5 Steps to Improve Science Learning

At Kauluwela Elementary School, teachers work hard to prepare standards-based, data-driven instruction and provide students with meaningful, engaging science lessons. But it wasn’t always that way—a few years ago, science instruction wasn’t a priority. That’s the case in many elementary schools, says the 2018 “National Survey of Science & Mathematics Education.”

The State of Hawaii’s Board of Education adopted Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in 2016 with the expectation that they would be implemented completely in schools by the 2019–2020 school year. But when I became principal of Kauluwela Elementary in 2021, most teachers still assumed that because the school had a STEM teacher, science coursework was sufficient.

Unfortunately, coursework didn’t meet the mandates, teachers weren’t familiar with NGSS standards, and many felt uncomfortable teaching science. They used an array of materials that had little connection to the standards, and those inconsistencies made it impossible to do grade-level planning or vertical articulation.

The culture of science changed at our school after we built teachers’ understanding of the science curriculum and standards. As the school increased rigor, our teachers and students rose to the challenge, and the school’s proficiency rate on the Hawaii Statewide Assessments Grade 5 Science Test jumped from 23 percent to 30 percent.

Here are the strategies that helped teachers improve science instruction and students raise performance schoolwide:

1. Deliver professional development (PD) that focuses on the standards.

During the 2022–2023 school year, I established an expectation that K–5 teachers would cover science at least 45 minutes a day, three days a week, and arranged to have the district deliver PD to acquaint teachers with the NGSS.

A previous administrator had purchased a curriculum that was aligned to the NGSS but never implemented. We eliminated all supplemental curricula in favor of STEMscopes, believing that a single curriculum would increase focus and rigor. A common lesson structure made it easier for teachers to collaborate and develop student expectations across grade levels.

2. Ongoing, personalized support at every grade level.

Growth is an ongoing process for students and teachers. We made PD intentional and ongoing, connecting it to the standards and to daily work in order to help teachers improve at the individual, grade, and school levels.

In 2022–2023, the curriculum provider delivered three face-to-face PD sessions and 12 virtual follow-up coaching sessions to teachers. Teachers at each grade level developed a science pacing guide, and we created a monthly tracking chart on those guides.

A STEM coach worked with teachers to customize professional learning to meet teachers’ needs at each grade level, allowing them to sharpen their focus on the standards and address progress in their classrooms. If monthly tracking showed teachers falling behind, they could work with the coach to prioritize the most important content to cover.

Knowing that the coach would help them develop their knowledge and skills, teachers conveyed their progress with new honesty, helping them boost their confidence and improve instruction in science.

3. Conduct backward mapping.

Students in Hawaii take a state science test in the fifth grade, and many teachers assume that science starts to be important only then. The school’s STEM coach led fifth grade teachers in a data analysis to identify the areas in which students were the weakest.

We shared the data with K–4 teachers and asked teachers to backward-map where each standard should be taught from the beginning of kindergarten through the end of fifth grade. Backward mapping helped teachers identify areas of focus for each grade because they could see which standards were the most important to cover and why they were critical to student success.

4. Encourage students to think like scientists.

Quality interactions in which students do the thinking are better than lectures. The research-based 5E model of instruction (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate) organizes each curriculum unit, and each includes intervention and acceleration phases so teachers can differentiate instruction as needed.

With this approach, teachers create deeper learning experiences that engage students in all areas of the standards, and students learn to think and act as scientists. As students participate in more hands-on activities, the quality of their interactions increases, boosting critical thinking, problem-solving, discussion, collaboration, and confidence.

5. Adapt to students’ needs and environment.

In a Title 1 school, a digital curriculum lets students explore and experience scientific phenomena and vocabulary to which they wouldn’t be exposed otherwise. In addition, teachers have the flexibility to provide local context by referring to animals or phenomena in our state, supporting a commitment to culture and community.

The curriculum allows teachers to access visual, auditory, and linguistic resources to support multilingual learners and help all learners understand academic language. In addition, they can adjust the pace and depth of instruction to meet the needs of individuals, groups, or the whole class.

Sonja Samsonas is principal of Kauluwela Elementary School, a Title I school in Honolulu, Hawaii.