Elementary School Field Test
This field test is part of a collaborative development process led by OpenSciEd, in which a group of state education agencies, school districts, classroom educators, and science curriculum developers is creating research-based, open-source science instructional materials that align to A Framework for K-12 Science Education (the Framework) and are consistent with the NM STEM Ready! Science Standards. Contributing to this effort will provide teachers with access to high quality instructional resources and dynamic professional learning that gives all students in your district a chance to experience equitable science instruction.
New Mexico adopted the NM STEM Ready! Science Standards in July 2018. Elementary school curriculum materials aligned to the recommended K–5 course map are hard to find. OpenSciEd is a project to develop freely available, high quality, NGSS-aligned curriculum materials for elementary science. New Mexico is currently a partner state in the project to develop full year courses for Grades K–5. science.
Your district is invited to identify school sites and teachers to field test a new set of instructional materials for elementary science that are aligned to the NM STEM Ready! Science Standards. Most recently, the OpenSciEd 6–8 instructional materials scored green on edReports. This field test is part of an effort called OpenSciEd, in which a group of state education agencies, working with school districts, classroom educators, experienced science curriculum developers, and the science education community are creating research-based, open-source science instructional materials. The long term vision of OpenSciEd is to:
- Ensure any science teacher can access and download freely available, high quality NGSS-aligned instructional materials.
- Support districts and schools by providing professional learning for science teachers and leaders around quality instructional materials.
- Provide space for states and districts to work with other organizations to collaborate on innovative approaches to professional learning for science teachers and leaders.
The Math and Science Bureau (MSB) is seeking teams of teachers, all teachers in grades K-2 or grades 3-5 or whole schools to field test these instructional materials and participate in professional learning (PL) to learn how to use the materials to support equitable learning in science.
The MSB will support the field test teachers in order to assess the impact of the OpenSciEd materials and professional learning on science teaching and learning. Participating teachers will be asked to participate in PL, teach the units and provide feedback about the instructional materials.
Application Priority for School District Consideration:
- Districts/Schools where whole school teams (K–5) have all educators in each grade level that fully engage in the field test.
- Districts/Schools where all educators, either grades K–2 or 3–5, that fully engage in the field test.
- Districts/Schools serving high populations of Martinez/Yazzie student groups to support high-quality culturally linguistically responsive science instruction.
If you are interested, please complete the following application by May 1.
Questions? Shafiq Chaudhary or Lisa Sanchez
Middle School Expansion
The Math and Science Bureau (MSB) of the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) continues to support high-quality science instruction in middle schools (grades 6–8). The MSB is wrapping up the last year of the OpenSciEd field test; as a result of New Mexico teacher participation, a coherent curriculum will be available for public use across the country. The released units have received the Achieve Badge of High Quality.
This initiative is designed to support schools to go beyond just downloading curriculum and instead support teachers and leaders adopting and implementing this cutting-edge innovative science curriculum. Support includes on-going professional learning for district science leaders aligned to the open-source instructional materials and cost-sharing for materials.
High School Field Test
New Mexico adopted the NM STEM Ready! Science Standards in July 2018. High school curriculum materials aligned to the recommended Discipline Specific course map are hard to find. OpenSciEd is a project to develop free, high quality, NGSS-aligned curriculum materials for high school science. New Mexico is currently a partner state in the project to develop full year courses in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics with the Earth and Space science standards integrated fully into the courses. Currently, field test teachers are field testing these instructional materials, participating in professional learning (PL) to learn how to use the materials to support equitable learning in science and submitting feedback on the materials, based on the voices of New Mexico students/experienced teachers, making them ready for public release.