Dive Brief:

• Pasadena Unified School District will utilize STEMscopes California, a “hands-on digital STEM curriculum," at 24 schools in grades K-6 to meet the Next Generation Science Standards.
• The STEMscopes California curriculum is described as a student-centered learning model, with “problem-based learning, engineering challenges, scientific investigations, math and literacy connections, and culminating claim-evidence-reasoning assessments at teachers’ fingertips” to contribute to cross-curricular learning.
• The curriculum is flexible and made to work in traditional, blended, and 1:1 classrooms through the use of digital resources, print materials, and “hands-on exploration kits.”

Dive Insight:

Science standards in the U.S. are sorely in need of an update, which is why the Next Generation Science Standards exist. The national set of benchmarks was developed by Achieve, the National Research Council (NRC), the National Science Teachers Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science in collaboration with 26 lead state partners. States are responsible for meeting the benchmarks, and Pasadena USD is one example of a district using STEM-based flexible curriculum designed specifically to make sure that lessons track with standards.

Some states have fought hard against NGSS, however. In Wyoming, the standards were banned before later being reinstated, and in West Virginia, they've been "tweaked." The May 2015 "Business Report: National Survey STEM Education," however, showed that most K-12 STEM teachers and supervisors support the NGSS.