Two New Studies Show That Texas Districts Using STEMscopes Outperform Other Districts on State Science Assessments

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Accelerate Learning today announces two studies in Texas that build on previous research showing that science instruction with STEMscopes™ has a positive effect on student achievement on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR™). One study showed that, for the fourth consecutive year, STEMscopes districts outperformed non-STEMscopes districts on the 2017-18 STAAR grade 5 science test. Another study revealed that districts that used STEMscopes for Biology had higher percentages of students who met or mastered proficiency on the Biology End-of-Course (EOC) STAAR assessment.

In the study examining the results of the STAAR grade 5 science test, the average passing was 73 percent for all 1,148 Texas districts that include fifth grade. Of these, 559 districts used STEMscopes and 589 districts used a district-created or other science curriculum. The average passing rate was 74 percent for STEMscopes districts and 71 percent for non-STEMscopes districts. STEMscopes districts also had higher rates of students who met and mastered grade-level performance standards. In addition, STEMscopes districts had higher passing rates for economically disadvantaged students.

A different study examined data from the 1,074 districts that received scores on the 2017-18 Biology EOC STAAR assessment. Of these, 366 districts used STEMscopes and 708 districts used a district-created or other curriculum. In STEMscopes districts, 59 percent of students met proficiency and 20 percent mastered proficiency. In non-STEMscopes districts, 57 percent of students met proficiency and 18 percent mastered proficiency. The study also conducted analyses to examine the results while accounting for previous year achievement and important demographic variables. Specifically, using the STEMscopes curriculum was associated with an increase of 2 percent of students who met proficiency and 1 percent who mastered proficiency on the Biology EOC assessment. These results translate to an additional 4,480 students meeting proficiency and 3,426 students mastering proficiency.

“Year after year, study after study has shown a positive association between STEMscopes usage and increased student proficiency in science,” said Vernon Johnson, president and CEO of Accelerate Learning. “These results, combined with teachers’ and leaders’ recommendations of STEMscopes, are why it is now used in almost half of Texas districts. We congratulate these districts on their results.”

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