Florida Schools with Higher STEMscopes Usage Achieve Higher Fifth Grade Proficiency Rates on Statewide Science Assessment

A new study of Florida elementary schools, published by Accelerate Learning, shows that the more exposure students have to inquiry-based science through the STEMscopes™ digital science curriculum, the better they perform on the Florida Statewide Science Assessment.

June 6, 2019 09:00 UTC

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A new study of Florida elementary schools, published by Accelerate Learning, shows that the more exposure students have to inquiry-based science through the STEMscopes™ digital science curriculum, the better they perform on the Florida Statewide Science Assessment.

During the 2017-18 school year, 133 elementary schools in 14 Florida counties used the STEMscopes comprehensive, hands-on science curriculum for fifth grade. On average, these schools had over 600 students who were about 50 percent minority and predominantly economically disadvantaged. The results of this study showed that the schools that used STEMscopes more frequently were more likely to experience gains in science proficiency. Overall, the STEMscopes schools improved their science proficiency by an average of 3 percentage points. However, schools that were high users of STEMscopes saw an average increase of 6 percentage points in proficiency, which was two points higher than the average increase across the state. These results translate to an additional 89 students meeting proficiency with high usage of STEMscopes.

“The results of this study show that teachers’ usage of STEMscopes is a powerful predictor of student achievement in science,” said Dr. Vernon Johnson, president and CEO of Accelerate Learning. “Florida teachers tell us that STEMscopes engages students at a deeper level and helps them build critical thinking skills and connect science to the real world. They also say that the embedded support for teachers, such as professional development videos and how-to guides, gets them excited to teach science, which makes their students excited to learn science.”

STEMscopes provides teacher and student digital resources, supplemental print materials, and hands-on exploration kits that build student engagement and excitement for learning science. Each STEMscopes unit is developed around the 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate) model of instruction, with additional phases for Intervention and Acceleration. STEMscopes can be used as a core science curriculum or supplementary resource in traditional, blended, and 1:1 classroom environments.

About Accelerate Learning

Incubated at Rice University, Accelerate Learning has grown from a single product, STEMscopes, to a brand that now offers a variety of curriculum and professional development solutions that support early learning, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and state-aligned curriculum. For more information, visit http://stemscopes.com or call toll-free 800-531-0864.

Contacts

Javier Encinas
281-833-4512
javier@acceleratelearning.com

Source: Accelerate Learning

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