Promoting Equity Through Localization and High-Quality Instructional Materials: Bringing Together Practitioners, Researchers, and Designers

Over the last decade, K-12 science education has seen the development and surge in comprehensive high-quality instructional materials designed to address standards aligned with the Framework for K-12 Science Education. Meanwhile, localization—organizing instruction around local phenomena and incorporating students’ social, cultural, and linguistic resources—has been proposed as a way to better connect science instruction to students’ interests and the priorities of their local communities. Both localization and high-quality instructional materials have been found to support equitable learning opportunities and outcomes in K-12 science education. However, there are many unresolved questions in science education about how to best leverage the advantages of localization in the context of high-quality instructional materials, which are typically developed at a national scale. This project will support a conference series, including an in-person gathering and virtual follow-up meetings, that will bring together teachers, researchers, education leaders, and instructional material designers to investigate these questions. Participants will come together to build a shared understanding of how to integrate the use of high-quality instructional materials with the benefits of localizing these materials to better address students’ contexts and backgrounds. By fostering dialogue, sharing models, and setting priorities for future research and design, the project seeks to build knowledge about inclusive, effective and culturally responsive approaches to science instruction that will advance equitable science education in K–12 classrooms.

This one-year conference project primarily focuses on the promise and challenges involved in integrating localization with comprehensive high-quality instructional materials to enhance equitable learning outcomes in K-12 science education. The project will organize an in-person conference followed by a series of four follow-up virtual meetings involving a diverse group of fifty participants, including teachers, district leaders, state education agency leaders, researchers, and instructional materials designers. Methods will include collaborative discussions, presentations of existing models, and evidence-based analyses to clarify definitions and identify priorities for future research and design efforts. The outcomes will be a proposed research and design agenda for the localization of high-quality instructional materials, along with practical examples and models of current approaches. These outcomes will be disseminated beyond the conference, targeting practitioners, designers, and researchers through co-authored conference presentations and publications, as well as shared via teacher social media, newsletters, and professional learning communities. By addressing the inherent tension between national-scale usability of high-quality instructional materials and the need for culturally and locally relevant instruction, this project aims to spur innovation and contribute to the development of truly equitable science instructional materials, ultimately advancing the field of science education.