MEDIA ADVISORY
May 5, 2011
CONTACT: DeLaina Tonks, (801) 725.3396,
Open High School of Utah Wins Best of State Award for Curriculum Development – Building Customized Courses from the Ground Up
SALT LAKE CITY – What sets Open High School of Utah apart? Their curriculum. This 21st century, online charter school in its second year of operation has just been selected as the winner of Utah’s Best of State Award for Curriculum Development.
Competing with nominees that included such quality education institutions as Western Governor’s University, this prestigious honor was bestowed upon Open High School of Utah based on their ability to demonstrate both achievement and excellence in their field of endeavor as well as superior results and outcomes. Specifically, the school was judged based on innovation or creativity in approaches, techniques, methods or processes and contribution to improving the quality of life in Utah in the category of Education – Curriculum Development.
As an online school, technology rules at Open High where their approach embraces the idea that learning shouldn’t be as static as the textbooks on which it’s based. They build their customized curriculum from the ground up using open educational resources (OER). This innovative approach results in dynamic, engaging courses that can be easily modified to meet the individual needs of the student.
Open High School of Utah takes innovation one step further. In accordance with their charter mission, Open High actually shares their curriculum with anyone worldwide, for free, making them the first secondary school in the world to create curriculum from open educational resources and then share those courses back! The process of creating and sharing curriculum based on OER is similar to the advent of the printing press which made empowering information available to the masses rather than restricting it to a select few.
Designed specifically to meet the needs of the digital native generation, Open High School’s 21st century approach to curriculum development coupled with their personalized teaching methods have produced superior results. Their students’ criterion-reference test (CRT) scores soared over ten points above the state average in both Science and English, almost unheard of for a public school in their first year of operation!
Open High School of Utah is both honored and proud to be among the select few recognized as outstanding individuals, organizations and businesses in Utah chosen to be recipients of The Best of State Awards.
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The Open High School of Utah invites you to learn more about their teaching model and curriculum at www.openhighschool.org and by watching this brief video clip, courtesy of OpenSource.com.
The Open High School of Utah is putting the focus where it should be – on the student. Our mission is to facilitate lifelong success by meeting the needs of the 21st century learner through individualized, student-centered instruction, innovative technology, service learning, and personal responsibility.
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