COME TOGETHER OVER OER: Today 11 state agencies have announced a new initiative called K-12 OER Collaborative, funded in part and organized by The Learning Accelerator. The collaborative will bring together the collective needs and requirements of each state in order to release a mega RFP for comprehensive Open Education Resources, worth an estimated $15-20 million.
Joining the initiative are state content specialists, Council of Chief State School Officers, State Instructional Materials Review Association and the Association of State Supervisors of Mathematics. The state agencies leading the charge include Utah, Washington and Idaho. Also on board, are Arizona, California, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, Oregon and Wisconsin.
The RFP, released today, will be awarded to eight contractors covering content areas in K-12 math and English language arts. The RFP stipulates that digital content must be Common Core aligned, with a focus on differentiation and assessment tasks. All content must be released with a Creative Commons Attribution license.
Letters of Intent are due January 9, 2015. If companies meet the requirements, they will be sent the full list of requirements. Final proposals will be reviewed by teams of educators from participating states. States will then have the ability to use this content freely and openly with their schools. They will also have the ability to adapt materials at their discretion.
