Commissioner of Education Michael L. Williams today announced the expansion of student resources through Project Share, the Texas Education Agency’s on-line learning community, throughout the 2012-13 fall semester. Updated OnTRACK Lessons for secondary English, math, science, and social studies subjects are available at no cost to local school districts.

“Project Share continues to grow at a phenomenal rate with approximately 100,000 accounts being added each week,” said Williams. “This rapid growth represents a valuable opportunity to work with districts and learn how best to provide online resources to ensure student success.”

Launched in November 2009, Project Share provides student resources, professional development courses, academic networking, and professional learning communities to Texas educators and students.

OnTRACK Lessons are aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) of each subject, such as Algebra I and Biology, and are designed to supplement classroom instruction with additional practice and extension activities. If a district elects to use the OnTRACK Lessons, copies of each online course are available for import through its education service center (ESC). ESC staff is available to provide training and support as districts implement the lessons.

In addition, TEA is also in the process of updating all OnTRACK material to include additional lessons focusing on TEKS that often require deeper learning and practice. Updated lessons are scheduled to be available by the beginning of the spring semester. Grade 8 OnTRACK Lessons in ELA, math, science, and social studies will also be available for district use during the spring semester. 

Project Share now boasts more than 60 online professional development courses provided at no cost to all public K-12 educators, over 50 collections in Texas Education on iTunes U, career and technical education (CTE) professional development courses for mathematics or science, and updated versions of all OnTRACK lessons.

The Project Share Gateway (www.projectsharetexas.org) continues to expand. Visitors to the gateway will also see new components added throughout the fall. These components will lead to new online resources including the Middle School Students in Texas: Algebra Ready (MSTAR) Universal Screener, Texas SUCCESS resources in reading and math, and the Texas Achievement Items Repository (TxAIR).