STEM PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

The field of STEM is constantly growing and evolving. Is your school’s program keeping up with it? Are you making the most out of your material and human resources? That’s where STEMsmart comes in.

We can work with you to determine the best direction for your STEM department with the resources it currently has, in order to maximize student achievement.

Professional development

High quality professional development and training for teachers and tutors has been connected with both student learning and teacher retention. Make the most out of the people you already have. STEMsmart can help you identify highest leverage areas of interest and growth for your faculty, and provide engaging programming along with personalized coaching.

RUBRIC CREATION

Providing students with constructive feedback is an important part of student achievement. STEMsmart will customize evidence-based rubrics and other evaluation tools for your organization.

TEST PREPARATION

What do your students need to demonstrate their skills on standardized tests? It’s not about teaching to the test, but it is about teaching data-driven strategies that will help students throughout their lives, whether on state tests, college entrance exams, or graduate school exams.

SCOPE AND SEQUENCE DEVELOPMENT

State and Next Generation Science Standards are densely-packed. STEMsmart can unpack them so your organization can continue to focus on top-notch instruction. A Scope and Sequence can include NGSS- or Common Core-aligned standards, key concepts, links to inquiry activities, and assessment tasks.

STEM/STEAM PROJECT CREATION

STEM and STEAM are the new buzzwords, but how can you incorporate them into your classrooms right now? STEMsmart can provide customized, standards-aligned projects.

TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION

Technology has the capacity to improve student achievement, but how is this best done? Allow STEMsmart to develop a curriculum that fully integrates the most current technology.

PERSONAL ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES

Is your student bored in class? Looking for something more challenging? Want a leg up on competitive college admissions? These activities are designed to build up to student-designed experiments and engineering design cycles. At first, these projects will include direct instruction on the processes and skills, such as how to develop a research question or how to use the design process. Over time, students build the skills to independently design and carry out their own inquiries.

STANDARDS ALIGNMENT

Organizations have resources that have been meticulously developed over many years, only to have the standards changed. STEMsmart can align current materials to new standards.

We have experience with multiple state standards, Common Core State Standards, and Next Generation Science Standards.

PRIVATE TUTORING

Private sessions focus on finding a student’s strengths and interests, and leveraging those to exceed state, common core, and Next Generation standards. These sessions involve a combination of direct instruction on the content, as well as work on lifelong learning skills, such as how to read difficult science texts and strategies for taking tests.