6-12 OER Curriculum
Data Science Courses Open Educational Resources (OER)
According to Glassdoor, ‘data scientist’ is the number two best job in the US, and demand for data science skills continues to grow.
Data science courses generally cover a combination of statistics, data science, and computer science principles, and are usually geared for 10-12 grade students who have completed Algebra 1/Math I with a preference for Geometry/Math II. The Data Science courses outlined on this page are rigorous, widely applicable, and often more accessible and engaging than similarly advanced math courses such as Calculus or AP Statistics.
If you are interested in bringing data science to your school, start with DS4E's K-12 Data Science Implementation Models and Resources page, which outlines multiple ways you can bring data science to your students and includes more resources than are listed on this site.
See also, Data Science Resources List @ Data Science 4 Everyone - A large annotated list of data science resources categorized by grade level, category, and tool.
Youcubed HS Explorations in Data Science Curriculum - Free through Stanford with a free account. Includes student materials with project and mindset-focused units. Standards correlation is available here. Units include slides, suggested pacing, student weekly reflections, technology resources (eg, for CODAP, Tableau, Google Sheets, etc), sample student work, handouts, and portfolio project outlines for student assessment. Youcubed has free training seminars and some office hours for professional development prior to and during instruction. Designed to be taught with web-based hardware (eg, Chromebooks). This is a fully developed curriculum, rigorous, project-based curriculum intended for High School students.
CourseKata HS Data Science Curricula - Free to pilot through UCLA with a free account. High School courses include "Statistics and Data Science 1", "Statistics and Data Science 2", and "Advanced Statistics and Data Science: A Modeling Approach". The courses are intended to be used through an LMS like Canvas or Blackboard, and are thus suitable for live or remote instruction. Other instructors have posted syllabi and assessments in a community center. CourseKata provides extensive professional development before the course begins. This is a fully developed, rigorous curriculum intended for High School students.
Introduction to Data Science Curriculum v_5.0 at UCLA - Free through an NSF grant and UCLA. Aligned nicely to current HS statistics and MP standards. Teacher supports exist, but no in-person training or PD is available. Can be taught with web-based hardware (eg, Chromebooks) by registering for paid online server capacity. Option for local hardware. This is a fully developed curriculum intended for High School students.
Bootstrap Data Science Materials - Lessons are available for data visualization, measures of center and spread, programming, linear regression, and more. Mix and match to create anything from a one-week intro to a full-year course! When students have completed our K-12 materials, there's a smooth pathway all the way to Data Science in Python via the free online Data-Centric Introduction to Computing textbook!
Instructional materials are intended for 7-12 grade students and include resource collections aligned to Algebra, Data Science, Physics, Computer-Science, and a new build-your-own course tool.
Find Data Sets, Databases, and Large Messy Spreadsheets
These data sets may or may not be vetted for use in schools.
Database Resources List @ Data Science 4 Everyone - A growing annotated list of databases that is a subset of the data science resources above. See the datasets specification guide cocreated by Bootstrap, DS4E, and CODE to read about what makes a quality data set for educational use.
Google Cloud Public Datasets - Includes a few hundred data sets including subjects such as crime, birth rates, digital tools, Covid-19, and many more.
Amazon Web Services Open Data Registry - Requires making a free account to access the data. Includes a large list of subjects, though many are medical in nature.
Data.gov - Includes data for the USA in areas such as climate, energy, agriculture, ecosystems, oceans, census, and so on. Some datasets require signing forms to access.
Earthdata - NASA's public access database site. Includes data that is mostly science and physics related.
Kaggle - A huge, open-source public data set host that includes everything from sports to cryptocurrency. Quality varies widely.
National Center for Environmental Information - NCEI includes climate and weather data from the USA.
FBI Crime Data Explorer - All sorts of crime data from FBI. A user guide site can help give context for accessing and understanding the data.
Datahub.io - Includes mostly business and finance data.
Global Health Observatory Data Repository - The UN's WHO health data site.
BFI film industry statistics - UK box office figures, home entertainment, movie costs, and so on. Fun data to play with!
New York City Taxi Trip Data - Includes data sets on trip distances, fares, payment types, passenger counts, distances, and so on.
DASL - The Data And Story Library is an archive of real data from a wide variety of topics in a searchable format intended for use as a teaching/learning aide for any level of statistics learning. Lets you search for datafiles according to statistics display or method, by text matches, or by title. (backup link)
Computer Science Courses Open Educational Resources (OER)
Code.org AP Computer Science Principles Free - An inquiry and project-based curriculum designed for beginners using the code.org platform online. Geared for 10-12 grade students who have completed Algebra 1/Math I with a preference for Geometry/Math II. Includes in-person workshops and materials, planning, teacher supports and PD, student support, printouts, assignments, assessments, videos, and more. Can be offered using web-based hardware (eg, Chromebooks). See also the free 6-10 course "Computer Science Discoveries."
Computational Mathematics Courses Outlines Free - Provides outlines for integrated computational mathematics tasks for classical high school courses (AGA, Pre-calc, AP stats) and an Algorithms course. Computational Mathematics promotes the standards for mathematical practice, builds a deep understanding of mathematical concepts, and develops skills that are widely useful in our modern world. Here is a video the author made that gives a tour of the content and ideology.
CEMC Computer Science Courses - Includes "Python from Scratch," "Web Basics," and a more advanced "Web Programming" course. Designed and updated by the University of Waterloo and targeted toward older students (think 8-12 grade students with an average baseline of "Could Pass Algebra 1). Includes videos and practice prompts using an embedded code engine that self-checks student code and provides limited feedback if things are going wrong.
Math Curricula Open Educational Resources (OER)
Do the Math -- Save a Life Math Unit |8-12th| - A collection of 6 highly engaging math tasks focused on 9th-grade algebra using real data from the Idaho crash data dashboard from your home town (or towns of choice). Includes presentations and guides that help teachers implement research-based practices during the lessons. Can be taught one-off or in series. Includes an optional capstone project giving recommendations to the Idaho Transportation Department.
Georgia Department of Education (GADOE) Inspire Courses |K-5, 6-8, 9-12| - A massive library of courses for math and many other subjects created in 2023. There are 22 distinct and complete high school courses including the standards and courses such as finite algebra, mathematics of industry and government, advanced mathematical decision making, college readiness math, and some co-requisite course supporting documents for AGA (utilizing the GADOE AGA content). Assessment banks are available only to Georgia Educators.
Open Up Resources (OUR) |K-5, 6-8, 9-12| - includes ELA and Math open educational resources for K-5, 6-8, and 9-12. The K-5 and 6-8 materials use Illustrative Mathematics materials while high school materials use Mathematics Vision Project (MVP) materials. Open-up is a task-based curriculum that includes warmups, assessments and quizzes, course guides, standards alignments, vocabulary charts, unit narratives, prerequisites, math language routines, sample family letters, and so on. Requires a free account to access materials.
Illustrative Mathematics (IM) - |K-5, 6-8, 9-12| - An inquiry/problem-based curriculum with rich tasks, integrated support to teachers for research-based practices, and a high level of rigor. Lessons are based on the 5 Practices for Orchestrating Effective Mathematical Discussions framework. IM 6-8 is currently the oldest and most polished of the group, but other IM curricula continue to be revised and updated in 2022. While multiple publishers are happy to provide PD support and charge for text materials, the curriculum itself is an open educational resource. For example, Desmos has a paid, interactive version of IM curriculum and Geogebra has published free interactive tasks for each IM unit. Some teacher support materials are available. The Open-Up version for K-5 and 6-8 (free registration and verification required) online includes assessments, cooldowns, student practice, etc.
Imagine Math (free to Idaho Teachers/Students) will also offer their flavor of Illustrative Mathematics curriculum starting in 2024.
Skew the Script - At a Title I school on the southside of San Antonio, an AP® Stats teacher threw out his curriculum and made lessons on topics his students actually cared about: voter power, food deserts, online dating, sports, and more. That year, more students at the school took and passed the AP® Exam than in the previous 16 years combined. The teacher created skewthescript.org (named after their class motto) and posted the lessons online for free. Within weeks, thousands of teachers across the country were using them. Now, Skew The Script is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that offers free, relevant math lessons for AP Statistics, Algebra I, and Algebra II (with more courses coming soon).
Youcubed 4-week Algebra Unit |6-12| - Starts with some excellent activities that build a "culture of multi-dimensional mathematics and equitable group work", followed by some projects that help to introduce algebraic concepts "at any grade level". "When students start learning algebra by solving for x they come to believe that a variable stands for a single number and does not vary. Later when they need to understand that variables can vary, they meet a conceptual barrier, and many do not ever get past that barrier. We recommend that students learn first about pattern growth and see that algebra can be useful for describing growth."
MathMontana SIMMS - An OER complete high school math curriculum with a STEM pathway and a non-STEM pathway. Includes units centered on real-world contexts with hands-on activities to help students grasp concepts first. For example, "What mathematical skills did the ancient Egyptians use to build the pyramids? In this module, you explore some of the theories regarding the construction of these architectural wonders -- and see how modern mathematical knowledge could have made part of the job much simpler." The teacher guides are full of notes for instruction, anticipated misconceptions and struggles, and samples anticipating what student work might look like. Here is a backup folder with their most recently updated materials in case the site goes down.
Math Medic - an OER (free sign-in required) Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus, and AP Stats series of units and lessons. Lessons follow the Experience First, Formalize Later (EFFL) framework, which has many similarities to the Five Practices framework. Their unique approach to exploring concepts at the start of units tends to be engaging and accessible (for example, the systems of equations unit intro). Includes unit overviews, learning targets, and standards alignment. Search lessons for particular standards or subjects. The blog materials (like these classroom mini-games) are worth perusing. We can't comment on the paid assessment system.
When Math Happens - A detailed set of lesson outlines for Algebra 1 and Geometry in a 180-day schedule by Dane Ehlert. Includes estimation 180 intros, warmups, unpacking quizzes, materials such as card sorts, spiraling practice questions, engaging and original three-act tasks, Desmos tasks, quizzes, extension problems, and questions from many of the standardized tests (ACT, SAT, TEA, etc). The content references research-based practices such as routines for reasoning and provides simple learning goals. The student section of the website has many explanation videos, practice problems, and all of the worksheets and keys. Also, check out his fabulous (and short) standards-based grading workshop videos.
Algebra: Themes, Tools, Concepts - An Algebra textbook (now OER) that was ahead of its time in 1994 -- includes some good tasks, a chapter on modeling, a chapter on making decisions (more modeling), and a focus on connecting ideas and concepts instead of just individual concepts. Also contains some explicit instruction and notes typical of math textbooks in the 90s -- in some cases in a way that lends to inquiry and discovery, and in other cases in a way that might spoil discovery. The Teacher's edition embraces some of the ideas of "mathematical reform" that were budding at NCTM at the time and provides good learning targets and other teacher supports.
Baylor University's Co-requisite Supplement for Calculus I - "This OER was designed to provide 'just in time' support for the algebraic, trigonometric, and geometric relationships undergirding Calculus 1."
CEMC Math Courses - Includes grades 7-12 math online courses designed and updated by the University of Waterloo in Ontario and aligned to The Ontario Curriculum Math Courses. Each module includes an interesting "try this" application problem, video lessons, automated practice (mostly DOK 1), and some traditional textbook-like homework problems. We (along with modern research) do not suggest using this kind of traditional sit-and-get approach in a classroom setting, but the videos and practice are useful as supplemental materials. The "Problem Solving and Mathematical Discovery" course uses rich, non-routine tasks and is more interesting as a stand-alone course.
Linear Algebra Foundations to Frontiers OER Materials - Linear Algebra courses that are generally intended for undergrads and/or self-motivated individuals. Includes a full set of "notes" (a textbook), hundreds of instructional videos, and a software package that can be used on mac/windows/linux/browser. The EdX free online versions typically run for 15 weeks and require 6-10 hours per week of work. Free "audit" access to online materials expires after the single 15-week period, while a student could pay for the $99 "verified track" (using GEM funds perhaps) and take the course over a full year at a slower pace.
Applied Algebra I & Applied Algebra II from Doug Gardner @ Rogue Community College - An algebra II course, funded by an NSF grant circa 2014, that uses tasks from various real-world situations as the basis for the course. Includes a textbook with tasks, projects, Excel sheets (this course uses a lot of spreadsheets), detailed solutions, tests, and standards alignment docs. Backup downloads are available here.
Finance Curriculum Open Educational Resources (OER)
Next Gen Personal Finance Financial Algebra Course and Activities - NGPF Math provides FREE curriculum and resources that weave real-world personal finance applications with rigorous math instruction tailored for a 9-10th grade level. Topics include percentages, equations, functions, linear equations and inequalities, systems of equations, exponents, logarithms, stats, probability, and spreadsheet logic including loan payments, budgeting, and investing.
See also Oregon's excellent "Financial Algebra" blueprint that uses these NGPF materials while also incorporating more collaboration and project-based instructional practices. Oregon's version is slightly more rigorous and was made to be an appropriate math course for 11-12 grade students and/or as an alternative for Algebra II. (backup link)
Launch Years Resource Kit via Dana Center
In Launch Years: A New Vision for the Transition from High School to Postsecondary Mathematics, seven recommendations offer concrete strategies to establish policies, practices, and structures that enable students to transition seamlessly from high school to postsecondary and toward fulfilling careers and active participation in our data-driven society. The Launch Years Resource Kit website summarizes those seven recommendations with links to more resources.
The Dana Center has also published course frameworks for modern math courses:
Modern Algebra II Course Framework | Data Science Course Framework | Transition to College Mathematics Course Framework