Science Curriculum

Since ASSET was transferred to WashU in 2023, the number of students engaged in the program has increased by 20 percent nationally and 241 percent regionally. WashU’s ASSET Team credits the successful scaling to impact more students to the collaborative model for curriculum development that the ISP uses across its programs. At the heart of it is authentic engagement with teachers as researchers.

The chapter, “How the Eruption of Mt. Tambora Shaped Present-Day Missouri: The Impact of Climate Events on Human Migration,” explores the largest volcanic eruption in the last several centuries.

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 […]

PHOTO: Wysession leads a brainstorming session with Ritenour High School teachers and ISP instructional specialists A two-year collaboration between teachers at the Ritenour School District and faculty and staff from Washington University in St. Louis culminates this year with four completely new high school science courses.  Instructional specialists with WashU’s Institute for School Partnership (ISP) […]