Appendix C

Compendium

This document provides additional information and summaries of the promising programs listed in the compendium.

• A Culturally Responsive Project-based Learning Intervention in Secondary Science in Alabama and North Carolina
• AlgebraByExample
• Amplify Science
• Bay Watershed Education and Training (B_WET)
• Beauty and Joy of Computing
• C-STEM (UC Davis)
• Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) Portal
• Common Online Data Analysis Platform (CODAP)
• CT-STEM Pop Ups
• Data in Geosciences
• EarSketch
• Exploratorium California K12 Science Leader Network
• FUSE
• Geniventure
• GEODE Plate Tectonics
• High-Adventure Science
• Household Appliances Innovation Powered by Solar
• IRCEDE STEM for Our Youngest Learners
• Lateral Reading-Model-Evidence Link Diagrams (LR-MEL) Project
• Listening to Waves
• Making Sense of SCIENCE
• Math for All
• NURTURES
• OpenSciEd Middle School Science

• PhET Interactive Simulations
• PlantingScience
• Poly Research Initiative
• PreK-12 Integrated STEM Pathway
• Pre-K Mathematics
• Preschool Data Toolbox
• Project LEAP
• Project Learning Tree
• SageModeler
• Science Education for Public Understanding Program (SEPUP)
• Science Teachers Learning from Lesson Analysis (STeLLA)
• Seeding Innovation
• SmartLab HQ Learning Environment
• Smithsonian Science for North and South Carolina Classrooms
• STEM Innovation and Design (STEM-ID)
• STEM Fest, STEM Saturday, STEM Fellows
• STEM + M Pathways
• STEM STRONG (Supporting Teachers in Rural Communities for the Next Generation)
• STEM Workforce Ready 2030 (WFR)
• ST Math
• Storytime STEM-packs
• Strategic CSforALL Resource & Implementation Planning Tool (SCRIPT)
• The GLOBE Program
• The World Smarts STEM Challenge
• Tiny Techies
• Turing Tumble
• Understanding Learning Trajectories in Math: Advancing Teacher Education (ULTIMATE)
• Watershed Awareness Using Technology and Environmental Research for Sustainability (WATERS)
• Web-Based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE)
• Young Academic Music and Computational Thinking (YAM)
• Young Mathematicians
• Youth Engineering Solutions/Engineering is Elementary (YES/EiE)

A Culturally Responsive Project-Based Learning Intervention in Secondary Science in Alabama and North Carolina

Michigan State University
Primary Contact: Barbara Schneider (bschneid@msu.edu) and Clausell Mathis (mathisc8@msu.edu)

This program focuses on utilizing a science curriculum based on crafting engagement to incorporate culturally responsive, project-based physics and chemistry instruction in rural communities in Alabama and North Carolina. It includes instruction units for both in-service and pre-service secondary science teachers.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population.

Description of scaling efforts: The program is designed to create a model of making a science intervention culturally responsive, through modification and adaptation for rural school populations in the south, which are often underrepresented in large-scale studies.

Notes on scaling: It appears that federal funding is allowing them to implement this program and make it accessible to rural and underrepresented groups through their partnerships with HBCUs.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

✓ Building individual capacity

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Research study

What the evidence has shown: The primary outcome measure for this evaluation is student science achievement. Auxiliary outcomes for this program include two additional measures, one on student social and emotional learning, and the other on student science, technology, engineering, and mathematics college and career ambitions. These will be measured from the summative science assessment and the student exit survey. The student science achievement will be measured using a summative assessment that includes questions from the state eleventh-grade science exam. This summative assessment consisted of items developed by the Department of Education to measure student science proficiency on the corresponding Next Generation Science Standards performance expectations for chemistry and physics.

AlgebraByExample

SERP Institute
https://www.serpinstitute.org/algebra-by-example
Primary Contact: Allie Huyghe (ahuyghe@serpinstitute.org)

AlgebraByExample is a set of supplementary Algebra 1 assignments that require students to analyze correct and incorrect worked examples that target common misconceptions and errors.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: AlgebraByExample is freely downloadable and has scaled across the United States and in several other countries.

Notes on scaling: Although not much information was provided about their scaling efforts, the fact that it is freely accessible and designed to supplement classroom teaching may contribute to scaling due to the ease of accessing and integrating the materials.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Peer-reviewed publications, evaluation evidence

What the evidence has shown: Students using AlgebraByExample demonstrated statistically significant gains in procedural and conceptual understanding, as well as on items from standardized tests. See: https://eric.ed.gov/?q=booth&ff1=autBooth%2c+Julie+L.&ff2=autKoedinger%2c+Kenneth+R.&id=EJ1056824

The program has evidence supporting their impact on student learning outcomes, especially increased standardized test scores. Additionally, their website says that their program has been tested in over 300 classrooms with over 6,000 students.

Amplify Science

The Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California Berkeley
https://amplify.com/programs/amplify-science/
Primary Contact: Suzanna Loper (sjloper@berkeley.edu)

Amplify Science is a comprehensive Pre-K–8 science curriculum program designed for the Next Generation Science Standards by the Lawrence Hall of Science and published by Amplify Education. In this phenomenon-based and literacy-rich curriculum students take on authentic roles as scientists and engineers figuring out phenomena in order to solve real-world problems.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: Amplify Science units were originally field tested in 2014-2016 with approximately 34,000 students. As of 2024, Amplify Science is in use by nearly 5,000,000 students across the country, with some global use as well. Amplify Science is in use in all 50 states, and implemented in a range of school types (urban, suburban, rural, public, private, and charter). Amplify Science is the adopted science curriculum in four of the five largest school districts in the United States.

Notes on scaling: This project has scaled nation-wide and to a varied of school contexts. They work with partners to support development and publishing. They also align with national standards and have been adopted by large school districts. However, evaluation evidence focused mainly on efficacy and learning goals and did not consider how the program is implemented in different contexts.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: External evaluation

What the evidence has shown: WestEd led two gold standard efficacy studies that evaluated the effect of Amplify Science on Next Generation Science Standards learning in grade 1 and grade 7. Both studies found a statistically significant positive effect of the Amplify Science materials. Reports summarizing the findings are below. These reports provide evidence that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning goals were achieved:

• https://www.wested.org/resources/curriculum-materials-for-ngss/
• https://www.wested.org/resources/supporting-science-learning-and-literacy-development-1st-grade-curriculum-study/

Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
https://www.noaa.gov/office-education/bwet
Primary Contact: Bronwen Rice (bronwen.rice@noaa.gov)

The B-WET program is an environmental education program that promotes place-based experiential learning for K–12 students and related professional development for teachers. B-WET fosters the growth of new, innovative programs and encourages capacity-building and environmental education partnerships. The primary delivery of B-WET is through competitive grants that promote Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs). The MWEE is a learner-centered framework that focuses on investigations into local environmental issues and leads to informed action.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: NOAA B-WET was established in the Chesapeake region in 2002 and currently provides approximately $2.7 million annually in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to support the implementation of school district-wide MWEEs and related efforts to increase environmental literacy capacity. The national program started in response to the ongoing work in the Chesapeake Bay region and currently serves seven regions around the country.

Specifically, in the Chesapeake Bay, B-WET funding has enabled local school divisions and environmental education providers to create and disseminate model programs in every Chesapeake Bay state. The B-WET program has been designed to intentionally support and encourage the ever-increasing rigor and complexity of MWEE implementation efforts. It began with funding either student MWEEs or teacher professional development in isolation, evolved after the first few years to require the combination of teacher professional development with student MWEEs, and now supports systemic efforts that are embedded into school district programming to ensure long-term sustainability.

Through the Chesapeake B-WET program, NOAA also supports the Regional Outdoor Learning Network Initiative, focused on building the capacity of state networks that help to scale systemic MWEE implementation in the Chesapeake Bay Region. This effort leverages different sources of capacity building funding, including investments from the Pisces Foundation and the Chesapeake Bay Trust. States also support this effort by intentionally focusing funding on the intersection between MWEE implementation and other state priorities, such as health and wellness, and stream restoration. These funds are generated by environmental license plate sales, fines and penalties, and appropriated dollars.

Notes on scaling: B-WET utilizes several sources of funding to help scale the program and also focuses on working with school districts to embed the program into their existing efforts to support sustainability.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Internal and external evaluation

What the evidence has shown: B-WET uses internal and external evaluation, current research on teaching and learning, and lessons learned from

over two decades of program implementation to improve and refine the core B-WET experience, the MWEE. Conducting national-level program evaluation while staying up-to-date on current education research helps the program monitor and adjust activities and MWEE components through evidence-based best practices.

A survey-based program evaluation system was developed in 2012 for the purpose of monitoring and improving the whole B-WET national program. The system consists of a set of three surveys that are sent to teachers and B-WET grant recipients (“grantees”). Results from the most recent evaluation data analysis (completed in January 2024). The majority of teachers agreed that student learning goals were met (e.g., identifying the functions of watersheds) and STEM skills (e.g., conducting scientific investigations). For teachers, when asked to rate their watershed science content knowledge prior to and after B-WET/MWEE teacher professional development, teachers indicated that participation in B-WET-supported professional development programs significantly (paired t-test) improved their knowledge of watershed science and capacity to take stewardship actions.

Beauty and Joy of Computing (BJC)

Education Development Center
https://bjc.edc.org/
Primary Contact: June Mark (jmark@edc.org)

BJC is a College Board-endorsed Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles (CSP) course designed to provide students with a rigorous and engaging introduction to computer science and to support the participation of students from groups historically underrepresented in computer science. The BJC course uses the blocks-based visual programming language Snap! to increase accessibility and engagement for students; employs a project-centered approach, with projects in a variety of contexts (e.g., games, art/design, mathematics); supports culturally responsive instruction; and incorporates critical social implications of computing in the content of the course.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population.

Description of scaling efforts: With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF; grant #1441075), the initial cohort of teachers that piloted the high school BJC curriculum in 2015 included 28 New York City (NYC) high school teachers. Between 2015 and 2022, BJC curriculum training was provided to over 200 NYC teachers from 136 schools. Those teachers, in turn, served over 25,000 NYC high school students. BJC AP CSP has been offered in the NYC Public Schools (NYCPS) continuously since the 2015–2016 school year with teacher professional learning opportunities offered through the NYCPS Computer Science for All initiative led by NYCPS teachers. Hundreds of additional BJC teachers have been trained nationally through annual summer professional development offerings at North Carolina State University. With additional support from the Education Innovation and Research program at the U.S. Department of Education, an additional 38 teachers from 36 schools across the country are using BJC as part of a school CS equity program designed to broaden participation in CS coursework through recruitment, enrollment, and retention of high-need students in AP CSP courses.

Notes on scaling: Endorsement by the College Board lends the program credibility that is likely related to buy-in. The program is also focused on working and expanding within a specific population (NYC schools), but with additional funding is expanding across the country and with a focus on equity.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ Alignment with policies, goals, and/or standards

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Research reports, evaluation, data from the National AP CSP exam

What the evidence has shown: Findings from a BJC field-test indicate that teachers using the BJC curriculum and participating in summer professional development made statistically significant pre/post gains in content knowledge, self-efficacy, self-rated preparation/effectiveness, self-rated programming ability and knowledge/fluency. See: https://bjc.berkeley.edu/documents/2014%20SIGCSE%20-%20Lessons%20Learned%20from%20BJC%20CS%20Principles%20Professional%20Development.pdf

Students in the BJC course in 2016-2017 (n = 311) showed significant pre/post gains on a content assessment, with small to medium effect sizes. Findings for student engagement and attitudes included significant gains for confidence and identity sub-scales, but no significant gains for interest and belongingness. Girls and Black and Latinx students achieved similar gains on the content assessment and on engagement and attitude measures as male and non-Black and Latinx students. (External evaluation reports are available upon request).

Student enrollment data in NYC indicate gains in the percentages of female, Black, and Hispanic students participating in BJC classes, and taking and passing the AP CSP exam. On the 2017 AP CSP exam, 2,854 NYC students took the exam, and 2,076 passed—a 73 percent pass rate compared with 74 percent nationwide with higher percentages of female, Black, and Hispanic students in NYC taking the AP CSP exam than nationwide (Mark & Klein, 2019). National AP CSP exam data from the College Board in 2021 indicated female BJC students passed at a rate of 6.4 percentage points higher than the national average, Black BJC students passed at 1.2 points higher, and Hispanic BJC students at 4.6 points higher than the national average.

• Mark, J., & Klein, K. (2019, February). Beauty and Joy of Computing: 2016-17 Findings from an AP CS Principles course. In Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (pp. 627–633).

C-STEM (UC Davis)

https://c-stem.ucdavis.edu/
Primary Contact: Harry Cheng (hhcheng@ucdavis.edu)

C-STEM develops computing and robotics technology, curriculum, and pedagogical strategies, and provides professional development and support for K–12 teachers, even those without any prior coding and robotics experience, to integrate hands-on coding and robotics into their classroom teaching. The rigorous C-STEM Math and computer science (CS) Curriculum provides K–12 students with up to 13 years of integrated learning of math and computer science. The C-STEM Math and CS Curriculum, including the K–12 Math with Robotics, Computer Science with Robotics, Engineering Design with Robotics and Afterschool and Summer Robotics Camps and Robotics-Math Camps, have been successfully implemented in many schools nationwide.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: The C-STEM program offers a variety of options for implementation including options for the formal school day as well as out-of-school time settings. The C-STEM Math, CS, and Engineering Design curriculum is in use in more than 100 school districts with over 20,000 students, mostly in California, Texas, and Louisiana. The flexible yet rigorous curriculum is designed for easy integration into existing courses. C-STEM has University of California A-G Program Status, and as such, high schools can easily add C-STEM to their own school’s A-G course lists to satisfy the University of California/California State University admission requirements, without going through the traditional approval process. Additionally, C-STEM is aligned with Common Core State Standards (CCSS), TEKS, CSTA CS Standards, clearly demonstrating how it can help schools achieve their goals for students.

C-STEM also offers professional development for teachers, and participants of the C-STEM professional development can obtain UC Academic Credits or Computer Science Supplementary Teaching Credential Authorization. This can motivate teachers to attend training and try out the curriculum.

Notes on scaling: Flexibility and alignment with standards are likely to play a key role in helping the program integrate into schools and scale. Teachers may also be motivated to participate in professional development because it provides opportunities for credits/credentials.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

✓ Building individual capacity

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: External evaluation, peer review

What the evidence has shown: C-STEM has demonstrated impact at both the school and district level. In a district-wide study, students achieved 13 percent higher math scores when their teachers implemented the C-STEM program. In another study, one school experienced a 72 percent increase in standard math test scores over four years.

C-STEM has also demonstrated that it can significantly increase math performance and close the achievement gap for at-promise and gifted students alike. In one success story, the program helped all students in an Algebra 1 class with 84 percent “at-risk” students pass Algebra.

Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) Portal

Cooperative Institute for Research In Environmental Sciences
https://cleanet.org/
Primary Contact: Anne Gold (Anne.U.Gold@colorado.edu)

The CLEAN Portal was launched in 2010 as a National Science Digital Library (NSDL) Pathways project. CLEAN’s primary effort is to steward the collection of climate and energy science educational resources and to support a community of professionals committed to improving climate and energy literacy.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: The CLEAN Program effort has four major objectives including

1. Maintain and grow the strength and integrity of the CLEAN collection through active curation and updating
2. Strengthen partnerships and efforts around climate education across the nation, elevate the climate.gov/teaching climate portal and provide training and support for educators who serve a diverse and broad range of learners
3. Support and strengthen the CLEAN Network through strategic linkages that increase reach
4. Research the impact of CLEAN in strengthening climate education and connections of climate education professionals across the United States

The CLEAN Portal went live in November 2010 and web analytics collection began in February 2011. The number of sessions on the CLEAN Portal grew steadily over time and varied with the academic year. Additionally, the impact of external factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, is evident in the spike in sessions during 2021, highlighting the portal’s importance during times of remote learning.

Notes on scaling: The COVID-19 pandemic, and the need for online learning options, may have been a factor in the scaling of the CLEAN Portal in recent years. The program did not provide information on how their partnerships may have influenced scaling, but developing and utilizing partnerships and networks is a key aim of the program.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Research studies and testimonials

What the evidence has shown: This program conducts research investigating the impact of CLEAN in strengthening climate education and connections of climate education professionals across the United States. One key indicator of how the STEM program’s goals are achieved in CLEAN is the use of testimonials. In Fall 2022, CLEAN started a CLEAN in the Classroom Campaign to ask educators to share whether and how CLEAN is useful in their work through short testimonials.

Common Online Data Analysis Platform (CODAP)

The Concord Consortium
https://codap.concord.org/
Primary Contact: William Fizner (wfinzer@concord.org)

CODAP is free educational software for data analysis. This web-based data science tool is designed as a platform for developers and as an application for students in grades 6–12.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: CODAP is currently in broad use by approximately 60,000 users monthly in over 130 countries worldwide, primarily K–12 learners in formal classroom and informal out-of-school settings. Additionally, CODAP has been translated into 15 languages.

Notes on scaling: CODAP has utilized partnerships with other projects to incorporate and spread their work. They also offer a range of complexity to help practitioners use CODAP in a way that meets their needs. Translation has also helped them reach other countries.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Use by others

What the evidence has shown: There has been wide uptake and acknowledgment of CODAP among the statistics education community and beyond. For example, the National Academies workshop Foundations of Data Science for Students in grades K–12 cited CODAP as a field-significant data tool in both the primary workshop report and in associated commissioned papers. In addition, more than 130 learning science researchers have incorporated CODAP into their research and development efforts, resulting in dozens of curricula and lessons nationwide designed with CODAP as the central data exploration and analysis tool and over 900 accounts of the software in education research journal articles as of August 2023.

CT-STEM Pop Ups

Clemson University - College of Education
https://sites.google.com/g.clemson.edu/datapopups/
Primary Contact: Dani Herro (dherro@clemson.edu)

The founders of CT-STEM Pop Ups co-designed and studied data science curriculum (12–15 units) with 25 elementary teachers over three years at a rural elementary STEM school in South Carolina to hone computational data science literacies with second–fifth grade teachers. Working in classrooms with high special education populations and using universal design for learning as part of the unit design, the data science units were taught over ten days each fall.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: The program has added more teachers each year, and the school is providing their own on-site PD with instructional coaches replicating and iterating the work. Several teachers voluntarily developed additional units to teach each quarter or semester as they believe the units were valuable and could/should be aligned with everyday curricula. The school is choosing to bring in more teachers each year and revising the curriculum to meet the developmental needs of K–2 grade students.

Notes on scaling: One main factor that helped with scaling is the motivation of the educators and instructional coaches involved. Voluntarily holding on-site PD sessions, the school is able to add more teachers to the program each year. This program provides an interesting look into how a close relationship with a school can grow a program. However, it remains to be seen how the program could be expanded beyond this school.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Building organizational capacity

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Quantitative and qualitative data – unclear who collected the data and if anything has been published

What the evidence has shown: Quantitative (pre-post surveys) and qualitative data supporting gains in students computational thinking knowledge, data practices, understanding of data science practices and literacies, and increased interest in STEM careers or additional classes related to data science

Data in Geosciences

Lawrence Hall of Science
No website provided or found
Primary Contact: Sarah Pedemonte (spedemonte@berkeley.edu)

Data in Geosciences: Collaboration and Mentoring Program (DIG CAMP) offers Latinx high school students a camp-based model to support engagement with geosciences and data literacy. Recently scaled to a district-program, Data in Geosciences In Teaching (DIG IT) brings community science partners and high school teachers together to co-create contextualized science and data learning opportunities for all students.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 11–25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: The original program, DIG CAMP served 34 Latinx high school students. Evaluation showed significant increases in student science, technology, engineering, and mathematics identity and seeing the relevance of science in the community. The local school district was highly supportive of the program, but not a partner at that time. The

Community Science Partners hosted field trips at their sites, shared their data and discussed college and career pathways with the students. Working with people in their community is part of the programs’ missions, but reaching members in meaningful and sustainable ways has been problematic.

Notes on scaling: This program benefited by filling a need for both the school district they scaled to and their community partners. It is still relatively new, so it is yet to be seen if they will scale further.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

✓ Building individual capacity

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: External evaluation

What the evidence has shown: Post-camp, students reported increased sense of confidence in designing science investigations and utilizing data skills. Students report that they will utilize the data skills/knowledge learned from DIG CAMP in their classes at school, in college, their careers and in their day to day life. These results are taken from their evaluation report. The evaluator is still compiling the executive summary, which should be completed in June, and teacher results will be available in Fall 2024.

EarSketch

Georgia Institute of Technology
earsketch.gatech.edu
Primary Contact: Roxanne Moore (roxanne.moore@gatech.edu)

EarSketch is a learn-to-code through music remixing platform developed by faculty and staff at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Students code in Python or JavaScript to create original music remixes based on a library of samples, including the music of famous artists like Pharrell Williams and Alicia Keys.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: Since its inception, EarSketch has reached over 1.2 million users worldwide. It has been incorporated in numerous curricula for different middle and high school computer science courses, has been adapted in multiple languages, features indigenous artists and languages in partnership with Canadian tribal nations, has been used in

national and international competitions for middle and high school students, and has been the focus of numerous out-of-school offerings, including bilingual opportunities for ESL students in the continental United States and Puerto Rico.

Notes on scaling: They have engaged many partners, including those that have supported the program in developing culturally relevant materials (e.g., Canadian tribal nations, Back Girls Code). They also offer a variety of ways for people to engage. This program also offers a unique take on coding, using music to engage people in computer science.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

✓ Building individual capacity

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Research studies

What the evidence has shown: They have numerous articles published in peer-reviewed journals (see: https://earsketch.gatech.edu/landing/#/research). This includes a six-year study of the program and how the program is engaging diverse populations, including those underrepresented in STEM.

Exploratorium California K12 Science Leader Network

Exploratorium
https://www.exploratorium.edu/education/caeducators
Primary Contact: Dr. Megan Taylor
(megan.taylor@exploratorium.edu)

The Exploratorium has developed a professional network of over 1,100 science education leaders across California who bring high-quality science professional development and advocacy to over 100,000 teachers statewide. Leaders in the network access a constellation of professional learning that begins with a multi-day core institute, and includes series of stand-alone virtual and in-person workshops, communities of practice, and access to high-quality teaching and teacher leadership resources.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: Since 2016 when this work began, the program scaled from serving a single County Office to serving leaders from all 58 County Offices in the state of California.

Notes on scaling: The Exploratorium K–12 Science Leader Network spans the state of California and now includes over 950 leaders, 85 percent of which work with Title I schools. Because this network is aimed at teacher professional development, their leadership network impact spreads to 95,000 classroom teachers and millions of students. By 2025, they would like to further expand their network to 1,500 leaders serving 150,000 classroom teachers. They provide professional learning programs based on grade band: One to train K–12 science leaders, one for K–5 educators, and one for secondary educators.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Impact report, external evaluation

What the evidence has shown: Based on an external evaluation by Inverness Research Inc., the Exploratorium’s K–12 Science Leader Network and professional learning programs consistently earn high ratings for quality, value, improved leadership capacities, and achieving equity in the science classroom. Specifically, 90 percent responded that the Exploratorium’s professional learning programs encourage educators to consider equity more specifically than other professional learning programs.

FUSE

Northwestern University – School of
Education and Social Policy
www.fusestudio.net
Primary Contact: Reed Stevens (reed-stevens@northwestern.edu)

FUSE is a choice-based, interest-driven science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education program, designed to create onramps into deeper STEAM engagement for all learners. FUSE transforms classrooms into new kinds of learning environments where students pursue their own STEAM interests, learn from and with each other, and develop autonomy as learners.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: FUSE is flexibly designed, so that partners can adapt FUSE according to specific local needs and goals. FUSE is guided by core design principles while offering individual educators the freedom to design the program according to the needs of their school/organization and their community, including logistics like classroom schedules. FUSE offers flexibility regarding implementation model (in-school vs. afterschool; single year experience vs. multi-year experience), allowing educators to design a program that truly fits their context. FUSE is also flexible in terms of physical space and has been implemented in many kinds of rooms (classroom, science lab, library, traditional computer lab). FUSE shares research-based recommendations with all partners as they develop their plans and they anticipate that partners will adapt FUSE to fit their very local needs. Because of this flexibility, FUSE has a history of successfully scaling beyond the Chicago area (where FUSE was piloted in an afterschool setting, in 2011), and FUSE has been utilized by urban, suburban, and rural partners. They welcome 25–60 new partners each year, which they manage by utilizing a robust onboarding, training, and support process.

For example, Duplin County Schools (DCS) is a county district in rural southeast North Carolina. DCS serves 36.5 percent low-income students, with 30 percent of its students scoring “proficient.” Because of its rural location, DCS emphasizes STEAM (for Agriculture) and personalized career and college pathways for each of their K–12 students. In fall 2020, through a corporate partnership with FUSE and Smithfield Foods, four DCS middle schools received grants to launch FUSE. By spring 2021, DCS recognized that FUSE’s emphasis on choice aligned with the district’s CTE pathways strategies. DCS launched FUSE in the remaining four DCS middle schools in fall 2021, to ensure equitable programming across the district, and continues to implement the program well after the initial grants ended.

Notes on scaling: This program emphasized flexibility and adaptability as one factors that has helped it scale. Additionally, they provided strong examples that highlight their ability to scale to schools in different contexts by meeting the needs of these schools.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Building organizational capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Research studies, external evaluation

What the evidence has shown: As an National Science Foundation-funded program, FUSE has been continually researched, including both internal and external evaluation. Key findings include:

1. FUSE makes learning enjoyable. In FUSE, youth are empowered to try an approach, test it, get feedback, revise and iterate, and try again, all towards getting better, going deeper, and enjoying STEAM learning.
2. FUSE develops new interests and 21st century skills. In an external evaluation survey, 95 percent of students surveyed reported discovering new STEAM interests in FUSE. While building STEAM interest and skills, 100 percent of facilitators interviewed reported that FUSE also builds skills such as problem-solving, persistence, and collaboration in their students.
3. FUSE supports educators. Facilitators act as coaches, encouraging students to problem solve, take risks, persist, and seek support from their peers.
4. FUSE builds community. The FUSE learning environment is collaborative, participatory, and student driven. 100 percent of youth reported using peer support in FUSE and nearly 66 percent of FUSE students said that peer support offered new opportunities that deepened their developing interests.
5. FUSE is flexible. The FUSE program model is flexible and modular, accommodating varied implementations for STEAM learning. The FUSE team works to help their partners design implementation plans that meet their goals and work for their students and community.

Geniventure

The Concord Consortium
https://learn.concord.org/geniventure
Primary Contact: Frieda Reichsman (freichsman@concord.org)

Geniventure engages students in exploring heredity, genetics, and the protein-to-trait relationship by breeding and studying virtual dragons. Students play through six levels of challenges, conducting simulated experiments that generate realistic and meaningful genetic data. An integrated intelligent tutoring system helps guide student learning and alerts teachers when students are struggling with specific concepts.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: The Geniventure game is freely available on their web portal along with assessments, an online course for teachers, and supplemental student resources. Since the game was released to the public, over 2,770 teachers and 188,000 students have registered to use the game. The game can also be used without registration.

Notes on scaling: Geniventure’s ease of use may have been a factor assisting in their scaling. It also provides resources to support teachers and students.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Research studies, peer-reviewed publications

What the evidence has shown: Evidence provided details their impact on students’ achievement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning goals. For example, several studies, including one from North Carolina State University and another published in the Journal of Science and Education Technology, were conducted to determine the effects of game-based learning environments on student learning outcomes in STEM classrooms. Other evidence focuses on increasing students’ awareness of subject-related careers, such as the biotechnology industry. See:

• https://www.intellimedia.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/Bounajim_HFES_2021.pdf
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348654382_Modeling_Secondary_Students’_Genetics_Learning_in_a_Game-Based_Environment_Integrating_the_Expectancy-Value_Theory_of_Achievement_Motivation_and_Flow_Theory
• https://concord.org/newsletter/2016-fall/helping-students-prepare-biotech-careers

GEODE Plate Tectonics

The Concord Consortium
https://learn.concord.org/geo-platetectonics
Primary Contact: Amy Pallant (apallant@concord.org)

The Plate Tectonics module “What will Earth look like in 500 million years?” helps students build a systems view of plate tectonics through focused case studies and interactions with the Seismic Explorer and Tectonic Explorer models. As students explore data about plate boundaries on Earth today, they make connections to what happened in Earth’s past.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: The National Science Foundation-funded GEODE project was initially intended to reach 50 teachers over the course of three years. To date, the Plate Tectonics curriculum module has been used by over 1,500 teachers and 99,000 students. These numbers reflect only those

teachers who registered on the project’s web portal; teachers and students can also use the module without registration though their work is not saved. Furthermore, the embedded tools in the module can also be used independently as standalone models.

Notes on scaling: The GEODE project has wide reach through their online portal; however, they only talk about engaging 15 teachers through their partnership with Penn State. It is unclear whether specific engagement was done.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Research studies, external evaluation

What the evidence has shown: Only references were provided. See:

• Lord, T., Lee, H.-S., Horwitz, P., Pryputniewicz, S., & Pallant, A. (2023). A remote view into the classroom: Analyzing teacher use of digitally enhanced educative curriculum materials in support of student learning. Journal of Science Teacher Education. https://concord.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/a-remote-view-into-the-classroom.pdf
• Pallant, A., Pryputniewicz, S., & Lee, H.-S. (2023). Developing geosequential reasoning about tectonic processes using computational simulations. International Journal of Science Education. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09500693.2023.2217471
• Wray, K. A., McCausland, J. D., McDonald, S., Pallant, A., & Lee, H.-S. (2022). Using summary tables to support students’ explanations of science phenomena. Science Scope, 46(2), 32–39. https://concord.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/using-summary-tables-to-support-students-explanations-of-science-phenomena.pdf
• Epler-Ruths, C. M., McDonald, S., Pallant, A., & Lee, H.-S. (2020). Focus on the notice: Evidence of spatial skills’ effect on middle school learning from a computer simulation. Cognitive Research. 5, 61. (https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-020-00263-0)
• McDonald, S., Wray, K., McCausland, J., Bateman, K., Pallant, A., & Lee, H.-S. (2020). Taking up the mantle of knowing: Supporting student engagement in progressive scientific discourse in geoscience. In M. Gresalfi and I. S. Horn (Eds.), The interdisciplinarity of the learning sciences, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2020 (Vol. 1, pp. 565–568). International Society of the Learning Sciences. https://repository.isls.org/bitstream/1/6696/1/565-568.pdf

High-Adventure Science

The Concord Consortium
https://learn.concord.org/earth
Primary Contact: Amy Pallant (apallant@concord.org)

High-Adventure Science brings several of the big unanswered questions in Earth and space science from climate change to the availability of freshwater, land management, and more to middle and high school science classrooms. Each module includes interactive computer-based systems models and real-world data on unanswered questions scientists are facing today.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: The National Science Foundation-funded High-Adventure Science and High Adventure Science: Earth’s Systems and Sustainability projects have reached far more than the original cohorts of research participants, thanks in part to the partnership with National Geographic Education. Additionally, they have been able to reach new audiences as two of the six curriculum modules were translated into Spanish. Finally, seven standalone interactive models that explore air quality, hydraulic fracturing, climate change, and more are available. All resources are web-based and free of charge, available under open-content licensing.

Notes on scaling: A strong partnership with National Geographic has aided scaling efforts. In addition, the program offers flexibility through a mix of standalone and week-long modules. Materials are made more accessible, and thus to implement in a variety of settings, through translation into Spanish and freely available content.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

• A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts
• Building individual capacity
• Building organizational capacity
• Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Peer-reviewed publications, presentations

What the evidence has shown: The program has a number of peer reviewed publications examining the impact of the program in the classroom. Teachers indicated that High-Adventure Science experiences enhanced their lessons, with an average rating of 6.1 on a scale from one to seven (with one indicating “detracted from” to seven indicating “enhanced”) with five as the lowest rating. Positive impacts on student learning have also been noted in a number of publications.

Household Appliances Innovation Powered By Solar

Teach For Nigeria
No website provided
Primary Contact: Ebenezer Anyadiegwu
(ebenezeranyadiegwu@gmail.com)

The Household Appliances Innovation Powered by Solar program at Egba Odeda High School Junior focuses on developing solar-powered household appliances to mitigate electric power failure in the Odeda community, fostering sustainability and resilience.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 11–25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: The program has demonstrated fidelity in its core principles and methodologies while allowing for intentional adaptation to suit different sites and contexts. For example, while implementing the project in Egba Odeda High School, the program adapted to the specific needs and resources of the school and community, ensuring alignment with local conditions and priorities.

The program has successfully scaled to new audiences and contexts beyond its initial implementation site. By partnering with other schools, communities, and organizations, the program has expanded its reach and impact, bringing sustainable energy solutions to a wider audience. Additionally, the program has been replicated in other communities facing similar challenges with electric power failure, demonstrating its scalability and relevance in diverse contexts.

The program’s success in scaling can be attributed to its strong stakeholder engagement and collaboration. By involving key stakeholders such as schools, local governments, non-governmental organizations, and businesses, the program has been able to leverage resources, expertise, and networks to support its expansion efforts. This collaborative approach has fostered ownership, sustainability, and community buy-in, contributing to the program’s scalability and long-term impact.

Notes on scaling efforts: Through connections with other schools, communities and local organizations, this program mentioned scaling to new contexts and bringing sustainable energy awareness to new audiences. Their stakeholder engagement highlights their support from local schools and businesses to utilize their expertise and support expansion efforts.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Videos of students and educators

What the evidence has shown: Students demonstrated understanding of content-specific knowledge related to solar energy principles, electrical circuits, and engineering design through their engagement in the project activities. Students also demonstrated critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills through their involvement in designing, building, and testing solar-powered appliances. Furthermore, students demonstrated increased interest and enthusiasm for STEM topics, as evidenced by their active participation and engagement in the project activities. Finally, the project provided students with opportunities to explore STEM-related careers by engaging with professionals, conducting research, and applying STEM principles in real-world contexts.

IRCEDE STEM for Our Youngest Learners

Iowa Regents’ Center for Early Developmental Education
https://regentsctr.uni.edu/
Primary Contact: Beth VanMeeteren
(beth.vanmeeteren@uni.edu)

STEM for Our Youngest Learners began with Ramps and Pathways (R&P), a framework for a student-centered, inquiry-based approach to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) that engages young children in sensemaking as they design solutions to self-defined engineering problems. This framework was replicated to support children’s sensemaking of light and shadow, how water and air move, and sound—all designed to encourage children to plan, focus, and build upon experiences over time resulting in joyful learning within the context of STEM.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: Aligned with Early Learning Outcomes Framework and Next Generation Science Standards, the framework of STEM for Our Youngest Learners, developed through Ramps and Pathways, is not a stand-alone curriculum but rather challenges teachers to enhance their existing science curriculum and sequential lesson plans by allowing young learners daily access to an inclusive makerspace within the classroom. Rather than being a package of lessons for teachers to implement in their classrooms, the program is an approach to pedagogy that is taught in hands-on teacher play sessions for adults using the same open-ended materials they will offer children in their settings. With more confidence about STEM, teachers can then adapt the program to their local contexts and learners, considering factors such as grade, time schedules, cultures, and mandated curricula.

The framework for Ramps and Pathways was originated with Pre-K–2 teachers at an inclusive laboratory school serving primarily low-income urban Black families. Additional funding allowed for expansion to the predominantly rural northeast part of the state. The Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council has funded the program annually since 2017 to provide professional learning and classroom materials to over 1000 of Iowa’s early childhood educators and informal learning programs, in under-resourced rural and urban sites across the state. Additional funding has also allowed for the development of new sets of activities: Light & Shadow, WaterWorks, and All About Balance. Ongoing improvement of materials and dissemination occurs through a partnership with Pre-K–2 teachers at North Tama County Community Schools, a rural public school.

Notes on scaling: Continuous funding from the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council for the past seven years suggests that this is a valued program in the state. The project team has utilized this and other funding to grow their program by reaching new audiences and developing additional activities. They focus on building educator capacity and providing a flexible program that is aligned with standards. Partnerships with teachers also support program development and improvement.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: External evaluation, peer-reviewed publications

What the evidence has shown: Ramps and Pathways was initially developed in four classrooms serving primarily low-income Black families. A National Science Foundation (NSF) DRK-12 grant enabled a pilot test and field test in multiple sites in different states. The evaluation revealed that most of the participating teachers created an environment that supports science teaching and learning and that children made gains in physical science content knowledge. Additionally, teachers reported that they had gained important knowledge, skills and abilities in terms of science content, supporting science inquiry, and facilitating inquiry-based learning. In the concluding discussion, the external evaluators noted, “The project documented a relationship between classroom practice in terms of science teaching and fidelity of implementation of Ramps and Pathways and student outcomes, despite wide variation in state and community context and models of implementation.”

In the years following the NSF grant, the program had limited resources for formal evaluation studies. Instead, they utilized peer reviews of publications and of the other competitive foundation and state grants to inform their continuous improvement process. Continued communication with teachers provided information about fidelity of implementation and directly assisted in formative assessment to remove barriers to that fidelity.

Lateral Reading-Model-Evidence Link Diagrams Project

University of Maryland
https://serc.carleton.edu/mel/index.htm
Primary Contact: Doug Lombardi (lombard1@umd.edu)

The purpose of the project is to promote students’ civic and scientific evaluations of sources and alternative claims when confronted with controversial and/or complex socioscientific issues in the Earth and environmental sciences. This is done by integrating English Language Arts and social studies classrooms focused on source evaluation with science classrooms focused on evaluating connections between lines of evidence and alternative explanatory claims. The program is also developing, implementing, and testing complementary Lateral Reading and Model-Evidence Link scaffolds that include instructional materials and methods in both social studies and science classrooms.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times original population

Description of scaling efforts: Information not provided

Notes on scaling: The project’s evaluation evidence provides more findings on student and teacher impact and resource usefulness rather than scaling success factors. It does mention that the program was tested with teachers in three states.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ Building individual capacity

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: External evaluation

What the evidence has shown: The external evaluation report mentions that program was pilot tested in year one of the project and feedback was used to revise materials. The revised program was then implemented and evaluated in middle and high school classrooms in three states. It suggests some Evidence of Success with students and teachers, but does not provide much detail.

Listening to Waves

University of California San Diego
https://listeningtowaves.com/
Primary Contact: Victor Minces (vminces@ucsd.edu)

Listening to Waves develops web applications and curriculum designed to engage children in science through connections with music. Programs include the physics of sound and computer science (programming music).

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 11–25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: The original activities were carried out directly with children. The program then focused on creating online resources and training teachers. At least 200 teachers have been trained, and many more have been reached through public presentations. Their online tools and curriculum are being used approximately 400,000 times per year, mostly in school days, mostly in the United States.

Notes on scaling: This is another example of a flexible, online program. The ease of use/adoption may have helped it scale. Additionally, the program

began focusing on teacher outreach and training, which likely supports classroom implementation.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

✓ Building individual capacity

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Peer reviewed publications

What the evidence has shown: They have published papers in peer reviewed journals showing that participation in the program increases engagement with STEM fields, especially for children from underserved groups. They have also published a paper showing how using their tools helps in developing data literacy. This work can be accessed here: https://listeningtowaves.com/publications

Making Sense of SCIENCE (MSS)

WestEd
https://mss.wested.org/
Primary Contact: Kirsten Daehler (kdaehle@wested.org)

MSS builds strong science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education communities and helps transform classrooms into places that fuel curiosity, nurture collaboration, and prepare students to be the problem solvers of tomorrow. The program provides leadership development, professional learning, and instructional resources on a wide range of K–12 topics, to meet the needs of teachers, instructional coaches, administrators, and other district and state-level leaders.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: The program has been brought to scale through two key mechanisms: (a) a train-the-trainer model to support local leaders in facilitating high-quality teacher professional learning, and (b) work with administrators and local leaders to develop systems of support for STEM learning. These approaches work hand-in-hand to build local capacity in ways that account for differing contexts and authentically meet the needs of partnering schools, districts, and states.

As two examples of state-wide scaling, MSS partnered with the Math and Science Bureau of the New Mexico Public Education Department and the Texas Regional Collaboratives to lead Facilitation Academies for regional leaders on a variety of topics. These trained regional leaders then provided MSS professional learning across the state, reaching 400–1,000 teachers each year for multiple consecutive years.

Notes on scaling: The program utilizes a train-the-trainer model and strong partnerships with administrators and local leaders to scale the project and address the needs of different settings.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Building organizational capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: External evaluation, peer-reviewed publications

What the evidence has shown: The MSS train-the-trainer approach has been shown to produce facilitators who successfully lead impactful teacher professional learning. See: https://mss.wested.org/report/differential-effects-of-three-professional-development-models-on-teacher-knowledge-and-student-achievement-in-elementary-science/

A national RCT showed that teacher participation in just 24 hours of MSS professional learning resulted in statistically significant gains in teacher and student content knowledge. Teacher content knowledge was maintained during the following school year and the new cohort of students also experienced gains in content knowledge.

Following the national RCT, a follow-up study analyzed videos of 30 classrooms to better understand shifts in teacher instruction resulting from participation in the professional learning (PL) The Making Sense

of SCIENCE PL had a large, statistically significant effect on the overall quality of classroom instruction. Teacher participation in the PL resulted in statistically significant improvements in student cognitive engagement, student engagement in scientific sensemaking practices, and teacher elicitation of and attention to student thinking.

For additional studies see:

• https://mss.wested.org/report/moving-the-needle-on-middle-school-student-achievement-in-science-by-strengthening-teachers-knowledge-and-skills/
• https://mss.wested.org/report/transforming-science-classrooms/

Math for All

Education Development Center
https://mathforall.edc.org/
Primary Contact: Babette Moeller (bmoeller@edc.org)

Math for All is a professional learning program for general and special education teachers from grades K–8. The main goal of this program is to help teachers make high-quality mathematics instruction accessible to students with diverse strengths and challenges, including those with disabilities.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: Research has demonstrated that the program can be implemented with high fidelity when implemented by facilitators other than the original developers of the program. Math for All has been implemented in more than 100 urban, suburban, and rural schools or districts, with more than 140 local staff developers, 1,100 teachers, and 20,000 students.

Notes on scaling: It is somewhat unique that this program has research evidence supporting their scalability regardless of implementer, especially

given the range of their implementation contexts. The specific inclusion of special education teachers in also unique.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

✓ Building individual capacity

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Peer-reviewed publications

What the evidence has shown: Research on the efficacy of the Math for All program conducted with funding from the Institute of Education Sciences demonstrated (a) statistically significant positive effects of Math for All on teacher preparedness and comfort in teaching diverse students and on their classroom practices, and (b) promising findings regarding impact on students’ performance on standardized achievement tests.

They have replicated positive impacts on teachers’ self-efficacy (perceived comfort and preparedness to teach mathematics to students with disabilities) across two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of Math for All. They also found that teachers’ comfort and preparedness was modestly but consistently related to self-reported mathematical instructional practices across both studies, and in their IES-funded efficacy study to improvements in students’ mathematics achievement. With similar results across the two RCTs even though the modes of delivery differed (PL was led by MFA developers in RCT #1 and by local facilitators in RCT #2) speaks to the scalability of MFA and the success of local capacity building as a strategy for scaling up. For more information, see:

• Duncan, T. G., Moeller, B., Schoeneberger, J., & Hitchcock, J. (2018). Assessing the impact of the Math for All professional development program on elementary school teachers and their students. Math For All. https://mathforall.edc.org/wp-content/up-loads/2020/04/MFA_Y1_study_brief.pdf
• Duncan, T., Schoeneberger, J., Hitchcock, J., & Moeller, B. (2022, April 2225). Teacher comfort and preparedness for teaching diverse students: Setting the foundation for equitable classroom practices [Paper presentation]. American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA, United States.
• Moeller, B., Duncan, T., Schoeneberger, J., & Hitchcock, J. (2023, September 30). Enhancing teacher comfort and preparedness for teaching diverse students using the math for all professional development program. Paper presented at the Fall Conference of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness. Arlington, VA, USA.

NURTURES

The University of Toledo
https://nurturesprogram.com/
Primary Contact: Charlene Czerniak
(Charlene.Czerniak@utoledo.edu)

NURTURES provides professional development for Pre-K–3 teachers and family engagement for families of young children (take-home Family Science packs and family engagement activities hosted in the community after school or on weekends). The program is aligned with “A Framework for K–12 Science Education.”

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 11–25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: NURTURES began with implementation in urban districts in Toledo, Ohio. Building on the success of the initial phase of the program, they received additional National Science Foundation funding to implement the program in rural districts in Ohio and Michigan. A particularly important facet of this follow-up project was to research

how each component (teacher professional development versus family engagement) impacts student learning. Further funding from the Department of Defense (DoD) allowed the program to expand to military-connected districts in seven states. Throughout the life of the program, the NURTURES team has conducted research to understand how to implement the program in different settings and with a wider audience.

Notes on scaling: A strong evidence base from the inception of the program has allowed the team to understand implementation in a range of contexts. Continuous federal funding has supported this.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Building individual capacity

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: External evaluation, peer-reviewed publications

What the evidence has shown: Over a decade of research has demonstrated the effectiveness and impact of NURTURES, which was recognized for its exceptional approach receiving the 2017 Christa McAuliffe Award for Excellence that recognizes outstanding research-based professional development programs impacting Pre-K–12 student achievement. An initial evaluation documented the first five years of the program. Findings verified fidelity of implementation and corrections or modifications to implementation were made due to early detection of variance from implementation plans. Findings indicated that NURTURES is a successful intervention for improving science teaching and student outcomes in the early childhood classroom as well as for increasing family science participation and the quality of that participation.

A longitudinal case study revealed improved pedagogical practices among teachers, increased science content knowledge and confidence to teach science, and increased use of technology in the classroom. A repeated measures analysis and a randomized controlled trial study found that K–2 students whose teachers had participated in NURTURES demonstrated higher achievement than peers whose teachers had not been in the program. Longitudinal studies also demonstrate the long-term impact of the program on student learning with gains in science, early literacy, and mathematics being sustained to grade 5.

Current research, funded through the DoD National Defense Education Program STEM program, focuses on the delivery of program elements, examining methods of program delivery, multi-site facilitation, impacts on student learning, and the feasibility of offering NURTURES at scale.

For access to publications, see: https://nurturesprogram.com/researchfindings/

OpenSciEd Middle School Science

OpenSciEd
https://www.openscied.org/curriculum/middle-school/explore-the-curriculum/
Primary Contact: Matt Krehbiel (mkrehbiel@openscied.org)

OpenSciEd is a comprehensive middle school science curriculum designed for the Next Generation Science Standards that empowers students to ask questions, design investigations, and solutions, and figure out the interesting and puzzling world. OpenSciEd empowers students to be the knowers and doers of science and develops a classroom in which the ideas we hear from our peers help to move our thinking forward as we develop our abilities to think, read, write and argue as scientists and engineers.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: OpenSciEd has reached scale through partnerships with ten states throughout the development process. The program is intentionally field tested with partnering states in a varying geography and political realities. Finally, they made sure that the field test student and teacher populations closely matched the diversity of those populations in the nation.

Being able to track the extent of the scaling is somewhat challenging with materials that are free and publicly available. One metric they use to understand impact is the number of people who have registered to access the materials. Currently, over 80,000 people have registered to access the materials. They also use a combination of market factors to determine which teachers and districts have truly adopted our materials.

There is also widespread work to adapt or modify these materials in different contexts. For example, there are more than 1,000 members in each of the 18 Facebook groups (one per unit) that support these materials. These teachers collaborate to adapt the materials to their specific contexts and needs and share resources. Many of the partner states have different standards and have been supporting their districts and teachers to make adaptations to better match their state standards.

Finally, OpenSciEd has just launched a collaboration with Tennessee school districts to build a sequence that is specific to the Tennessee standards. Additionally, their materials have been selected by as the model middle school curriculum for Connecticut and New Jersey and they are on state adoption lists in Nevada, Utah, Louisiana (Tier 1), Rhode Island, Delaware, Idaho, and New Mexico.

Notes on scaling: Intentional work with states allows them to tailor the program to meet the needs of different states and understand implementation in a variety of settings and with diverse learners. Furthermore, they work with materials distributors and organizations that support teacher professional learning to help scale their efforts.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Peer-reviewed publications, presentations

What the evidence has shown: The power of their instructional model is described at length by Reiser et al., in their 2021 article.

Field test data indicates the materials are having the desired impact and that professional learning is positively influencing teachers’ practice. There is also research currently in progress to connect the impact in the field and on teacher practice to student learning.

Measures of the impact of the design are ongoing as the full middle school science program was not completed until 2022.

• Reiser, B., et al. (2021). Journal of Science Teacher Education. https://drive.google.com/file/d/19zozSjw8TLJovrh7xJkl-ApyW2BChyYf/view).

PhET Interactive Simulations

University of Colorado Boulder
https://phet.colorado.edu/
Primary Contact: Rebecca Vieyra
(rebecca.vieyra@colorado.edu)

PhET Interactive Simulations advances science and math fluency by pioneering innovation in inclusive interactive simulations and fostering community research, design, and practices that inspire agency in teaching and learning. PhET’s collection of 100+ science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) simulations are used globally more than 250 million times annually. PhET simulations are used from Pre-K through college, incorporate inclusive features for diverse learning needs and disabilities, are translated into more than 120+ language, are downloadable for offline use, and are free to access without the need for an account.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: PhET was founded as the Physics Education Technology project in 2002. Over the years, they have expanded to new content areas and to lower grade levels.

PhET simulations are used widely by teachers around the world, and adapted according to various instructional and cultural norms and technological availability. For example, PhET supports an activities database, composed of 3,500+ lessons, student worksheets, and other supporting resources (such as question sets) based on PhET simulations, all contributed voluntarily by teachers around the world. Additionally, PhET’s 120+ languages have all been translated by math and science educators who desired to make the simulations accessible to students in their native languages.

PhET adoption within edtech platforms has also accelerated, with PhET now being directly incorporated into popular STEM media resources such as BrainPop and Nearpod, along with 60+ other licensing partners.

Notes on scaling: This project provides strong support for their scaling efforts and covers many topics that other projects do not, such as utilizing partnership and cultural adaptations. Teacher adaptation and contribution has contributed to a very large database of activities for a large variety of contexts.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Impact report, peer-reviewed publications

What the evidence has shown: PhET simulations are based on discipline-based education research, involve educators and disciplinary experts in the design process, use iterative feedback and improvement with student interviews, and have been leveraged by researchers external to the team. To date, PhET simulations have been referenced more than 13,000 times on Google Scholar.

In brief, research shows that PhET simulations:

1. are developed with research-based design on learning.
2. support teachers to transition from teacher-centered to student-centered instruction.

3. result in significantly higher learning gains than traditional instruction.
4. improve students’ attitudes about learning STEM.
5. support the development of STEM process skills.
6. help close the learning gap between males and females.

In general, when teachers use PhET simulations paired with active learning, inquiry-based strategies, students learn substantially more than through traditional instruction. In many cases, using PhET simulations can be more effective than using physical equipment, especially when topics involve abstract concepts. These findings generally hold true across gender (males, females), discipline (science, math), and socioeconomic contexts.

PlantingScience

Botanical Society of America
https://plantingscience.org
Primary Contact: Catrina Adams (cadams@botany.org)

PlantingScience is an online mentoring program for middle and high school teachers and their students. Small teams of 3–5 students design and carry out science investigations related to big themes in plant biology with online support from an assigned plant science mentor volunteers recruited from partnering scientific societies.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: PlantingScience began in 2005 with four classes of students from four states taking part in online mentoring as a test of concept. In 2007 PlantingScience received their first National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for initial development and scaling. At the

end of this first grant, 139 teachers, 800 scientists, and approximately 12,700 students had participated. This grant funded development of website features for supporting the online mentoring community, new investigation themes, and professional development workshops for teachers. The grant also funded research on various aspects of how the online mentoring program worked. A second NSF grant supported efficacy research on high school teachers and their students completing the PlantingScience “Power of Sunlight” photosynthesis and cellular respiration mod. The grant also supported redeveloping the PlantingScience.org website on a new platform with greater flexibility, more tools for administration, and a greater potential for scaling.

A third NSF grant is currently underway, and is supporting a replication and extension of the efficacy research to provide more information on program fidelity of three direct components of the program (terms of investigation theme classroom implementation, student-led investigations, and online mentoring) and one support component (collaborative teacher/scientist professional learning workshops), as well as providing information about the relative effectiveness of online versus in-person collaborative teacher/scientist professional learning to support the fidelity of program implementation. This grant is also supporting additional improvements to the PlantingScience.org website to make administration and data collection more streamlined.

As of spring 2024, approximately 420 teachers, 1,000 scientists and approximately 34,000 students have participated in PlantingScience since it began in 2005. PlantingScience has been used by teachers and students in 49 U.S. states (all but Utah) and nine countries. The mentor pool has grown through scientific society recruitment and (on the current site active from 2016–2024) includes a diverse international pool of 698 scientist mentor volunteers from 37 countries, ranging from undergraduate students through emeritus faculty and including scientists working in industry and government positions. A key to PlantingScience’s successful scaling has been support from teacher and scientist participant leaders who have co-presented about the program at professional development conferences, co-facilitate professional learning workshops, participate as members of the advisory board for research projects, and help the program to recruit new teachers and scientists to participate. Many teachers who participate in PlantingScience return to participate again. Both teachers and mentors frequently return for more than one session.

Notes on scaling: PlantingScience noted their scaling process from 2005 to spring 2024. Their funding from NSF in 2007 was likely influential in their success in scaling as their description provides clear evidence of how the funding allowed them to study, improve, and expand the program.

They also noted strong support from teachers and mentors, many of whom participated multiple times. One thing that is not obvious from their description is how, if at all, they used information from various contexts to inform improvements.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Research studies

What the evidence has shown: The strongest evidence that STEM learning goals were achieved is from an NSF-funded randomized controlled trial study. In this study, it was found that the PlantingScience Power of Sunlight module led to higher levels of student achievement and more positive attitudes about scientists, compared to those same student outcomes in classrooms using Business-as-Usual student materials and receiving business as usual teacher professional development. A visual summary of the main findings of that project is available on the PlantingScience website (https://plantingscience.org/app/site/media/research/2021DDSummary1.pdf)

One main limitation of this study was a lack of detailed contextual information describing differences in implementation among teachers using the PlantingScience module and a clear description of what was happening in business-as-usual classrooms serving as the control condition for the study. Current work, which is in the data collection phase now, replicates and extends the prior research, and includes more detailed information on implementation of program components by participants.

Poly Research Initiative

Polytechnic School
https://sites.google.com/polytechnic.org/researchinitiative/home
Primary Contact: Balakrishnan Selvakumar
(bselvakumar@polytecchnic.org)

The Poly Research Initiative creates time and space for high school students to add value to the real world and through it develop real world research skills. This program has grown in scale the past two years of its existence in terms of the range of research spaces and associated range of student research outcomes.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: From the year-long junior Biological Research to summer research to senior biological research to the year-long interdisciplinary Neuroscience and Humanities spaces, there has been growth in the number of students who engage with these spaces. The program is also currently exploring outreach within the community.

Notes on scaling: Partly due to the fact that this program is relatively new, it has not scaled extensively. However, it is interesting to note that they have plans to explore community outreach as a means of scaling.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Peer-reviewed publications of student work

What the evidence has shown: Evidence of success is related to students co-publishing papers in peer-reviewed journals and delivering presentations. For example, 20 students generated 13 research review articles about biology & society published in a journal of the National Human Genome Research Institute. Additionally, five students generated five interdisciplinary research papers through an New York University course taught in school.

PreK-12 Integrated STEM Pathway

Community Training and Assistance Center (CTAC)
https://prek12stem.com/
Primary Contact: Scott Reynolds (sreynolds@ctacusa.com)

PreK-12 Integrated STEM Pathway places integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) directly into the core curriculum for every student Pre-K–12 in every school in the district. The program focuses on engineering and computer science and is supported through internal and external partnerships and structures.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: As an early-phase EIR grant, they have scaled the project from an initial set of nine elementary schools in the district (~4,500 students) to all grade levels Pre-K–12 across all school sites in the district (~15,000 students). Additionally, select teachers in two additional districts have implemented unit lessons for their grade level with another group of teachers from an additional four districts signed up to implement beginning June 2024.

Notes on scaling: They are in the early phases of scaling, but have utilized their partnership with the school district to expand district-wide. They are also beginning to explore implementation with teachers in other districts. More time is needed to see if/how they will study implementation and adaptation in these different contexts.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

✓ Building organizational capacity

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: External evaluation

What the evidence has shown: Their external impact evaluation has found that the program had a statistically significant impact on English learner performance in science. They have also had educators report increased instructional time spent on STEM with high levels of student engagement and high levels of rigor and relevance as measured by the rigor, relevance, and engagement rubrics.

Pre-K Mathematics

WestEd
https://prekmath.wested.org/
Primary Contact: Prentice Starkey (pstarke@wested.org)

Pre-K Mathematics is a math program designed to develop informal mathematical knowledge and skills in preschool children. Specific mathematical concepts and skills from each content unit are taught in the classroom through teacher-guided, small-group activities using concrete manipulatives. Take-home activities with materials that parallel the small-group classroom lessons are designed to help families support children’s mathematical development at home.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 11–25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: Pre-K Mathematics is currently being implemented in 11 states as part of an expansion grant funded by the EIR Program. Research evidence suggests fidelity of implementation in classroom.

Notes on scaling: Additional funding has allowed the program to scale to a number of states.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Building individual capacity

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Peer-reviewed publications, What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) review

What the evidence has shown: Institute of Education Science’s WWC determined that Pre-K Mathematics meets the highest rating of effectiveness for General Mathematics Achievement. See: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/WWC/InterventionReport/732

In two randomized controlled trials (RCTs), Pre-K mathematics was paired with a rigorous, Common Core-aligned kindergarten curriculum, and in both, math gains in Pre-K were maintained.

Additionally, Pre-K Mathematics has been found to be effective in five rigorous RCTs, including one conducted at a statewide level of scale. Teachers implemented the curriculum with the recommended degree of fidelity and amount of classroom and home activity dosage. This statewide project enabled the project to examine effectiveness across multiple categories of ethnicity and urbanicity.

• Starkey, et al., 2022. Effects of early mathematics intervention for low-SES pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students: A replication study.
• Thomas, J., Cook, T., Klein, A., Starkey, P., & DeFlorio, L. (2018). The sequential scale-up of an evidence-based intervention: A case study. Evaluation Review, 42, 318357.

Preschool Data Toolbox

Education Development Center
https://first8studios.org/gracieandfriends/guide/dca/
Primary Contact: Ashley Lewis Presser (alewis@edc.org)

Built with preschoolers in mind, this program is a data science intervention for preschool classrooms. It includes a series of investigations that use hands-on materials, movement, books, and linkages to other topics children are learning in the classroom. The free digital teachers guide and Preschool Data Toolbox app provide teachers with supports to help them include data in preschool learning.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: Scaling has been limited to pilot and comparison studies.

Notes on scaling: Research on scale has been limited to their pilot and comparison studies, likely due to the federal funding they received. They did work with preschool teachers to co-design the activities and tested the program in multiple preschools with “diverse” student population. The professional development also included time for teachers to brainstorm ideas for creating their own investigations and designing their data stories based on the questions and interests that had been arising from their students. This likely provided some information about potential adaptations.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

✓ Building individual capacity

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Peer-reviewed publications

What the evidence has shown: Teachers appreciated that the app offers a new way for children to visualize data and noted that the app provided learning opportunities for children that would not otherwise be possible or easy to implement. Results also suggest that the app provides a systematic process for data collection, entry, and interpretation. Children in classrooms that completed the intervention had significantly higher scores at post-intervention compared to children in classrooms that did not complete the intervention, controlling for pre-intervention scores.

Project LEAP

TERC
https://www.terc.edu/projects/project-leap/
https://algebra.wceruw.org
Primary Contact: Maria Blanton (Maria_Blanton@terc.edu)

Project LEAP is a series of four National Science Foundation- and two Institute of Education Sciences-funded projects focused on the development, implementation, and testing of a sustained and comprehensive approach to early algebra in grades K–5.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: Project LEAP scaled up from its initial exploratory study in grades 3–5 to a large-scale, randomized controlled trial study. Subsequent studies expanded to grades K–2 for a comprehensive grades K–5 early algebra intervention. Curricular materials based on the series of projects have now been published (see https://www.didax.com/leap).

Notes on scaling: Following studies of implementation in grades 3–5, including an RCT study, Project LEAP scaled to additional elementary grades. The focus is on the classroom resources, with no specific professional development for teachers.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Peer-reviewed publications

What the evidence has shown: They have an extensive publication record including evidence of fidelity of implementation and positive outcomes for students (e.g., math ability and attitudes towards math). They have also studied the progression of students’ mathematical thinking. For example, see:

• Blanton, M., Gardiner, A. M., Ristroph, I., Stephens, A., Knuth, E., & Stroud, R. (2024). Progressions in young learners’ understandings of parity arguments. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 26(1), 90–121.
• Blanton, M., Murphy Gardiner, A., Stephens, A., Stroud, R., Knuth, E., & Stylianou, D. (2024). Lessons learned in designing an effective early algebra curriculum for grades K-5. To appear in D. Thompson, M. A. Huntley, & C. Suurtamm (Eds.), Lessons learned from research on mathematics curriculum. Information Age Publishing.
• Stephens, A., Stroud, R., Strachota, S., Stylianou, D., Blanton, M., Knuth, E., & Murphy Gardiner, A. M. (2021). What early algebra knowledge persists one year after an elementary grades intervention? Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 52(3), 332–348.
• Blanton, M., Stroud, R., Stephens, A., Murphy Gardiner, A., Stylianou, D. Knuth, E., Isler-Baykal, I., & Strachota, S. (2019). Does early algebra matter? The effectiveness of an early algebra intervention in grades 3–5. American Educational Research Journal, 56(5), 1930–1972.
• Stylianou, D., Stroud, R., Cassidy, M., Knuth, E., Stephens, A., Murphy Gardiner, A., & Demers, L. (2019). Putting early algebra in the hands of elementary school teachers: Examining fidelity of implementation and its relation to student performance. Infancia y Aprendizaje (Journal for the Study of Education and Development), 42(3), 523–569.

Project Learning Tree (PLT)

Project Learning Tree
https://www.plt.org/
Primary Contact: Megan Annis (megan.annis@forests.org)

PLT, an initiative of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, is committed to advancing environmental education, forest literacy, and green career pathways, using trees and forests as windows on the world. Their award-winning resources offer a lifetime of learning from early childhood through adulthood, and wide and diverse network provides professional development for educators and opportunities for young adults to explore forests and green careers.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: PLT launched in the mid-1970s as a collaboration between the American Forest Institute and the Western Regional Environmental Education Council, comprising agencies from 13 western states. In 2017, PLT joined the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. Since its inception, PLT has become one of the most widely used Pre-K–12 environmental education programs in the United States and abroad. It is available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia; several U.S. territories; and Canada, Chile, Japan, and Mexico. Since its founding, PLT has reached over 138 million students through 765,000 educators.

PLT has a team supporting curriculum and professional learning development at the national level and is supported by a network of state-level coordinators to engage with educators and communities at the local level. The PLT State Coordinators work with their own network of trained facilitators to provide professional development to formal and nonformal educators. The majority of educators using PLT materials have gone through some PLT training, either delivered in person, online, or a hybrid version, which support the program’s fidelity. Because PLT programs are directed and implemented locally, educators also receive state-specific supplements to PLT’s educational materials that address the local environment; professional development that meets school districts’ and educators’ individual needs; alignment to state standards (if applicable); and community connections, local resources, and other collaborative support.

Notes on scaling: PLT has scaled widely utilizing national and local partners. State-specific supplements and professional development as well as alignment with state standards help meet the needs and goals of different contexts.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: External evaluation, research studies, pee-review publications

What the evidence has shown: In 2023, PLT conducted a 43-question Survey of Use, comprised of over 250 PLT State Coordinators, environmental education groups, and various educational partners. According to educators, PLT materials effectively (a) increased learner knowledge on relevant

topics and (b) improved performance on science standards. This effect is increased when the educator has attended PLT professional development, underlining the significant value of professional development facilitated by state-level teams.

Below are some articles highlighting educators who use PLT in their classrooms and the benefits they have seen directly:

• https://www.plt.org/educator-tips/teacher-feature/betty-jo-moore
• https://www.plt.org/educator-tips/majestic-mondays-with-plt-teacher-feature-nancy-blake/

SageModeler

The Concord Consortium
https://sagemodeler.concord.org/
Primary Contact: Daniel Damelin (ddamelin@concord.org)

SageModeler is a free, web-based tool for creating system models of phenomena. This tool allows learners to take their ideas about how something works and design a runnable simulation without needing to write equations or do traditional coding.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: SageModeler has been used by over 75,000 people in over 50 countries. SageModeler has been translated into 13 languages.

Notes on scaling: SageModeler is used as a standalone web application for teachers to incorporate into their curriculum models. This program’s flexibility and room for adaptation is likely a key factor in their ability to scale.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Research studies

What the evidence has shown: The two NSF-funded projects at the Concord Consortium and Michigan State University that developed SageModeler have published 16 articles, one book chapter, 15 research presentations, eight articles in Concord Consortium’s newsletter, and 12 blog posts on the Concord website. Please see a select set of references below for evidence of project impact:

• Eidin, E. Bowers, J., Damelin, D., & Krajcik, J. (2023). The effect of using different computational system modeling approaches on applying systems thinking. Frontiers in Education, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1173792
• Eidin, E., Bielik, T., Touitou, I., Bowers, J., McIntyre, C., Damelin, D., & Krajcik, J. (2023). Thinking in terms of change over time: Opportunities and challenges of using system dynamics models. Journal of Science Education and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-023-10047-y
• Shin, N., Bowers, J., Roderick, S., Mclntyre, C., Stephens, A. L., Eidin, E., Krajcik, J., & Damelin, D. (2022). A framework for supporting systems thinking and computational thinking through constructing models. Instructional Science, 50(6), 933–960. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-022-09590-9
• Bowers, J., Damelin, D., Eidin, E., & McIntyre, C. (2022). Keeping cool with SageModeler: Engaging students in systems thinking and computational thinking through modeling. The Science Teacher, 89(4), 18–25. (https://concord.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/keeping-cool-with-sagemodeler.pdf)
• Bielik, T., Stephens, L., McIntyre, C., Damelin, D., & Krajcik, J. S. (2021). Supporting student system modelling practice through curriculum and technology design. Journal of Science Education and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-021-09943-y
• Shin, N., Bowers, J., Krajcik, J., & Damelin, D. (2021). Promoting computational thinking through project-based learning. Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research, 3(7). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43031-021-00033-y
• Bielik, T., Fonio, E., Feinerman, O., Golan Duncan, R., & Levy, S. T. (2021). Working together: Integrating computational modeling approaches to investigate complex systems. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 30, 40–57. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10956-020-09869-x

Science Education for Public Understanding Program (SEPUP)

The Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California Berkeley
sepup.lawrencehallofscience.org
Primary Contact: Ben Koo (ben.koo@berkeley.edu)

SEPUP creates Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-aligned high quality instructional materials for secondary science classrooms (grades 6–12). The program’s instructional materials situate science learning in real-world contexts and phenomena by driving learning with socio-scientific issues. SEPUP’s middle school program, Issues and Science (Third Edition, Revised for NGSS) is widely available for use in schools through partnership with the publisher Lab-Aids, Inc. SEPUP materials have been adopted and are being utilized across the United States and overseas in a variety of school community contexts.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: Issues and Science was initially developed in part through funding through NSF (grants 9554264 and DRL1418235) and resulted in the development of model curriculum materials that utilize an issue-oriented approach. Subsequently, through their partnership with Lab-Aids, Inc., they were able to develop a comprehensive three-year middle school program with print materials, full teacher professional development support, embedded formative and summative assessments, hands-on equipment and a digital platform and digital ancillaries. This partnership has allowed them to grow the number of users of our materials from its initial development. Currently, the program has over 600 schools across the country utilizing their middle school program.

Notes on scaling: It is evident that through SEPUP’s partnerships with NSF and Lab-Aids, Inc., the program has had both the funding and subject matter expertise to develop curriculum materials that heavily influence the districts they serve.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Peer-reviewed publications

What the evidence has shown: As part of a three-year research project at the University of Arizona, Stanley Pogrow (1993) reviewed and ranked middle school materials to identify those that were the most creative, relevant, and rigorous. SEPUP materials were cited as exemplary and fulfilled his criteria that curriculum: (a) relate science content to issues of concern to students; (b) support a reflective, Socratic approach; (c) develop thinking skills; and (d) present content in a rigorous fashion.

Additionally, the NSF Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education used more than 40 specific criteria to review NSF-funded middle level materials. In addition to questions relating to content, the reviewers asked whether the materials push teachers to teach differently and provide students the opportunity to make conjectures, gather evidence, and develop arguments to support, reject, and revise their explanations for natural phenomena (Lewis, 1996). The examining committee recommended both SEPUP modular and full-year comprehensive programs as materials that

meet these criteria, noting that the materials are engaging and, provide good activities for student decision making and opportunities for student-designed inquiry (NSF, 1997).

• Lewis, A. (1996). Content standards for science: NSF panel tells districts which materials meet its standards. Harvard Education Newsletter. September/October, 4
• National Science Foundation. (1997) Review of Instructional Materials for Middle School Science. Directorate for Educational and Human Resources, Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education.

Science Teachers Learning from Lesson Analysis (STeLLA)

BSCS Science Learning
https://bscs.org/stella/
Primary Contact: Chris Wilson (cwilson@bscs.org)

STeLLA is a year-long science professional learning program for K–12 teachers, integrating video-based analysis of practice and a focus on student thinking.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 11–25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: STeLLA began in 2003 with a study involving 32 upper elementary school teachers in California. The study provided evidence that participating teachers improved their science instruction and knowledge which had a direct effect on study learning. A 2009 RCT study involving 144 teachers in Colorado expanded upon this work and showed similarly promising results. In 2015, STeLLA expanded to reach middle and

high school teachers in Colorado. In 2019, the STeLLA team received their largest grant to-date to test, refine, and scale up the STeLLA model.

More information about their scale-up project can be found here: https://bscs.org/stella-elementary/

Notes on scaling: STeLLA steadily grew the project over time through additional funding and partnerships. This allowed them to test out their model in different contexts (e.g., different states and with different grade levels). They also utilize expert mentors to provide in-person, online, or hybrid teacher professional learning experiences.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Peer-reviewed publications, internal and external evaluations

What the evidence has shown: Studies published in peer reviewed journals document evidence from randomized controlled trial and quasi-experiments of the core program, as well as online adaptations, application in preservice education, elementary, middle and high school, as well as small- and large-scale implementation. Studies provide evidence of impacts on student achievement, teacher content knowledge, teacher pedagogical content knowledge, and teacher classroom practice.

Seeding Innovation

AISES
https://www.aises.org/content/seeding-innovation
Primary Contact: Marie Casao (mcasao@aises.org)

AISES and the Kapor Center are working together to provide support for a sequence of culturally revitalizing computer science curriculum to partner schools across the county. They work collaboratively with school sites to create an engaging computer science curriculum, while also working with teachers and, when possible, community members to integrate cultural traditions, language, stories, art and more. It is a tribe-specific computer science curriculum that is built with and for the partner communities.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: They have scaled the program to multiple sites since the start of the program. One of the main projects was the E-textiles project, which has included moccasins, Indigenous languages used on bracelets they created, button robes for Alaska Natives and storytelling with Lower Brule and Red Lake through textile panels. Across the sites, the students have shared this is their favorite project, and this has led to it being scaled across different AISES Pre-K–12 programs.

Notes on scaling: This program is unique in its focus on tribal communities. They work closely with schools, teachers, and community members to help develop a program that is culturally revitalizing. They also utilized feedback from students to inform what part of the program to scale.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: External evaluation report

What the evidence has shown: Natives in Tech Ecosystem Report: https://www.kaporcenter.org/native-tech/

As a result of this report, they have had multiple interviews with radio stations, podcasts and news outlets. Much of this information is private due to cultural contexts and none of the work is published yet.

SmartLab HQ Learning Environment

SmartLab
https://www.smartlablearning.com/
Primary Contact: Annmarie Iascone
(annmarie.iascone@creativelearningsystems.com)

SmartLab HQ Learning Environement is a turn-key Project-based learning-centered science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) learning environment with curricula that prepares students for the careers of tomorrow. It includes standards-aligned supplemental curriculum supporting students through an open-ended, project-based process.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 11–25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: No information was provided.

Notes on scaling: N/A

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Case study

What the evidence has shown: Case study: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/937288028/

Smithsonian Science for North and South Carolina Classrooms

Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC)
https://ssec.si.edu/smithsonian-science-nc-and-sc-classrooms
Primary Contact: Katie Gainsback (gainsbackk@si.edu)

Smithsonian Science for North and South Carolina Classrooms launched in October 2019 with funding from an early phase Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grant from the U.S. Department of Education. This project provides third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers with high quality science curriculum and professional development to support student achievement in science, math, and reading.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: The initial cohort participating in Smithsonian Science for North and South Carolina Classrooms comprised 19 schools in rural school districts across North and South Carolina. Now in the fifth and final year of the program, 18 schools within the same seven districts will receive curriculum and professional development like their peers. To aid in this expansion, the SSEC trained 16 teachers as professional development facilitators to support training of this new cohort in summer 2024 and beyond. This trainer cadre builds capacity locally to expand the program with future training opportunities and champion the program more broadly.

Aside from these expansion plans, other schools not participating have expressed interest to their district administrators in receiving the same instructional materials and training. Several teachers from participating schools have already pursued additional modules from the science strands they do not yet possess, either leveraging Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds or participating in field testing to gain access to expanded resources. Some districts have also inquired with the curriculum publisher about larger-scale purchases for multiple current teachers and schools along with new grade levels. In both states, regional partners are conducting deliberate conversations with district leadership regarding their appetite for continuing and expanding their participation via future funding and partnership opportunities. The SSEC for its part, will apply for a mid-phase EIR grant in the fiscal year 2024 cycle to further scale the program.

Notes on scaling: The team utilized a train-the-trainer model to help spread implementation to additional schools. There is interest from schools for additional resources and many are seeking their own funding. The project team, now at the end of their five-year grant, are seeking additional funding to continue to expand their work as well.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Randomized controlled trial (RCT)

What the evidence has shown: During the development phase, project materials were developed in consultation with teachers and content experts and field tested in a range of schools with diverse populations.

The RCT conducted for Smithsonian Science for North and South Carolina Classrooms sought to understand whether implementation of the Smithsonian Science for the Classroom curriculum with supporting professional development improves student achievement, particularly that of high needs students, in science, math, and reading relative to “business as usual.” The effect of the intervention for all students across both states combined was positive and statistically significant relative to the comparison cohort in science achievement as measured by the Stanford-10. Student achievement in reading and math also saw positive gains over the comparison group on state assessments. Furthermore, classroom observations recorded high levels of class time dedicated to inquiry-based science in treatment schools. In focus groups, teachers reported increased confidence levels in teaching science and students who were engaged in learning and better able to grasp vocabulary concepts. The final report is still being written.

STEM Innovation and Design (STEM-ID)

Georgia Institute of Technology
https://stem-id.ceismc.gatech.edu/
Primary Contact: Meltem Alemdar
(meltem.alemdar@ceismc.gatech.edu)

STEM-ID is the umbrella name for middle school engineering curriculum across grades 6 through 8, developed as part of the Advanced Manufacturing and Prototyping Integrated to Unlock Potential Math and Science Partnership project and current scale up through DRK12, generously funded by the National Science Foundation through grants #1238089 and #2101441. The curriculum requires that students use the engineering design process within a problem-based learning context, and that they actively practice foundational mathematics skills and Next Generation Science Standards-aligned scientific practices to solve engaging challenges.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: Courses were piloted in four “highly challenging” middle schools. Iterative changes were made based on formative data, followed by extensive empirical research regarding the impact of the courses on student outcomes across grade levels and schools

(see: https://ijemst.net/index.php/ijemst/article/view/279). During the scale up, currently implemented in 10 schools, teacher professional development was provided to ensure fidelity while allowing for intentional adaptation to meet the unique needs of each school. This involved maintaining the core principles and objectives of the curriculum while providing flexibility for educators to tailor instructional strategies, resources, and activities based on local contexts and student demographics. Scaled efforts demonstrated evidence of fidelity of implementation. The teachers made some adaptations but implemented the critical components of the curriculum (self-reported results, scale-up results not yet published).

Notes on scaling: This project takes the scaling approach of emphasizing core components while allowing for adaptation to different contexts. They are working directly with teachers to provide professional development and to understand how they are implementing the curricula in their classrooms.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Building individual capacity

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Peer-reviewed research

What the evidence has shown: The published research demonstrates that participation in STEM-ID benefitted students’ math and science academic achievement and their engagement in STEM. Research also demonstrated that across grade levels and schools, students were able to transfer knowledge between their engineering course and their core mathematics and science courses. See: https://ijemst.net/index.php/ijemst/article/view/279

STEM Fest, STEM Saturday, STEM Fellows

STEM NOLA/STEM Global Action
www.stemnola.com and www.stemglobalaction.com
Primary Contact: Jamie Sachs (jsachs@stemnola.com)

These programs seek to expose, inspire and engage K–12 students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and STEM careers by making STEM accessible and enjoyable. They engage students in STEM Festivals and STEM Saturdays as well as providing a career exploration program for 9–12 graders.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: More than 25 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: The program was started in New Orleans with only Saturday morning events. Over the last ten years, they have expanded programming to include afterschool, in-class, summer camp, STEM Fellows, and teacher professional development. They now serve the entire state of Louisiana and also have programming in 15 additional states. As of

2024, they have engaged 150,000 students, 20,000 families, 1,500 college students, and 5,500 community and professional volunteers.

Notes on scaling: Their ability to scale could have been impacted by their expansion to flexible professional development programs for current and prospective educators. Their partnerships with widely-known companies, along with federal and state agencies has likely aided in their ability to expand to different student populations.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Administered to participants

What the evidence has shown: Administer surveys to students, parents, and volunteers as a part of all of our programming, consistently receiving high survey results.

STEM + M Pathways

Baylor College of Medicine Academy
https://www.bcm.edu/departments/education-innovation-and-technology/center-for-educational-outreach/career-pathways/secondary-school-programs/baylor-college-of-medicine-academy-at-ryan
Primary Contact: Nancy P. Moreno
(nancy.moreno@bcm.edu)

Baylor College of Medicine Academy at James D. Ryan Middle School (BCMAR) opened in 2013 on the site of the former Ryan Middle School in Houston as an open-enrollment science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEM+M) magnet middle school. An affiliation of Baylor College of Medicine and the Houston Independent School District, the academy offers a STEM+M magnet program with an emphasis on medical and biomedical sciences.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population.

Description of scaling efforts: BCMAR is a version of the STEM+M pathway model of a magnet school campus; in this case, the program started at the sixth grade level and scaled up three times over the first three years (including grades 7 and 8 the following years). This model has also been replicated at middle and high schools in school districts in Southwest Houston (Stafford Municipal School District—Stafford STEM Magnet), South Texas (South Texas Rising Stars Academy and South Texas Preparatory Academy), and Health Sciences Academy in Union Pacific Country public school system. The model continues to be utilized as an example across the country as a premier example of developing STEM+M skills in learners and exposing them early in their academic careers to STEM+M pathways and opportunities.

BCMAR leverages additional community programs to increase its STEM+M offerings (e.g., Baylor College of Medicine and University of Houston offer after school programs to support students) and attract industry partners (e.g., HESS Corporation).

Notes on scaling: This program is unique in that it has a core model that has been successfully implemented and scaled into different contexts. They also seem to fully utilize partnerships and create workforce pathways.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ A core program with room for adaptation to different contexts

✓ Alignment with policies and/or standards

✓ Building organizational capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: External review, student success stories

What the evidence has shown: BCMAR was externally reviewed by Magnet Schools of America multiple times. It received the status of National Certified Demonstration School and School of Excellence in 2023. Additionally, BCMAR received the Magnet Schools of America’s President’s Award (for being in the top three magnet schools in the nation) in 2017 and the School of Distinction award in 2018 and 2019. In 2020–2021, BCMAR was identified as a Top 10 Pandemic Resilient School in Houston by the Children at Risk organization.

All students are required to complete an independent investigation (science fair) of their own design each year. Each year the school has participated in science fair competitions for the top projects, it has won awards at the area level. Multiple students have been nominated to participate at

the state and national level based on their performance at the area competition. Students also compete in the Genes in Space competition and the school has earned the Constellation prize for three-consecutive years. By the time students are in eighth grade, at least 80 percent indicate interest in STEM+M professions as determined through end of year survey. Students who need help closing the achievement gap all participate in a BCM-sponsored coaching program. Students have expressed gains in math comprehension and one student was promoted one grade level after participating in the program.

For the first college graduating class from BCMAR there were 50 attendees who worked on creating a framework for the alumni program that includes a plan for networking and collecting data on students’ career trajectories. Alumni discussed the significant role of their experience at BCMAR Middle School in shaping their career trajectories. In addition, parents and students have expressed excitement about the STEM+M fields after students participated in BCMAR programs (e.g., Camp Med (summer bridge program), biomedical rotations, the Harvest Lab elective, science competitions, Health Occupations Students of America).

Supporting Teachers in Rural Communities for the Next Generation (STEM STRONG)

University of North Dakota
https://education.und.edu/research/stemstrong.html
Primary Contact: Ryan Summers (ryan.summers@und.edu)

STEM STRONG aims to provide online professional learning in science and engineering to elementary teachers in grades 3–5 with a focus on small schools and rural communities. Research associated with this program aims to build knowledge about the impact of teacher professional learning, extended by modest supports like online professional learning communities, and the sustainability of instructional improvements.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: The groundwork for this was done with teachers in California. Scaling has focused on adding new audiences (i.e., Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming as additional states) and attending

specifically to rural contexts in these states. They have also shifted from a hybrid model (face-to-face professional learning with electronic modest supports) to an online model.

Notes on scaling: It appears that federal funding has supported their expansion to new states along with partnerships including state agencies and regional education associations.

Factors affecting scaling noted:

✓ Building individual capacity

✓ Utilization of partnership and/or networks

Evidence of Success

Type of evidence: Research findings

What the evidence has shown: Initial findings suggest that teachers’ attitudes and self-efficacy for teaching science were initially higher than those attitudes and beliefs for teaching engineering. After the five-day professional learning course, teachers had made significant gains in their engineering self-efficacy. Ongoing professional learning provided through online professional learning community sessions has continued to offer support for teachers in science and engineering. Qualitative measures include delayed post-intervention surveys to collect more evidence about the impacts of STEM STRONG (administering Spring 2024).

STEM Workforce Ready 2030 (WFR)

Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA)
https://mmsa.org/projects/stem-workforce-ready-2030/
Primary Contact: Rhonda Tate (rtate@mmsa.org)

The WFR Project is creating a network of teacher leaders across Maine who are committed to integrating computer science learning in rural Pre-K–12 classrooms. MMSA is partnering with 12 rural school districts to create regional hubs of professional learning. These hubs, led by CS Integration Teacher Leaders, will train educators across the state to integrate computer science (CS) practices and principles into their curriculum and inspire Maine’s STEM Workforce of 2030: today’s students.

General Information

Scaling

Current extent of scaling: 5–10 times the original population

Description of scaling efforts: In year two of the project, 100 percent of districts piloted an integrated CS lesson. Additionally, they provided feedback via a reflection form, discussing ways the lesson could be improved for future use in their classrooms or with other grade bands or subjects.