“This has been the most powerful learning experience in my 28 years of teaching. The multifaceted teaching cases approach helps me more effectively address students’ misconceptions, and I’ve tightened my teaching to better facilitate student learning... Every science teacher should have the opportunity to participate in this science learning.”
-- Nancy Rankin, teacher, Menlo Park, CA
Accomplished link
Making Sense of SCIENCE (MSS) has benefited thousands of teachers and hundreds of thousands of students in U.S. elementary and middle schools. Rigorous studies have shown that MSS greatly strengthens teaching, resulting in higher student performance in science. With outside support, MSS could expand these benefits to hundreds of thousands more students in the coming years.
For about $4,400, MSS can prepare two facilitators to offer professional development to 24 teachers, who in turn teach 3,600 students a year. Donations between $10,000 and $100,000 can provide scholarships for teachers and create regional training hubs, which would greatly expand the number of teachers and students the program reaches.
Funders and PartnersHundreds of people -- classroom teachers, scientists, literacy specialists, science educators, and researchers -- contributed to the development, evaluation, and refinement of the Making Sense of SCIENCE courses for teacher learning. This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, the Stuart Foundation, and the W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation. The materials are published by WestEd in collaboration with the National Science Teachers Association Press.
The programs in this database clear a high bar. STEMworks reviewed each program against the Design Principles for Effective STEM Philanthropy.
Identify and target a compelling and well-defined need.
Use rigorous evaluation to continuously measure and inform progress towards the compelling need identified.
Ensure work is sustainable.
Demonstrate replicability and scalability.
Create high impact partnerships
Ensure organizational capacity to achieve goals.
Offer challenging and relevant STEM content for the target audience
Incorporate and encourage STEM practices.
Inspire interest and engagement in STEM.
Identify and address the needs of under-represented groups.