File:SharedOER D2-1.pdf

The Common Core State Standards Initiative and its impact on OER

Summary

This case study, Deliverable 2 of SharedOER, examines the recent development of Open Educational Resources (OER) and syllabi within the context of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in the United States. It analyses the impact that these newly introduced (2010) standards have had on the production, reuse and dissemination of OER in a number of states, as well as across state borders. A review of current state-based OER policies and practices is provided, along with an inventory of relevant implementation guides and content repositories. This case study offers a snapshot of developments as seen in late autumn 2014 and might exclude initiatives established around or after that date.

Literature review

In constructing this case study we have examined an array of open and proprietary academic journals, organisational reports, blogs, webinars and other media. Due to the rapidly changing landscape of CCSS planning and implementation, little data that extended beyond the 2012-13 school year had been published at the time of writing; interviews with key contacts at state departments of education and other organisations have played a key role in obtaining an accurate portrait of the state of CCSS at the start of School Year 2014-15.

Production note

This report is Deliverable 2 of the study A scoping study on the potential of shared, cross-border OER and syllabi in Europe (SharedOER) that was carried out by Sero Consulting Ltd during 2014. The study has been commissioned by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The purpose of this report is to understand the current trends in the US regarding the production of Open Educational Resources, for primary and secondary schools.

This is the second edition of this report: the original version was completed in late November 2014. No new information on CCSS has been added since then except for one footnote, but the layout has been adjusted for consistency with the other SharedOER reports and some additional explanatory and linking material has been added, one purpose being to make it more accessible to a European and non-US readership. This version is in A4 page size with standard UK margins and document language set to UK English, except for the quotations (all from US sources) and US entity names.

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