mySci

Lisa Everett knows an engaged first grader when she sees one.

“Engaged students are actively involved in the learning,” she says. “They are asking and answering questions, using the materials, and discussing the activity with classmates. They are driving their own learning.”

Even with 25 years of experience teaching a full range of grade levels from fourth to twelfth, Everett is keeping her own learning curve fresh.

When teachers have opportunities to actively participate in and “try on” ambitious science teaching strategies, they have more confidence and feel more prepared to engage their students in meaningful, three-dimensional science learning.

Teaching science in a way that includes and engages all learners can be challenging for educators, but a new framework developed by the ISP provides criteria for equitable lesson development in elementary science.

Using Our Resources Wisely, a fifth grade science unit developed by the Institute for School Partnership’s (ISP)  mySci program has been awarded the NGSS Design Badge. The Badge is awarded to top-rated science units designed for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Since 2017, only four other units, including mySci’s From Sun to Food, have […]

Outcomes of a two-year STEM learning pilot the Institute for School Partnership at Washington University in St. Louis (ISP) completed in partnership with St. Louis Public Schools and The Little Bit Foundation are encouraging.  The pilot, made possible with generous support of the Bayer Fund, reached 194 SLPS educators and 2,000+ students. This unique collaboration […]

“This is going to be fun!” When fifth graders walk into a classroom set up for the next science lesson with that level of enthusiasm, something very right is happening, and it’s not magic.  Their teacher, Sarah Carter, knows engaging science learning – the messy kind, with hands-on lessons and authentic, sometimes unpredictable inquiry that […]

Heavy rains and flooding impacting so many in the St. Louis region in late July have also been felt by the Institute for School Partnership at Washington University in St. Louis (ISP). Efforts are underway to recover flood damage to the mySci Resource Center located at 6601 Vernon Avenue in University City. The building, which […]

Roughly 22 years into his career, Brendan Kearney knows one thing for certain: teaching science is his jam. “I’ve always loved science, and teaching the subject ignited my passion,” says Kearney, who teaches science – and only science – to third, fourth and fifth graders at Glenridge Elementary in Clayton. For the next school year, […]

Last summer, four organizations came together to launch a new program in 17 St. Louis Public elementary schools. The Institute for School Partnership (ISP), The Little Bit Foundation (TLBF), and St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS), with funding from the Bayer Fund, developed a pilot program to increase capacity for STEM teaching and learning in SLPS. […]

How do plants grow? Where does food come from? Who grows your food? Agriculture is the No. 1 industry in Missouri. The state is home to 95,000 farms, according to the Missouri Department of Agriculture, covering two-thirds of the state’s total land acreage, with the top commodities being soybeans, corn, cattle, hogs, and turkeys. But despite […]