Questioning the quality of instructional materials isn’t new to the digital education era. But with the rise of OER, growing use of supplemental resources over core textbooks, and the increasing flexibility of state funding, more purchasing decisions have moved to the school and district level. Thus, there is the potential for more disparity in the quality of materials from school to school. Confronted by concerns from their members that schools and districts might not be buying the best quality resources, SETDA updated its Guide to Quality Instructional Materials, which was introduced during the edWebinar “From Print to Digital: Discover and Implement Quality Instructional Materials for Learning.” The emphasis of the Guide, said Christine Fox, Deputy Executive Director for SETDA, is not on critiquing specific content but in helping educators develop an ongoing review process and giving content providers a concrete outline for how the process should work.
