I began my teaching career in 1987 and, by 2011, I had already gotten used to the 40 to 50 minute period that most high school schedules implement. That's why I knew that, when I began teaching an afternoon Integrated Algebra class at a Jewish boys' high school in Brooklyn for the 2011-12 academic year, their 30 minute periods would take some getting used to. I knew we couldn't waste time having students take notes and copy problems into their notebooks, or even flip through pages of a textbook to find the explanations and exercises related to the class. So, I created and handed out a new multi-page worksheet every day.
Each worksheet started with a concise explanation of just the main concepts (which I called the "Key Ideas") that the students would need to complete the related Regents questions. Next, I wrote out a "Model Problem" and its solution which I demonstrated on the board without the students having to copy. We then worked through one or two "Practice Problems" together that I had created for them, often with students explaining their steps. This was followed by students working through problems on their own or in pairs while I walked around to observe and help. Sometimes, we needed to pause to go over a more difficult problem together. Finally, I assigned them some Regents Questions for homework. The next day, we went over the homework and a new worksheet was handed out.
I found this daily process saved a lot of time and allowed us to get through the entire curriculum despite meeting for only 30 minutes a day and only 4 days a week. The students performed very well on the June Regents exam, with over 85% passing and more than 75% earning at least an 80.
When the year was over, I realized that, by combining these worksheets into a book, I could create a workbook that other Integrated Algebra teachers could benefit from them. So, I published my first Course Workbook in 2012-13 and started the company, Course Workbooks (spelled as two words at the time), in 2013.
In 2013-14, New York State had begun to shift the curriculum from Integrated Algebra to a new Common Core Algebra I, and the timing couldn't have been better. I created a workbook that helped teachers transition from Integrated Algebra to Common Core Algebra by including and labelling topics from both curricula in one book. Having this book published and available on Amazon before any of the major textbook publishers had committed to the new curriculum led to a huge increase in sales. The following year, the book was updated to just cover the Common Core standards.
From the 2014-15 through the 2016-17 academic years, the Algebra I workbooks were updated with the new Regents questions and published annually. Then, a Geometry workbook was added in 2017-18 and an Algebra II book in 2019-20. All three of these books have been updated annually ever since.
The four colors on the CourseWorkBooks logo were always meant to represent the four levels of math publications I had planned to write: Algebra I (green), Geometry (blue), Algebra II (yellow), and Calculus (red). Unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to writing the Calculus book yet, but I'm still hopeful that will happen (along with a PreCalculus book in orange).
I retired from teaching after the 2019-20 school year. In 2021, CourseWorkBooks, Inc., was formed, with the company name now stylized with no spaces and initial caps for CWB.
A new Statistics workbook (in purple) was added in 2022-23 and was intended for an introductory college course, but this was edited and reorganized to align closely to the AP Statistics curriculum in 2024-25.
Having generated over $1M in revenue over the last 10 years, CourseWorkBooks is dedicated to growing to meet schools' needs. We've recently added instructional videos and upgraded our eBooks offerings. We are now working on redesigning our website and shopping cart, with this new design expected to go live November 1st. By January 1st, we will begin using a new fulfillment center, located in our warehouse in New Jersey, to fill our orders and ship books to customers and schools within days instead of weeks. Check out our News Page for more information about these recent and upcoming changes.
I feel confident that CourseWorkBooks is well positioned for continued success moving forward. If there's any way I can help improve CourseWorkBooks to better meet your school's needs, please feel free to shoot me an email. Many of the company's best decisions came from customers' suggestions.
-- Donny Brusca, President