Tool

Equity Rubric for Open Educational Resources (OER) Evaluation

May 2021 | Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity

This rubric from BranchED was developed to guide educators in evaluating Open Educational Resources (OER) for equity. Aimed at increasing high-quality, equity-oriented, and inclusive OER representing communities of color, the rubric assesses resources at specific dimensions and overall equity. Educators can compare total scores for resource selection or focus on dimension subscores when using the rubric as a filtering tool. The tool supports designing instructional materials with a high overall equity score, ensuring an iterative and equity-focused process. It is adaptable to various instructional materials beyond OER, and, as one of the first equity-focused rubrics for OER, it addresses a crucial gap. The rubric includes a linked glossary, explicit criteria, and “look fors,” enhancing clarity for users. Teacher and leader preparation programs can use this tool to evaluate equity in instructional material selection and design processes.