Open Up Resources

TO INCREASE EQUITY IN EDUCATION BY MAKING EXCELLENT CURRICULA FREELY AVAILABLE TO DISTRICTS.

WHEN OPEN UP RESOURCES BEGAN THEIR JOURNEY IN 2016, SCHOOL DISTRICT LEADERS AND TEACHERS WERE STRUGGLING WITH A LACK OF COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS(CCSS)-ALIGNED, COMPREHENSIVE CORE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS (ELA) AND MATHEMATICS MATERIALS. THESE STANDARDS RAISED THE BAR FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING MATERIALS, YET THEY WERE LARGELY UNAVAILABLE IN THE MARKET. IN SEPTEMBER 2017, THE NONPROFIT EDREPORTS, A "CONSUMER REPORTS" FOR INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS, HIGHLIGHTED THESE GAPS IN THE TEXTBOOK MARKET, FINDING THAT MOST TEXTBOOKS WERE NOT ALIGNED TO THE STANDARDS, DESPITE HAVING HAD SINCE 2012 TO DO SO. OPEN UP RESOURCES DEBUTED WITH A MIDDLE SCHOOL MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM AND AN ELEMENTARY ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS PROGRAM, BOTH OF WHICH WERE RATED BEST-IN-CLASS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE CATEGORIES ON EDREPORTS. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME COMPREHENSIVE, CORE CURRICULA THAT WERE FULLY ACCESSIBLE WERE ALSO DEEMED HIGH QUALITY. OUR DISRUPTED THE MARKET, PROVING THAT FREE AND HIGH QUALITY WERE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE. NOW, WITH A COMPLETE K-12 CORE CURRICULA OFFERING, SCHOOL AND DISTRICT LEADERS AND TEACHERS NO LONGER STRUGGLE FROM A LACK OF HIGH-QUALITY CCSS-ALIGNED MATERIALS. FURTHERMORE, BECAUSE OUR PUBLISHES THEIR CURRICULA OPENLY ON THEIR WEBSITE, EDUCATORS CAN EASILY ACCESS THESE MATERIALS.OUR PARTNERS WITH CURRICULUM AUTHORS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO BRING THE HIGHEST QUALITY CURRICULUM TO MARKET WITH A TWIST. UPON PUBLICATION, THESE MATERIALS ARE OPENLY LICENSED, MEANING THEY ARE FREELY AVAILABLE TO EDUCATORS ONLINE SO THAT ANY TEACHER, IN ANY CLASSROOM, IN ANY SCHOOL, IN ANY DISTRICT, CAN ACCESS AND USE THEM TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF INSTRUCTION. ADDITIONALLY, OUR'S MATERIALS ARE CREATED WITH EQUITY AS A FOUNDATIONAL DESIGN PRINCIPLE, INCLUDING RESEARCH-BASED SUPPORT FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS AND STUDENTS WITH VARYING ABILITIES. TO SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION OF THEIR OPEN CURRICULA, OUR ESTABLISHED A BENCH OF HIGH-QUALITY TEACHER LEADERS IN RESIDENCE, PROFESSIONAL LEARNING PROVIDERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND AN OPENLY ACCESSIBLE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY. COMMUNITY COACHES, ALL OF WHOM ARE CURRENT PRACTITIONERS AND MASTER TEACHERS OF OUR CURRICULA FOR EACH GRADE LEVEL, NURTURE THE COMMUNITY THROUGH VIRTUAL PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES. COMMUNITY COACHES ALSO PLAY A KEY ROLE IN OUR'S ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE, HIVE, WHICH IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR EDUCATORS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY TO CONVENE FOR INTENSIVE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING TO SUPPORT THEIR IMPLEMENTATION OF OUR'S CURRICULA. OPEN UP RESOURCES' PORTFOLIO SEEKS TO INCLUDE THE HIGHEST-QUALITY, STANDARDS-BASED K-12 CURRICULA. THIS INCLUDES VALIDATION FROM RESPECTED THIRD-PARTY ENTITIES, EVIDENCE OF EFFICACY, EFFECTIVE SUPPORT FOR MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS, INCLUSIVE STRATEGIES FOR STUDENTS WITH VARYING ABILITIES, EMBEDDED CULTURALLY-RELEVANT PEDAGOGY, AND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING THAT IS INCLUSIVE AND CULTURALLY CONSIDERATE. OUR HAS BUILT A BUSINESS MODEL THAT ENABLES THEM TO FUND THE NECESSARY DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTIZATION OF NEW PROGRAMS AS WELL AS MAINTENANCE OF EXISTING PROGRAMS. WITH REVENUE-GENERATING SERVICES THAT WRAP AROUND THE OPENLY ACCESSIBLE CURRICULUM (LOW-COST PRINT SERVICES, KITTED TRADE BOOKS, AND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING), THE ORGANIZATION IS FINANCIALLY SELF-SUSTAINING.OUR NOW HAS A COMPLETE PORTFOLIO OF CURRICULA IN K-12 MATHEMATICS AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS. AS OF 2020, OUR IS A SELF-SUSTAINING ORGANIZATION WITH REVENUE FROM SALES OF IMPLEMENTATION AND PRINT SERVICES SUPPORTING THEIR OPERATIONS. OVER 3 MILLION STUDENTS HAVE BEEN SERVED BY THE OUR CURRICULA, AND THEY ARE ON TRACK TO SERVE AN ADDITIONAL 1 MILLION STUDENTS BY THE END OF 2022.