Alabama School Districts Using STEMscopes Digital Science Curriculum Outperform State on ACT Aspire Science in Grades 5 and 7

Alabama public school districts that used the STEMscopes™ Alabama digital science curriculum with their elementary and middle school students outperformed the state on the ACT Aspire Science assessment in 2017, according to a new study published by Accelerate Learning.

During the 2016-2017 school year, 16 districts used STEMscopes Alabama in their elementary schools, and 14 districts used STEMscopes in their middle schools. The 2017 ACT Aspire science results show that the STEMscopes districts performed higher than the state average in the percentage of students defined as “Exceeding” grade-level mastery in science in fifth grade and seventh grade.

The ACT Aspire categorizes student scores into four levels: In Need of Support, Close, Ready, and Exceeding. Students scoring at the Ready or Exceeding levels are considered proficient. In the STEMscopes districts, 19.4 percent of fifth graders scored at the Exceeding level in science, which is 4.3 percent higher than the state average of 15.1 percent. In the seventh grade, 19.8 percent of students in the STEMscopes districts scored at the Exceeding level, which is 2.9 percent higher than the state average of 16.9 percent.

In Talladega City Schools, where 85 percent of students are economically disadvantaged, students began using STEMscopes Alabama in 2016. From 2016 to 2017, the percentage of fifth graders scoring at the Exceeding level on the ACT Aspire in science increased by 4.2 percentage points, and the percentage scoring at the Ready level rose by 7.6 percentage points.

“We saw a big jump in our science scores from 2016 to 2017. The only change we made in that time was the adoption of STEMscopes,” said Pattie Thomas, curriculum coordinator/federal programs for Talladega City Schools. “STEMscopes is aligned to our state standards, it’s easy to use, and it provides all of the resources our teachers need to teach science.”

STEMscopes Alabama is built from the Alabama Course of Study science standards. It provides teacher and student digital resources, supplemental print materials, and hands-on exploration kits that build student engagement and excitement for learning science.

For more information, visit http://stemscopes.com or call toll-free 800-531-0864.

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