For children to learn and love science takes time and intention One of many lessons I have taken away from the pandemic is just how critical basic science education can be to our daily lives. While both national and state education experts agree that hands-on science teaching and learning best set kids up for success, […]
The gap in access to STEM education and careers is often talked about in terms of who. Who is taught and affirmed around their STEM learning capabilities? When responding to this question, we usually reference girls, Black students and populations of students named as Students of Color. Who then do speak about when we think […]
“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 […]
Patti Pyatt, an experienced fourth grade teacher, eagerly accepted the challenge of teaching at Meramec Elementary, one of the most under-resourced neighborhood schools in the St. Louis Public School District. “It’s not easy,” she admits. “But we have been learning a lot because our school is part of the innovation zone. I’ve been making some […]
An ISP-led collaboration with three St. Louis area school districts aimed at improving math outcomes for all students is featured in Success Stories from Catalyzing Change, a new book published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Available now on pre-order, the book, edited by Karen J. Graham, Robert Q. Berry III, Sarah […]
A friend of mine worked as a research scientist at a prestigious university medical school. Tona (name changed) was never sure if the hostilities from female colleagues were because Tona identified as lesbian/queer or because their preferred pronouns were they, them, theirs. Tona was targeted with hazing-like experiences in the workplace, such as having the […]
Brittany Stephens was on the lookout for an old-fashioned rotary phone over the summer. No stranger to kindergarteners or the classroom, Stephens is confident that having the clunky relic on hand will help kindergarten students in her classroom grasp the concepts of then and now. “Being encouraged to think creatively and find the tools I […]
In a new policy piece, biology faculty advocate for new classroom approaches to fix the national exodus of students from STEM fields. All across the United States, half of the college students who plan to major in STEM switch fields. And Black and Latinx students leave STEM at a higher rate than their white peers. […]
In the education sector, we’re asked to accept a post-pandemic narrative that places blame for any and all challenges that schools face squarely on the shoulders of the pandemic. Those of us who have been closer to the work for a longer time–teachers, administrators, anyone with boots on the ground in schools–will confirm that as […]
Science teacher Jaime Schneider has earned a reputation for herself. Students come to her class expecting something phenomenal, and she’s happy to deliver. Where else in the building can a seventh grader get a chance to set methane bubbles on fire or generate mystic-looking fog with dry ice and a bucket? “I always start with […]