OpenSciEd

Last updated

OpenSciEd is an American nonprofit organization that creates open source science education materials and curricula for all grades, initially focusing on grades 6-8. [1] OpenSciEd's approach is based on a science storyline, where students build upon their understanding of a topic by asking questions and investigating their answers through various activities. [2] It has been adopted by 10 states. [3] All materials are reviewed by and follow Next Generation Science Standards. [4] [5]

Contents

Participating States

OpenSciEd has been adopted by California, [6] Iowa, Louisiana, [7] Massachusetts, [8] Michigan, [9] New Jersey, [10] New Mexico, [11] Oklahoma, [12] Rhode Island, and Washington. [13] However, because of the difficulty in switching from traditional education, not all districts in states which adopted the new standards use OpenSciEd. [14]

Funding

OpenSciEd funders include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. [15]

Approach to Education

OpenSciEd model of instruction. OpenSciEdGraphic-FINAL-White-Background-01.png
OpenSciEd model of instruction.

According to OpenSciEd, traditional education frequently only pays attention to the point of view of experts, and doesn't consider how students view what they are learning. Because of this, many students don't understand why they are learning what they are, and don't connect the various concepts together. OpenSciEd attempts to solve this by creating a science storyline, where questions of phenomena lead to investigations, which link together to give students a good understanding of the topic. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phonics</span> Method to teach reading and writing of an alphabetic language

Phonics is a method for teaching people how to read and write an alphabetic language. It is done by demonstrating the relationship between the sounds of the spoken language (phonemes), and the letters or groups of letters (graphemes) or syllables of the written language. In English, this is also known as the alphabetic principle or the Alphabetic code.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curriculum</span> Educational plan

In education, a curriculum is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experiences in terms of the educator's or school's instructional goals. A curriculum may incorporate the planned interaction of pupils with instructional content, materials, resources, and processes for evaluating the attainment of educational objectives. Curricula are split into several categories: the explicit, the implicit, the excluded, and the extracurricular.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Primary education in the United States</span>

Primary education in the United States refers to the first seven to nine years of formal education in most jurisdictions, often in elementary schools, including middle schools. Preschool programs, which are less formal and usually not mandated by law, are generally not considered part of primary education. The first year of primary education is commonly referred to as kindergarten and begins at or around age 5 or 6. Subsequent years are usually numbered being referred to as first grade, second grade, and so forth. Elementary schools normally continue through sixth grade, which the students normally complete when they are age 11 or 12. Some elementary schools graduate after the 4th or 5th grade and transition students into a middle school.

Scientific literacy or science literacy encompasses written, numerical, and digital literacy as they pertain to understanding science, its methodology, observations, and theories. Scientific literacy is chiefly concerned with an understanding of the scientific method, units and methods of measurement, empiricism and understanding of statistics in particular correlations and qualitative versus quantitative observations and aggregate statistics, as well as a basic understanding of core scientific fields, such as physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, geology and computation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School</span> Open enrollment public charter school in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

New Orleans Charter Science & Math High School is an open enrollment charter school in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Students commonly refer to the school as "SciHigh", "Science & Math", or vice versa, "Math and Science".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-evolution legislation</span>

A number of anti-evolution bills have been introduced in the United States Congress and State legislatures since 2001. Purporting to support academic freedom, supporters have contended that teachers, students, and college professors face intimidation and retaliation when discussing scientific criticisms of evolution, and therefore require protection. Critics of the legislation have pointed out that there are no credible scientific critiques of evolution. An investigation in Florida of the allegations of intimidation and retaliation found no evidence that it had occurred. The vast majority of the bills have been unsuccessful, with the one exception being Louisiana's Louisiana Science Education Act, which was enacted in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Literacy in the United States</span> Overview of literacy in the United States

Literacy in the United States was determined by the National Center for Education Statistics to be at a mid to high level in 2019, at 79%, with 21% of American adults categorized as having "low level English literacy," including 4.1% classified as "functionally illiterate" and an additional 4% that could not participate. According to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of adults in the United States have prose literacy below the 6th-grade level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reading</span> Taking in the meaning of letters or symbols

Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Book Company (1996)</span>

American Book Company is a textbook and software publishing company. Its main focus is on standardized test preparation materials. It offers books covering language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies tests. The company also produces transparencies, basic review books, and ACT and SAT preparation books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CK-12 Foundation</span> California-based non-profitable organization

The CK-12 Foundation is a California-based non-profit organization which aims to increase access to low-cost K-12 education in the United States and abroad. CK-12 provides free and customizable K-12 open educational resources aligned to state curriculum standards. As of 2022, the foundation's tools were used by over 200,000,000 students worldwide.

From kindergarten through high school, mathematics education in public schools in the United States has historically varied widely from state to state, and often even varies considerably within individual states. With the adoption of the Common Core Standards by 45 states, mathematics content across the country is moving into closer agreement for each grade level. Furthermore, the SAT, a standardized university entrance exam, has been reformed to better reflect the contents of the Common Core.

The Common Core State Standards Initiative, also known as simply Common Core, is an educational initiative from 2010 that details what K–12 students throughout the United States should know in English language arts and mathematics at the conclusion of each school grade. The initiative is sponsored by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers.

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a consortium featuring two states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Educational Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education, that work to create and deploy a standard set of K–12 assessments in Mathematics and English, based on the Common Core State Standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twig Education</span>

Twig Education is a digital media company that offers educational content to schools via subscription websites.

Project Learning Tree (PLT) is an environmental education program for teaching children about trees and forests using hands-on activities. It was created in 1976, after passage of the first National Environmental Education Act in 1970 and celebration of the first Earth Day in 1970, raised the profile of environmental education in the United States.

The Next Generation Science Standards is a multi-state effort in the United States to create new education standards that are "rich in content and practice, arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally benchmarked science education." The standards were developed by a consortium of 26 states and by the National Science Teachers Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Research Council, and Achieve, a nonprofit organization that was also involved in developing math and English standards. The public was also invited to review the standards, and organizations such as the California Science Teachers Association encouraged this feedback. The final draft of the standards was released in April 2013.

Cognitive rigor is a combined model developed by superimposing two existing models for describing rigor that are widely accepted in the education system in the United States. The concept "is marked and measured by the depth and extent students are challenged and engaged to demonstrate and communicate their knowledge and thinking" and also "marks and measures the depth and complexity of student learning experiences."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elementary schools in the United States</span> Primary education in the United States

An elementary school is a primary school which is the main point of delivery of primary education in the United States, for children between the ages of 5–11 and coming between pre-kindergarten and secondary education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joy Hofmeister</span> American educator and politician (born 1964)

Joy Hofmeister is an American educator and politician who has served as the Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction since 2015. Hofmeister was sworn in as Oklahoma's 14th State Superintendent on January 12, 2015, after defeating the incumbent Republican candidate, Janet Barresi, in the primary election and Democratic candidate John Cox in the general election. Hofmeister was re-elected on November 6, 2018, and sworn in for a second four-year term as State Superintendent on January 14, 2019. Hofmeister won re-election after facing Democrat John Cox a second time, as well as independent candidate Larry Huff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-LGBT curriculum laws in the United States</span> Current and former laws prohibiting or limiting mention of LGBT topics in public schools

Anti-LGBT curriculum laws, sometimes referred to as don't say gay laws or no promo homo laws, are laws approved by various U.S. states that prohibit or limit the mention or discussion of homosexuality and transgender identity in public schools. In theory, these laws mainly apply to sex ed courses, but they can also be applied to other parts of the school curriculum as well as to extracurricular activities such as sports and organizations such as gay–straight alliances.

References

  1. "Science Classroom Supplies - OpenSciEd FAQs". OpenSciEd. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  2. "Science Classroom Resources - Science Model Design". OpenSciEd. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  3. "Partner States". OpenSciEd. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  4. "Quality Examples of Science Lessons and Units | Next Generation Science Standards". www.nextgenscience.org. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  5. "Middle School Science Units - OpenSciEd Development Process". OpenSciEd. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  6. Johnson, Sydney. "Nationwide project provides free science materials to meet California's new standards". EdSource. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  7. "Louisiana Guide to Piloting OpenSciEd: Grade 6" (PDF). Retrieved 26 May 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. "OpenSciEd in Massachusetts - Science, Technology/Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)". www.doe.mass.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  9. "OpenSciEd – Michigan Math and Science Leadership Network" . Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  10. "Grades 9-12 Model Curriculum". www.nj.gov. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  11. 000.Schaudhary. "OpenSciEd in New Mexico". New Mexico Public Education Department. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  12. "Open Education Resources". Oklahoma State Department of Education. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  13. "Partner States". OpenSciEd. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  14. Johnson, Sydney. "Nationwide project provides free science materials to meet California's new standards". EdSource. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  15. "Funders". OpenSciEd. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  16. "Science Technology Tools for the Classroom - OpenSciEd Classrooms". OpenSciEd. Retrieved 2022-05-26.