Educational Resources (OER)

OER are freely and publicly available teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others.

What is an example of an OER? ›

These resources include complete online courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, assessment tools, and software. They provide people worldwide with access to quality education and the opportunity to share, use, and reuse knowledge.

What are the problems with the Texas education system? ›

The main five problems in Texas public education include school funding, the importance on state testing, the large portion of economically disadvantaged students, the school voucher program, and required minutes instead of days. Texan citizens and TEA continue to work on these issues.

Do excused absences count against you in Texas? ›

Absences excused by a school district, including absences due to suspension, are neither "unexcused absences" under Section 25.091 nor absences "without excuse" under Sections 25.095 nor 25.0951 and are not grounds for filing a complaint or making a referral to juvenile court .

Is it illegal to not enroll your child in school in Texas? ›

Unless exempted from attendance by Texas Education Code Section 25.086, a child who is at least six years old and under 19 years of age is required to attend school.

What is the difference between OER and open access? ›

While OER are created under an open license, Open Access materials are protected under traditional copyright and cannot be copied, shared, or remixed as can be done with OER.

What are the benefits of using OER? ›

OER allow revising and remixing of content so that faculty can teach exactly what they want to teach and how they want to teach it. OER remove price barriers, saving students money and making it possible for everyone to have their own copy of required course materials from the first day of class.

Which of the following is not an OER? ›

E.

Gyandarshan is not an open educational resource repository.

What are the 5 principles of OER? ›

The framework, which will be freely available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY), encourages educators to capitalize on the unique rights associated with open content also known as the 5Rs: the ability Retain, Reuse, Revise, Remix and Redistribute content for educational purposes.

How do you fight an OER? ›

10 Steps to Challenging a Referred OER Under Army Regulation 623-3 and Army Regulation 600-20
  1. Initiate a Formal Request. ...
  2. Highlight Procedural Violations. ...
  3. Emphasize the Lack of Counseling. ...
  4. Question the Basis of Relief. ...
  5. Address Ongoing Processes. ...
  6. Request OER Amendments. ...
  7. Insist on Due Process. ...
  8. Advocate for a Change of Rater OER.

What are the examples of open educational practices? ›

Examples of OEP include using OER, renewable/non-disposable assignments (where students publish work openly), collaborative annotation, Wikipedia editing, open courses, and engaging in open learning/teaching communities, among many others.

Where does tx rank in education? ›

Most Educated States
Overall RankStateQuality of Education
41Texas17
42New Mexico48
43Kentucky19
43Nevada23
46 more rows

What is the single biggest challenge facing Texas teachers today? ›

Hiring and retaining teachers is one of the most important issues facing public education today. Three-quarters of current Texas teachers are seriously considering leaving their jobs, according to the most recent Charles Butt Foundation Texas Teacher Poll.

What is the hidden curriculum of education? ›

The term “hidden curriculum” refers to an amorphous collection of “implicit academic, social, and cultural messages,” “unwritten rules and unspoken expectations,” and “unofficial norms, behaviours and values” of the dominant-culture context in which all teaching and learning is situated.

Is Texas Education Agency a government agency? ›

The Texas Education Agency is the state agency that oversees primary and secondary public education. It is headed by the commissioner of education. The Texas Education Agency improves outcomes for all public school students in the state by providing leadership, guidance, and support to school systems.

Who funds the Texas Education Agency? ›

The Texas Education Agency administers billions of dollars in both state and federal funds that support a variety of programs to benefit public education. Funds come from multiple sources, including state and federal coffers, federal grants, the Permanent School Fund endowment, and others.

How does the Texas Education Agency work? ›

The Texas Education Agency provides a wide array of services that help educators do their jobs. Those functions include accrediting educator certification programs, issuing teaching certificates, distributing curriculum standards and textbooks and providing standardized student tests.

Who controls Texas Education Agency? ›

Mike Morath

Appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, Mike Morath took office as Commissioner of Education in January 2016 and was unanimously confirmed by the Texas Senate (85th Legislature) in March 2017.

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