Evaluation Information for the UFDC Teacher Resources Collection

Any educator, including K12 teachers, teacher education faculty, public librarians, pre-service teachers, media specialists, and graduate students, may submit a lesson or other open educational resource that uses UFDC content for inclusion in the UFDC Teacher Resources Collection. All submitted teacher resources will have a Creative Commons License of Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC).

Evaluation Process of Lessons and Other Curriculum Materials Submitted

Lesson plans and other curriculum materials submitted are subject to a double-blind review process prior to release in the open UFDC Teacher Resources Collection. Templates are available for new lessons or evaluation tools, and are linked from the Submit a Lesson page. Submitters are free to upload lessons in their own format, but reviewers will only approve lessons that have the same criteria as in the template. Using the templates provided may expedite the review process, which may take two to eight weeks. Review the FAQ for additional information on requirements for developing lessons, registration and submission process for new materials.

Submitters should consider this general review process when creating their lesson plan submission:

1. The curator will examine each item within a week of receipt. The curator will contact authors to inform them if their curriculum material: has been selected for review; requires additional information; is clearly outside of the scope or format of the UFDC TRC; or should be included in another UFDC collection.
2. Materials within the scope of the UFDC TRC will be sent to at least two reviewers. For this process, the authors' names and other identifying materials are blocked out or deleted.
3. Reviewers address the content and style of the material. Reviewers should use the evaluator checklist if applicable. Main areas of consideration for all teaching resources are:
   • Does the curriculum material make use of/integrate UFDC and are aligned to educational standards?
   • Is the method and use of UFDC material appropriate to the subject?
   • Does the author communicate the goals and activities clearly?
4. Reviewers send the curator their evaluation, identifying that the material should be:
   • Accepted: the curator will finalize the process and accept the materials based on a peer review process. The material will be made public and an email with URL to the resource will be sent to the author.
   • Accepted with revision: reviewers can add notes and recommended changes to their reviews and provide input to increase the quality of the lesson. The curator will contact the author and ask that they revise within two weeks for reconsideration. Once resubmitted, reviewers will be asked to reevaluate the material.
   • Rejected: the curator will contact the author with the decision and offer notes/recommended changes so that the author can choose to submit new material.

UFDC TRC Review Advisory Board

To achieve a balance between administrative and library oversight, the UFDC TRC Review Advisory Board draws its members from constituencies with an investment in the quality and growth of the collection resources and associated tools. This Advisory is composed of College of Education faculty and graduate students, along with the curator for the collection, and educators throughout the state of Florida. This Board is responsible for advising in the planning of collection resources and in the review of submitted materials. They will assist the curator with soliciting reviewers for the curriculum materials as they are submitted.

Reviewers

Reviewers may be solicited by the UFDC TRC Review Advisory Board or may self-nominate to serve as a reviewer. Reviewers may include Education Library staff, College of Education faculty and graduate students, Advisory Board members, if appropriate, K12 teachers and other solicited individuals.

(Download as Word Doc) Evaluator Checklist for Lesson Plans