A chapter co-authored by Washington University’s Rachel Ruggirello and Lauren Ashman is among 25 chapters included in the book Justice-Oriented Science Teaching and Learning: Anchoring Phenomena in Secondary Classrooms, published by Springer Nature February 21, 2025. The chapter, “How the Eruption of Mt. Tambora Shaped Present-Day Missouri: The Impact of Climate Events on Human Migration,” […]
When Principal Cryslynn Billingsley gathers with the teaching team at Jennings Senior High and College Prep Academy, she tells them something that is both daunting and empowering. “I want you to think about your teacher self, your leader self and your learner self,” she says, promising to do the same herself. As she works to […]
Roller coasters are fun, but for safety’s sake, they must be designed, built and maintained by mechanical engineers. It’s a STEM career path that Adrianna Koty has enjoyed discussing recently with the fifth graders in her class at Thorpe Gordon STEM Academy in Jefferson City, Missouri. “Giving students real-world problems to solve and think about […]
V. Barbara Pener has been selected to serve as program director for STEM Teacher Quality (TQ), an immersive year-long STEM professional learning experience that has equipped 1,071+ and impacted 35,000+ students throughout the Greater St. Louis region since 2011. Read more about Pener’s leadership of STEM TQ’s eleventh cohort.
In 2020, Washington University in St. Louis joined St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) in a bold new experiment to turn around two of the district’s lowest performing elementary schools, Ashland Elementary in North St. Louis and Meramec Elementary in South St. Louis. Only it wasn’t an experiment at all. Read about how teachers from these two […]
When teachers arrive for the first morning of STEM Teacher Quality (TQ) they know they’re in for something immersive and special. With support from their districts, they’ve just committed a full year of their time and energy to an experience that promises to boost their confidence and skills in the subjects of science, technology, engineering […]
Jacky Bransome is neither a scientist nor a teacher. But she happens to know that fireflies aren’t the best way to explain chemiluminescence to students living in her part of the world. Turns out that fireflies aren’t a thing in Gillingham, UK. It’s one of many fun facts she’s picked up over the years through […]
Lauren Ashman, program manager and instructional specialist for the mySci Program at The Institute for School Partnership at Washington University in St. Louis (ISP), has been recognized with the Emerging Leader Award. The Emerging Leader Award recognizes a Washington University employee who positively influences and leads others at the university, in their community and in […]
Creating environments that invite all students to engage confidently with ambitious mathematical learning is an aim best achieved working in tandem with peer professionals who want the same thing for their students. After three years of deep exploration into the most impactful ways to implement equitable math instruction, teachers, administrators and math coaches from Mehlville, […]
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 […]