What is STEMscopes?
At Ben Sheppard Elementary STEM Magnet School, the proficiency rate on the Florida Grade 5 Statewide Science Assessment climbed from 38 percent in 2016 to 49 percent in 2017. How did the Title I school raise its proficiency rate 11 percentage points while the average statewide proficiency rate remained flat at 51 percent? In 2016, the Title I school removed science textbooks from the classroom and implemented the STEMscopes™ digital STEM curriculum and hands-on exploration kits in kindergarten through fifth grade....
In 2015, the state of Alabama adopted a new framework for K-12 science education, the Alabama Course of Study: Science. This course of study includes science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas that students need to become college and career ready. To meet the new science standards, many Alabama districts are implementing STEMscopes Alabama, a STEM curriculum built from the 2015 Alabama Course of Study: Science. One such district is Talladega City Schools, which is located about 50 miles east of Birmingham...
During the 2016-2017 school year, five public school districts in Rhode Island, including Coventry Public Schools, used the STEMscopes NGSS digital science curriculum in their elementary schools. The 2017 results from the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) Science Assessment show that these districts outperformed the rest of the state on their fourth grade proficiency rates in science. Specifically, the five STEMscopes districts had an average science proficiency rate of 54.1 percent, and the state of Rhode Island had an average science proficiency rate of 40.6 percent...
At Horizon Elementary, a Title I school in Broward County Public Schools, the passing rate on the Florida Grade 5 Statewide Science Assessment jumped from 27 percent in 2016 to 48 percent in 2017. How did Horizon’s fifth grade teachers help their students make a gain of 21 percentage points in just one year? In 2016-17, they transformed their classrooms into active learning spaces for science with the STEMscopesTM digital science curriculum and hands-on exploration kits...
From 2016 to 2017, the average statewide passing rate on the STAAR® Grade 5 Science Assessment declined by 2 percentage points, dropping from 75 to 73 percent. Magnolia Independent School District (ISD) bucked this trend, raising its passing rate by 4 percentage points, with gains for students who are economically disadvantaged and English language learners (ELLs) as well. According to Magnolia's Director of Science Sheri Gallemore, students' growth was due to the diligent work of their teachers and the consistent use of the STEMscopesTM comprehensive science curriculum...
The Monterey County Office of Education (MCOE) Migrant Education Program Region 16 is California’s largest migrant region with more than 12,850 migrant students identified. To support migrant students in achieving academic success, several school districts in Region 16 use STEMscopesTM as the central curriculum in their Migrant Education Summer Academies. Students who use the online, comprehensive science curriculum have improved their content knowledge and skills — and developed a love for science...
The following report includes results comparing districts that use STEMscopes and districts that do not use STEMscopes on the science component of the 2017-2018 State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAARTM). The state of Texas creates benchmarks for proficiency in science and identifies students as not proficient, approaching grade-level proficiency, meeting grade-level proficiency, and mastering grade-level proficiency. The percent of students in each of these categories is used to determine the district's achievement in science. The percentage of students who approach grade-level proficiency is used by the state as the district passing rate. The key findings of the study include...
In Charlotte County Public Schools (CCPS), 57 percent of fifth graders passed the Florida Statewide Science Assessment in 2016, up from 50 percent in 2015. What changed from one school year to the next? In 2015-16, CCPS received a Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) grant and provided STEM teachers in all 10 elementary schools with the STEMscopesTM online, comprehensive science curriculum and in-depth professional development to enhance their content knowledge and teaching skills...
Findings from the State of Texas 2015-2016 STAARTM (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness) Release Tests, have revealed that STEMscopes district-users in the state of Texas have higher passing rates than districts that do not use STEMscopes. Analyses were using data from the 2015-2016 school year show that STEMscopes districts had a passing rate of 73.3% vs. 69.2% for districts without STEMscopes on the science STAAR. Subgroups including economically disadvantaged, Latino, LEP, and Bilingual/ESL students demonstrated that these populations had significantly higher passing rates in STEMscopes districts. These differences ranged from an increase of 2.8 percentage points to 4.8 percentage points...
In the 2015-2016 school year, the children who participated in the 2014-2015 implementation study were followed into kindergarten. All kindergarten students were assessed on their science and engineering skills throughout the school year. Specifically, students were assessed using the Children’s Learning Institute Engage, a comprehensive progress monitoring system that includes quantitative assessments across multiple domains of academic achievement...
It is the goal of STEMscopes to provide an inquiry-based curriculum, which incorporates the research-based, constructivist phases of the BSCS 5E Instructional Model, the Key Findings from the National Research Council’s report How People Learn (2000), the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), and an additional level of support for English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) and Response to Intervention (RtI) implementation for teachers as they meet the needs of all students in their classrooms. Within the development and delivery of the 5E+IA STEMscopes science curriculum model, teachers are provided a sequenced pathway, resources and support for meeting the needs of all students in all K-12 science classrooms...
STEMscopesTM Early Explorer makes STEM education accessible and easy for preschool teachers so that time spent on STEM instruction increases significantly. In a 2014-15 implementation study in Waco ISD, teachers reported spending an average of 36 minutes per day on STEM instruction, compared to the national average of 1 to 3 minutes spent on math and science in preschool classrooms...
An in-depth analysis and literature review of the creation of the 5E+IA lesson model and its impact when enacted on a 5th grade classroom. The following case study describes an adoption of the 5E+I/A inquiry model in an urban elementary school in the Southwest United States. Teachers in a 5th grade classroom focus pedagogical decisions on inquiry-based instruction and the relationship between inquiry and assessment, as well as organized feedback to support academic success. The study establishes ways in which the 5E+I/A model empowers teachers to leverage the diversity within classroom communities as a resource to intensify learning and support inquiry. Results illustrate the many ways that multi-level assessment makes student thinking visible while the value of integrating intervention and acceleration is an additional opportunity to learn...
Partnering with Bay and Escambia County Schools, Accelerate Learning conducted a year-long (2015-2016) initiative to improve 3rd-8th grade STEM teacher practices, as part of an MSP grant funded by the state of Florida. Participating teachers (n = 44) had access to the STEMscopes Florida curriculum, materials kits, and 60 hours of professional development (9 full-day trainings) aimed at improving science content knowledge and STEM instructional practices. Results show that participating teachers improved their STEM instructional practices and science content knowledge across the school year...
Dr. Elizabeth Bell explains how STEMscopes designs studies, conducts research, and acts on results using three unique methods.
