Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to common questions about the Ohio Resource Center for Mathematics, Science, and Reading, including contact information.
- What is ORC?
- What does ORC do for teachers?
- How do I contact ORC?
- What browser is best for viewing the ORC website?
- How much does it cost to use the ORC website?
- Do I have to register to access the information on ORC's website?
- Why is ORC limited to the areas of mathematics, science, and reading?
- Do ORC staff members provide professional development for school districts?
- Do teacher candidates learn about ORC?
- How do the ORC website and the Ohio Department of Education's Instructional Management System (IMS) complement each other?
- Where can I find information about Ohio's academic content standards and national standards?
- How are resources selected for inclusion in ORC's collection?
- Where can I find ORC's rubric for best practices?
- How do I find discipline-specific resources on ORC?
- How does ORC find its resources?
- What is included in the different categories of resources on ORC's website?
- Are there resources for every benchmark and indicator?
- What can I learn about a resource from the full record?
- What is the ORC number given to each resource?
- Can I use the ORC number to search for a resource?
- How does someone submit materials to ORC?
1. What is ORC?
The Ohio Resource Center for Mathematics, Science, and Reading was established in 1999 by the Ohio Legislature to provide Ohio's preK–16 teachers and teacher educators with high-quality Internet-based resources in the areas of mathematics, science, and reading. These materials can be accessed at the ORC website, http://www.ohiorc.org.
2. What does ORC do for teachers?
The resources posted on ORC's website are carefully aligned to the State of Ohio standards, providing an excellent way to help teachers implement these standards in their classrooms.
3. How do I contact ORC?
By email:
web@ohiorc.org
By mail:
Ohio Resource Center
1929 Kenny Road, Suite 400
Columbus, OH 43210
By phone:
Phone: (614) 247-6342
Fax: (614) 292-2066
4. What browser is best for viewing the ORC website?
We suggest you use the most current version of your browser to achieve the best display.
To download the most recent version of Internet Explorer, visit
www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.asp.
For the most recent version of Firefox, visit
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/.
For the most recent version of Safari (for Mac), visit
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/safari.html.
5. How much does it cost to use the ORC website?
Because ORC is fully funded by the Ohio Legislature, our website is free for individuals, school districts, and institutions of higher learning. The core funding has been around $850,000, or a little less than 50 cents per K-12 Ohio student. For more information, go to About ORC.
6. Do I have to register to access the information on ORC's website?
Although registration is free, we do not require users to register in order to use our services. For those who do register, we provide updates on website content and ORC Highlights. Registered users also can use the ORC bookmarking system.
7. Why is ORC limited to the areas of mathematics, science, and reading?
The language the Ohio Legislature used to create ORC limited the scope of work to the named areas. There is, however, an online social studies resource center that can be accessed at http://www.ossrc.org. The social studies center is a joint project of the Ohio Board of Regents, the Ohio Department of Education, the Ohio Historical Society, the Ohio Geographic Alliance, and other partners.
8. Do ORC staff members provide professional development for school districts?
ORC has a very small staff, but we try to accommodate requests for information about how to use our services. Preference is given to interdistrict groups and regional entities. Many districts provide professional development to teachers by having a district staff member work with ORC staff to develop a specific plan and customized presentation for using and sharing information about ORC.
9. Do teacher candidates learn about ORC?
ORC is working with higher education institutions that are a part of Ohio's Centers of Excellence to gather data about ORC usage in higher education. Many of Ohio's teacher education institutions use ORC in methods classes.
10. How do the ORC website and the Ohio Department of Education's Instructional Management System (IMS) complement each other?
The IMS is the State Board-approved model curriculum. It contains useful information about Ohio's standards-based educational system. In addition to sample lessons and a lesson template, the site contains information about:
- Using standards-based education as a process for improving instruction and learning
- Planning standards-based instruction
- Building lessons and units that incorporate the academic content standards
- Classroom and state assessments
Future plans for the IMS include model curricula for mathematics, language arts, science, social studies, technology, foreign language, and the arts.
The ORC website contains resources for mathematics, science, and reading that help districts and teachers implement the academic content standards. Presently the website provides access to more than 3,800 resources. We will continue to add new resources and refine our collection to provide ongoing support to teachers, administrators, supervisors, and teacher educators.
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11. Where can I find information about Ohio's academic content standards and national standards?
An easy way to access either Ohio's academic content standards or national content standards for mathematics, science, and English language arts is to go to the ORC website and select the appropriate link from the left navigation in blue. You can also access each set of Ohio standards from its discipline page (for example, for Mathematics Educators).
12. How are resources selected for inclusion in ORC's collection?
ORC has established review boards in mathematics, science, and reading, composed of preK–16 educators from around Ohio, to develop and implement screening criteria for resources to be posted on the ORC site. These boards review potential resources using ORC's managed review process, which is based on a rubric for best practices that ensures the selection of exemplary mathematics, science, and reading materials. ORC reviewers and content specialists use the rubric to make judgments about each resource's alignments with Ohio's academic content standards and accountability system. Users of the rubric must have a solid knowledge of content, curriculum, instruction, assessment, and research.
13. Where can I find ORC's rubric for best practices?
A link to the ORC Resource Review Rubric can be found in the About ORC section of our website, or you can go to http://www.ohiorc.org/about/rubric.aspx.
14. How do I find discipline-specific resources on ORC?
To find resources by discipline, you can use ORC's search engine. You can search for resources using topics, keywords, or other variables. You may also browse by content area. On the top red navigation bar you can select for Mathematics Educators, for Science Educators, or for Reading Educators. You can then choose to browse by topic or by grade level. The final way to find resources is by choosing the option to Browse ORC Resources > Ohio Standards. Users can select a discipline area, a standard within that area, and then the benchmark or grade-level indicator of interest. Results will include all ORC resources that have been correlated to that benchmark or indicator.
15. How does ORC find its resources?
Most ORC resources are "mined" from the Internet. ORC staff and Review Board members spend untold hours locating potentially appropriate resources. They search for resources on websites of professional associations, other states, institutions of higher education, and commercial and other educational providers. A few resources on the ORC website have been produced specifically for us.
16. What is included in the different categories of resources on ORC's website?
Instructional resources are lesson plans that have been reviewed by the Review Board Members to ensure that they meet the 15 criteria established by the rubric for best practices. These materials can be used as-is by classroom teachers.
- Best practice instructional resources received favorable peer reviews, scoring high ratings based on alignment to Ohio's academic content standards, evidence of research, quality, and usability.
- Promising practice instructional resources reflect widely known and generally accepted research bases, or are emerging strategies that indicate potential for becoming a best practice.
Professional resources support professional knowledge and development of best practices and effective classroom instruction. Professional resources may include national standards, research articles, policy documents, and books published online. ORC also provides select professional development opportunities to teach educators how to use its resources in the implementation of standards.
Content resources provide content support for implementation of best practices and effective classroom instruction. Content resources include data sets, digital images, reference materials, tutorials, and applets.
Assessment resources are assessment items or tasks correlated to Ohio and national standards, often from large-scale projects such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) or the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Data about student performance are included when available.
General education resources are not specific to the content areas of mathematics, science, or reading, but have been deemed appropriate for inclusion in an educational database designed to support effective educational practice.
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17. Are there resources for every benchmark and indicator?
Currently, ORC provides resources aligned to more than 90 percent of the benchmarks and 90 percent of the grade-level indicators for each of the three disciplines. ORC's goal is to provide resources of all types (instructional, assessment, etc.) aligned to each of the benchmarks and indicators.
18. What can I learn about a resource from the full record?
The full record for each resource in the ORC collection gives an overview of the resource, offers guidelines for instructional use, and provides standards, benchmarks, and grade-level indicators addressed by the resource.
The first section of each record lists the title of the resource, its ORC number, and its URL. A seal is added for those instructional resources that have been rated as best practice by the ORC review boards.
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| In the second section of each record, a professional commentary features a summary of the resource, highlighting its particular strengths and limitations. It includes a description of materials and links found at the website and offers hints for instructional practice. For resources with a contextual application for career-technical education, additional ideas for implementation are given in the career application. |
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| The third section of each record provides connections to national and state standards. Each resource is evaluated, in part, based on its alignment to state and national standards. The correlations listed in this section reflect the content, skills, and strategies presented in the resource. |
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| The right-hand column of the full record lists the resource type, the practice level (best or promising) for instructional resources, the grade levels based on state standards, and the applicable career fields for those resources with a career application. Also included here are related topics, any specific ORC projects where the resource may also be found, keywords, and information about the publisher and copyright. |
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19. What is the ORC number given to each resource?
The ORC number is the unique number assigned to each resource. It is a convenient way to identify particular materials if you are contacting ORC or working with colleagues. You can find the ORC number at the top of an ORC brief record or at the top of an ORC full record.
20. Can I use the ORC number to search for a resource?
Go to the Search Resources page, and enter the ORC number in the text box at the bottom left-hand side.
21. How does someone submit materials to ORC?
ORC regularly reviews resources recommended by visitors to our website. To be considered for inclusion in the ORC collection, resources must meet the following criteria:
- Resources must be available through free access on the Internet.
- Resources must address an area of instruction in mathematics, science, or reading/language arts, and
- All materials submitted for consideration must display a unique URL or web address that allows users to link directly to the item.
To submit a resource to ORC, email us at web@ohiorc.org. In your email message, be sure to include the title of the resource, the URL or web address, and a brief description of the resource. Insert "recommended resource" in the subject line of your message. All recommended resources are screened by ORC staff. Instructional resources that meet the requirements for initial screening are forwarded to the Review Board for evaluation.
To learn more about the ORC review process for instructional resources, go to 12. How are resources selected for inclusion in ORC's collection?
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