A new study
of Florida elementary schools, published by Accelerate Learning, shows
that the more exposure students have to inquiry-based science through
the STEMscopes™
digital science curriculum, the better they perform on the Florida
Statewide Science Assessment.
During the 2017-18 school year, 133 elementary schools in 14 Florida
counties used the STEMscopes comprehensive, hands-on science curriculum
for fifth grade. On average, these schools had over 600 students who
were about 50 percent minority and predominantly economically
disadvantaged. The results of this study showed that the schools that
used STEMscopes more frequently were more likely to experience gains in
science proficiency. Overall, the STEMscopes schools improved their
science proficiency by an average of 3 percentage points. However,
schools that were high users of STEMscopes saw an average increase of 6
percentage points in proficiency, which was two points higher than the
average increase across the state. These results translate to an
additional 89 students meeting proficiency with high usage of STEMscopes.
“The results of this study show that teachers’ usage of STEMscopes is a
powerful predictor of student achievement in science,” said Dr. Vernon
Johnson, president and CEO of Accelerate Learning. “Florida teachers
tell us that STEMscopes engages students at a deeper level and helps
them build critical thinking skills and connect science to the real
world. They also say that the embedded support for teachers, such as
professional development videos and how-to guides, gets them excited to
teach science, which makes their students excited to learn science.”
STEMscopes provides teacher and student digital resources, supplemental
print materials, and hands-on exploration kits that build student
engagement and excitement for learning science. Each STEMscopes unit is
developed around the 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate)
model of instruction, with additional phases for Intervention and
Acceleration. STEMscopes can be used as a core science curriculum or
supplementary resource in traditional, blended, and 1:1 classroom
environments.
About Accelerate Learning
Incubated at Rice University, Accelerate Learning has grown from a
single product, STEMscopes, to a brand that now offers a variety of
curriculum and professional development solutions that support early
learning, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and state-aligned
curriculum. For more information, visit http://stemscopes.com
or call toll-free 800-531-0864.
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