OER Project Grants

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are free to use, adapt, and share in order to better serve all students.

As more districts develop or adapt OER, we have a tremendous opportunity to share resources across districts via our OER Commons Washington Hub, promoting equitable access to standards-aligned, quality instructional materials. This grant opportunity is in support of that goal.

In choosing our grantees for this year, priority consideration was given to projects that integrated content or addressed areas currently lacking in standards-aligned OER. Additionally, consideration was given to projects developing resources that could be delivered remotely or in a blending learning environment.

2022-2023 OER Project Grant Awards

Adapted Physical Education

Society of Health and Physical Educators—SHAPE Washington

Physical education teachers want to provide the best education and support for all students -from providing an opportunity to build collaborative and social skills to teaching individuals how to focus on specific goals and overcome obstacles. Having these types of lessons adapted for children with special needs can lead to cognitive and physical improvements.

Physical education teachers around Washington state have asked SHAPE Washington for information/resources on how to adapt lessons and even where to start as they try to adapt lessons. This project will create lessons and units using current openly licensed lessons in physical education. Lessons will provide guidance in addressing different learning styles and assist teachers in familiarizing themselves with different disabilities and best practices to support those students.

American Sign Language Cybersecurity Fundamentals and Career Opportunities

Language Learning Center - University of Washington

The University of Washington Language Learning Center (LLC) will partner with a specialist from the Washington Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth to develop a unit on cybersecurity. The content will be applicable as a STEM education unit for deaf students, as well as supplementary learning for advanced L2 American Sign Language (ASL) students.

Based on the results of an initial needs analysis, we will develop a 5-day unit that includes video and lesson plans. The unit will provide applied knowledge (e.g., how to be safe as a user of the internet), basic technical knowledge (e.g., what is malware, key vocabulary), career opportunities, and highlight existing ASL representation and the need for more diversity/representation in the cybersecurity field.

Don't Get Debt Slapped (Spanish Version)

Consumer Education and Training Services (CENTS)

Don't Get Debt Slapped is a series of eight online and/or classroom lessons with 35 short videos designed to help high school students wisely finance their postsecondary education or training. It is a project-based activity where students obtain critical information so they can make informed decisions.

With input from community partners, including Latinx educators and students, this project will develop a Spanish version of the instructional materials. Additionally, teacher training sessions will be planned.

Enhancing Students' Postsecondary Outcomes through Curriculum Adaptation

San Juan Island School District

The project will develop, adapt, implement, and share OER learning activities for 9-12+ students, with a focus on future-ready competencies, such as health, social/emotional learning, financial literacy, and civics education.

There is a continuous need for enhanced instructional materials intended for face-to-face, online, or hybrid formats, especially for expanding the provision and increasing the quality of future-ready curriculum that provide equitable and inclusive student learning experiences.

Heritage Language Global Competence Portfolio Project

World Affairs Council - Seattle

World Affairs Council Seattle's Global Competence Certificate Portfolio provides opportunities for high school students to acquire and develop core knowledge and skills to actively participate in our diverse society. Youth are empowered to solve complex problems, make meaningful connections between local and global issues, and are ultimately prepared with the skills, knowledge, values, attitudes, and behavior to work and thrive in culturally diverse settings and understand critical issues that shape our world.

The Global Competence Certificate (GCC) OER project aims to identify and adapt OER resources related to social studies, world language/dual/heritage languages, culturally responsive teaching (SEL). We will create/adapt, then translate, our global competence certificate portfolio frameworks into Spanish, Ukrainian, Russian, and Romanian.

Japanese and Spanish Thematic Curriculum

Lake Washington School District

Teacher teams that have received professional learning on curriculum design for language instruction aligned to WA State World Language Standards will continue to build out four units for Level 3 curriculum in Japanese and Spanish and refine previously created units.

Units are thematic, aligned to the AP Language and Culture Themes, and incorporate authentic resources. They are organized by the three modes of communication and require teachers to leverage research-based high-impact instructional strategies for language acquisition. Units include essential questions, performance targets, intercultural focus, unit goals, performance assessments, activity guides, and additional suggested resources and methods and will be shared with districts around the state.

Nuclear Chemistry in Washington

Walla Walla Public Schools

This project will result in an engaging high school science unit focused on nuclear chemistry that is designed to be delivered in a blended learning environment. By centering the unit on a local phenomenon, students will have more of a connection to the science they are learning and will be more motivated to figure out why or how the phenomenon occurs in their region. The resulting unit will include 3D aligned assessments, including items aligned to the Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science as well as instructional supports appropriate for multilingual (ML) students and students with learning disabilities.

The teacher expertise gained through this process will be applied to developing other units to further the work of the integration of strong local phenomena to all units in our science course sequence.

Sexual Violence and Sex Trafficking in the 21st Century

Eastside Preparatory School

This unit examines important issues facing the youth of Washington state and includes lessons about sexual assault, sexual violence in the 21st century, sex trafficking, and the importance of advocating for self and for others. Content is inclusive to all genders/races/ethnicities/abilities and the unit emphasizes that sexual violence does not discriminate.

These discussion-based lessons are designed to help students learn about resources as well as foster empathy and civic engagement. The materials include suggested community engagement projects and provide a destigmatized, and informative space for students to learn from and act on. The lessons may be incorporated within the scope of a wider sexual education course.

Sexual Violence and Sex Trafficking in the 21st Century: Team Members

Unlocking Literacy Instruction for Students with Disabilities

Special Education Technology Center - Central Washington University

Teachers and therapists know the importance of research-based literacy intervention for all students. However, the application of differentiated literacy instruction that is research-based for students with complex communication and physical access needs requires that teachers have the knowledge of effective strategies and tools for this population.

This effort will provide K-2 educators with professional development modules and lesson materials to be used in ELA instruction in blended or hybrid learning environments. Modules will involve teachers designing and demonstrating implementation of conventional literacy lessons that allow students with complex communication and physical needs to actively participate in their learning. Each module will include a brief video demonstration of tools and strategies, examples of differentiated instruction informed by inclusionary practices, culturally relevant practices, and components of social-emotional learning. Each module will also include a lesson plan aligned to K-2 literacy standards. Equipped with a template lesson planning tool, teachers will have the ability to develop and share their own literacy lessons with others through the Washington OER Hub.

Washington State History Project

Educurious

Washington State History Project (WSHP) units are project-based learning that presents critical issues in an interdisciplinary, anti-biased way. All units are aligned to Washington state standards for social studies. The WSHP weaves together original content, curricular materials from Since Time Immemorial, and multimedia resources to ensure high levels of learning and engagement for students across Washington state.

This project will provide guidance in how educators can adapt the WSHP units to their local context - identifying content and resources relevant to a specific region of Washington, differentiating for student needs, and/or engaging with their local community. With educator partners, Educurious will co-design a toolkit that includes a guide, examples of adaptations, and sample resources that will help inform adaptation decisions for the WSHP across districts in Washington.

Explore grantee efforts on the Washington OER Hub and Washington Hub Highlights.

Past Grant Awards

2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23

Final Grantee Reports

2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21

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