OpenStax algebra curriculum receives unanimous approval in Texas

HOUSTON - Feb. 24, 2025 - PRLog -- OpenStax, the world's largest publisher of open educational resources (OER) based at Rice University, announced that its algebra 1 curriculum has received unanimous approval from the Texas State Board of Education. With this approval, the curriculum has been added to the Texas Instructional Materials Allocation list, underscoring OpenStax's commitment to providing secondary educators with affordable, high-quality resources that support student success.

The OpenStax algebra curriculum is a comprehensive, Tier 1 curriculum fully aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and English Language Proficiency Standards. The curriculum was developed and refined  in collaboration with over 250 Texas teachers, ensuring the curriculum met the specific needs of Texas students and educators.

"Teachers appreciate being invited into the curriculum development process, a service to our communities as well as our students and profession," said Joseph Ji, math teacher at Spring Independent School District in Spring, Texas. "What OpenStax has done, and continues to do, means a lot to the field."

The curriculum offers several key features designed to enhance the teaching and learning experience. Grounded in the latest research in education and learning science, this curriculum incorporates interactive learning elements such as multimedia lesson content, engaging activities and real-world applications to make learning algebra effective and engaging. Teachers benefit from robust teacher guides, digital and  classroom-based student activities and embedded professional learning and implementation support to facilitate classroom use. The curriculum is designed to be accessible to all learners, including students with disabilities, emerging bilingual learners and those entering classrooms with diverse learning needs.

"We are thrilled that the Texas State Board of Education has recognized the quality of our algebra curriculum," said Jennifer Gigliotti, director of K-12 at OpenStax. "This approval validates the valuable input of Texas teachers who were instrumental in developing this resource as well as the hard work and dedication of our OpenStax team."

OpenStax plans to add this algebra curriculum into its teaching and learning platform, Assignable, which will allow teachers to access it and create assignments directly in their district's Learning Management System (LMS). OpenStax also plans to develop a version that seamlessly integrates into non-LMS systems such as Google Classroom, which many educators rely on for day-to-day assignments.

OpenStax Algebra 1 will be available here (https://openstax.org/k12/algebra) June 1, providing an affordable and accessible option for schools and districts across Texas.