This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
How do we develop engaging science and engineering curriculum for all students?
Designing for diversity in science and engineering instruction with the National Comprehensive Center
Challenge
The U.S. student population is growing increasingly diverse, and teachers must be prepared to teach and accurately assess students’ developing science proficiencies. The National Comprehensive Center works with states and Regional Centers to enhance the quality of instruction, close achievement gaps, and improve educational outcomes for all students. To this end, we deliver high-quality universal and targeted capacity-building services and products, and work with key education stakeholders to leverage expertise and resources and, ultimately, maximize results.
As the diversity of classrooms increases, teachers must be ready to provide learning opportunities and activities that make all students feel included and provide access to inclusive learning opportunities.
To address the lack of structures and resources to support teachers to design and use equitable and engaging curriculum materials that reach all learners in science, technology, engineering, and math, including computer science (STEM+CS), the Designing for Diversity (D4D) team will provide tools and resources for districts that integrate design principles for equity and inclusion into science and engineering instruction.
Solution
The D4D project has released 3 white papers based around an Equity and Inclusion Framework for Curriculum Design (EI-CD) to show teachers how to design and use equitable and engaging curriculum materials in STEM+CS that reach all learners.
The team will develop aligned professional development resources and tools to help states and districts put the principles into practice.
We will also work with our Regional Center partners to disseminate and build on the D4D work.
Results
The project will increase state and local capacity to use the EI-CD approach that integrates design principles of equity and inclusion into the design and modification of STEM+CS curriculum materials.
Our goal is that state- and district-level science supervisors, curriculum coordinators, and teachers will be able to support teachers to either develop their own curriculum materials or modify already existing curriculum materials to be used for instruction.
Focus Areas
Education Educator Effectiveness Learning Acceleration STEMCapabilities
Equity Technical AssistanceTopics
Equity K-12 LearningSenior Expert Contact
Allison Crean Davis
Vice President
-
Perspective
Westat Work Shines at 2024 APHSA EMWB ConferenceSeptember 2024
Westat human services experts recently presented at the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)’s Economic Mobility and Well-Being (EMWB) Conference in Portland, Oregon. At the…
-
Perspective
Westat Tools Help Protect Child PassengersSeptember 2024
Vehicle crashes are a major cause of injuries and fatalities among children, a problem safety advocates in the U.S. acknowledge and work to minimize by…
-
Perspective
International Overdose Awareness Day: August 31, 2024August 2024
Overdose continues to impact the lives of so many around the world. The theme of the 2024 International Overdose Awareness Day, August 31, 2024, is…