Curriculum

Curriculum Materials Designed for the Next Generation Science Standards Show Promise

This report describes initial findings from a study of middle school science curriculum materials that were designed to promote learning as called for by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

WestEd led an independent randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of the NGSS-designed Amplify Science Middle School (ASMS) curriculum. This study examined the impact of the materials in 7th grade classrooms across three school districts in two states.

Author/Presenter

Christopher J. Harris

Mingyu Feng

Robert Murphy

Daisy W. Rutstein

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2022
Short Description

This report describes initial findings from a study of middle school science curriculum materials that were designed to promote learning as called for by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Influence of Features of Curriculum Materials on the Planned Curriculum

The study explored the verb clauses and thematic development evident in curriculum materials and in transcripts of teachers planning lessons using the materials. A central argument is that though teacher characteristics influence the ways they plan lessons with curriculum materials, the materials themselves influence teachers’ planned lessons via the ways mathematics is construed in the materials. We used verb clause and thematic analysis to analyze the features of curriculum materials and teachers’ lesson planning using those materials.

Author/Presenter

Jeffrey Choppin

Jon Davis

Amy Roth McDuffie

Corey Drake

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2021
Short Description

This study explored the verb clauses and thematic development evident in curriculum materials and in transcripts of teachers planning lessons using the materials.

EDC Earth Science

This high school curriculum offers over 61 data-intensive Earth Science investigations, all set in real-world contexts and includes a variety of other activities, including topical fiction and non-fiction readings and research projects and presentations that build critical life and scientific literacy skills. 

Author/Presenter

Ruth Krumhansl

Year
2015
Short Description

This high school curriculum offers over 61 data-intensive Earth Science investigations, all set in real-world contexts and includes a variety of other activities, including topical fiction and non-fiction readings and research projects and presentations that build critical life and scientific literacy skills. 

Earth Science Resources

This online collection of transformative geoscience resources includes Earth system models, data visualization tools, and curriculum modules. Each module is designed for middle and high school students and is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Teacher Editions, which include detailed background information, tips, and exemplar student responses, are available to help teachers guide their students through each module.

Author/Presenter

Amy Pallant

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2021
Short Description

This online collection of transformative geoscience resources includes Earth system models, data visualization tools, and curriculum modules. Each module is designed for middle and high school students and is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Teacher Editions, which include detailed background information, tips, and exemplar student responses, are available to help teachers guide their students through each module. Classroom management tools, reports, and a real-time dashboard to help teachers track their students' progress are also available through the Learn portal. Validated pre- and post-assessments for each module are provided.

Earth Science Resources

This online collection of transformative geoscience resources includes Earth system models, data visualization tools, and curriculum modules. Each module is designed for middle and high school students and is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Teacher Editions, which include detailed background information, tips, and exemplar student responses, are available to help teachers guide their students through each module.

Author/Presenter

Amy Pallant

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2021
Short Description

This online collection of transformative geoscience resources includes Earth system models, data visualization tools, and curriculum modules. Each module is designed for middle and high school students and is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Teacher Editions, which include detailed background information, tips, and exemplar student responses, are available to help teachers guide their students through each module. Classroom management tools, reports, and a real-time dashboard to help teachers track their students' progress are also available through the Learn portal. Validated pre- and post-assessments for each module are provided.

I-Engineering Curriculum Resources

In the "How can I make my classroom more sustainable?" unit,  teachers and students collaboratively investigate how to make their classrooms more sustainable.  Using the teaching/learning process of Engineering for Sustainable Communities (EfSC), and two design challenges, students engage meaningfully in both the practices of engineering and the disciplinary core ideas of energy systems, transformations and sources (within the contexts of circuitry & renewable energy).

Author/Presenter

The I-Engineering Team

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2019
Short Description

In the "How can I make my classroom more sustainable?" unit,  teachers and students collaboratively investigate how to make their classrooms more sustainable.  Using the teaching/learning process of Engineering for Sustainable Communities (EfSC), and two design challenges, students engage meaningfully in both the practices of engineering and the disciplinary core ideas of energy systems, transformations and sources (within the contexts of circuitry & renewable energy). To make engineering more accessible to a wider range of learners, I-Engineering situates the engineering work in real world contexts and constraints, and focuses on both the technical and social dimensions to design work.

Mathematically Captivating Learning Experiences

Learning experiences that spur student curiosity, captivate students with complex mathematical content, and compel students to engage and persevere (referred to as “mathematically captivating learning experiences” or “MCLEs”).

Author/Presenter

The MCLE Team

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2019
Short Description

Learning experiences that spur student curiosity, captivate students with complex mathematical content, and compel students to engage and persevere (referred to as “mathematically captivating learning experiences” or “MCLEs”). Designed using mathematical story framework, the content within mathematical lessons (both planned and enacted) is framed as mathematical stories and the felt tension between how information is revealed and withheld from students as the mathematical story unfolds is framed as its mathematical plot.

Getting Unstuck Scratch Curriculum

Getting Unstuck is a 10-module intermediate Scratch curriculum to help your students develop greater creative and conceptual fluency with code. The curriculum reimagines the classroom as a design studio: a culture of learning in which students explore, create, share, and reflect. Get started with the curriculum by reading the orientation, then explore the modules.

Author/Presenter

The Getting Unstuck Team

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2021
Short Description

Getting Unstuck is a 10-module intermediate Scratch curriculum to help your students develop greater creative and conceptual fluency with code. The curriculum reimagines the classroom as a design studio: a culture of learning in which students explore, create, share, and reflect. Get started with the curriculum by reading the orientation, then explore the modules.

STEP UP Curriculum

High school physics lessons designed to empower teachers, create cultural change, and inspire young women to pursue physics in college. The lessons build a counternarrative in the classroom, dismantling the commonly-held stereotypes of what physics is and who physicists are, which opens possibilities in students’ minds for pursuing physics in college.

Author/Presenter

The STEP UP Team

Year
2019
Short Description

High school physics lessons designed to empower teachers, create cultural change, and inspire young women to pursue physics in college. The lessons build a counternarrative in the classroom, dismantling the commonly-held stereotypes of what physics is and who physicists are, which opens possibilities in students’ minds for pursuing physics in college.

STEP UP Curriculum

High school physics lessons designed to empower teachers, create cultural change, and inspire young women to pursue physics in college. The lessons build a counternarrative in the classroom, dismantling the commonly-held stereotypes of what physics is and who physicists are, which opens possibilities in students’ minds for pursuing physics in college.

Author/Presenter

The STEP UP Team

Year
2019
Short Description

High school physics lessons designed to empower teachers, create cultural change, and inspire young women to pursue physics in college. The lessons build a counternarrative in the classroom, dismantling the commonly-held stereotypes of what physics is and who physicists are, which opens possibilities in students’ minds for pursuing physics in college.