Science4Us just participated in it's first adoption. It was the Texas State Science Adoption. They did it via a third party that put together a coalition. This has me thinking about the adoption buying process and how Texas issues its proclamation of science K8 curriculum adoption.
The adoption process by states and school districts is a high-stakes way of buying and selling. Many states, primarily in the SE of the US, do a periodic (every 6 years for instance) adoption of curriculum for the state. A rotation might be:
Year 1 - Reading
Year 2 - Language Arts & Writing
Year 3 - Math
Year 4 - Science
Year 5 - Social Studies
Year 6 - Other
And repeat...
What the adoption means varies by state. Sometimes they select one curriculum and all the districts and schools must adopt it. Or they pick several and let the schools and districts decide among the short-list. Sometimes they allow the schools to buy from the adopted curriculum with state funding assistance but not if they buy outside of the adopted.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Science Education
I started this blog in February of 2009 with a colleague as a way to explore the needs and possibilities for upgrading science education for elementary school students in the US. As it turns out, I saw a huge need for a better education for the kids in K-2nd to build science knowledge, interest, and confidence.
It seemed a national disaster that in 4th grade, most of our students were:
It seemed a national disaster that in 4th grade, most of our students were:
- Below grade level in science knowledge and skills
- Saying that they were not interested in science
- Believing that they were bad in science
To make matters were, it was the disproportionately the minorities (except the Asians) and girls who fell into the self-defeating category. Frankly, STEM careers are a growth area and we should be steering far more of our students into it.
So, I put my money were my mouth was and started development of a curriculum that I felt could address the problem. I spent a great deal of money. I just counted on my fingers and I can say that I spent "well into seven figures." (Most specifically, the company that I own spent the money). We funded it from cash flow.
The product is now available and we are beginning to take it to market. We've already been through four phases of field testing: two were considered alpha, two beta. During our development, the NGSS standards were released and we cover them thoroughly. Cover means we introduce concepts, we teach them, we practice them, we reinforce them, and we assess on them. It's a full curriculum: teacher materials and student materials. It's 100% digital. I hope you like it. Here's some ways to get into the heart of it:
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