Can our kids gain ground in math and science?
These innovative WashU programs boost confidence and K–12 test scores.
U.S. students are falling behind in math and science, especially with the learning lost during COVID. To find answers to this stubborn problem, WashU has partnered with local schools and teachers to build high-quality STEM programs.
A key part of raising student achievement is giving teachers all of the support and tools that they need. To that end, the Institute for School Partnership (ISP) at WashU has developed curricula and professional development opportunities to help teachers get the best possible results from their students.
ISP provides training and curriculum support for 5,056 educators from 344 schools, serving and engaging 189,000 students in the St. Louis region.
In this partnership, listening to teachers’ ideas is crucial. Teachers say their students need more hands-on learning opportunities. And so, since 2005, ISP’s mySci program has been providing teachers with science lesson kits customized to their needs and aligned with national science standards.
Every year, mySci delivers over 13,000 kits to 245 schools across the St. Louis region. These kits include materials organized by lesson, grade-level books that integrate science and literacy, and pre- and post-assessments that allow teachers to track student progress. The teachers also receive advice and instruction on how to best teach each lesson.
Our Math314 facilitators at the Institute for School Partnership have been so amazing. The program, and the ongoing training and support it has provided, has made a big difference for our teachers and our students.
LaTanya Buckner, instructional coach, Ritenour School District
ISP also has a newer program aimed at math learning. Math314 equips teachers with the best support, strategies, and lessons so they can instill in students an understanding and a love of math.
“Our Math314 facilitators at the Institute for School Partnership have been so amazing,” says LaTanya Buckner, instructional coach, Ritenour School District. “The program, and the ongoing training and support it has provided, has made a big difference for our teachers and our students.”
Through these research-based programs, ISP is raising standardized test scores, enhancing teachers’ abilities to teach STEM, improving students’ self-confidence, and inspiring career pathways.
Something that really drives our work is the belief that teachers are generating really valuable knowledge of what works in education every single day. Classrooms are laboratories where teachers are testing and refining their own ideas and putting research into practice in their own particular context so we can learn about what really works and for whom and under what circumstances.
Alison Brockhouse, ISP Instructional Specialist
Readying the next generation of STEM leaders.
