Rice University

Building upon 25 years as the world’s leading publisher of open education resources (OER), OpenStax, an educational initiative of Rice University, advances equitable access to learning materials, fosters deeper engagement among students, and contributes to research on enhancing educational outcomes using OER. This grant supports the OpenStax AmazEd initiative to deepen their library with corequisite and skill-based content; to support educators and students through an equity-centered platform with interactive, AI-supported experiences; and to enable research to understand student motivation, engagement, and persistence. (Substrategy: Content, Tools, and Services)

The National Network of Education Research-Practice Partnerships at Rice University is a professional learning community supporting collaboration among researchers and practitioners working in education. The group will work with Stanford University; the University of Colorado, Boulder; and the National Center for Research in Policy and Practice to build capacity in the field for partnership research. The goal is to make educational research more useful and impactful and ultimately to support equitable outcomes in education. (Strategy: K-12 Teaching and Learning)

OpenStax at Rice University prepares students for a rapidly changing world by creating free, high-quality OER integrated with learning technologies to personalize education for all students. With this grant, OpenStax will accelerate the expansion of open textbooks for high-enrollment postsecondary courses, while opening new markets in the most sought-after and growing degree programs.This grant serves key goals for the Education Program, including increasing availability of high-quality student learning opportunities, facilitating a strong and growing technology and research partnership ecosystem, and prioritizing principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in course development (Strategy: Open Educational Resources)