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Tag: ngss

  • North Reading Public Schools Lead Massachusetts in Science Achievement

    District ranks first statewide on 2025 MCAS Science assessments, with nearly half of student population achieving top grade “exceeding expectations”


    North Reading, Massachusetts, November 13, 2025 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Students in North Reading Public Schools achieved the highest science scores in Massachusetts on the 2025 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) for elementary Science and Technology/Engineering.

    The district ranked first among 319 public and charter districts statewide, with 92% of students meeting or exceeding proficiency expectations. This placed North Reading six points ahead of the next highest district. Nearly half of all students, 47%, achieved the top level of “Exceeds Expectations,”nine points higher than any other district in the state.

    With proficiency rates reaching 95% in multiple cohorts, North Reading’s success represents a district-wide culture of excellence that ensures all students have access to high-quality science learning experiences.

    “The dedication of our teachers and administrators, along with support from KnowAtom’s inquiry based curriculum, gives every student a chance to engage deeply with science,” said Sean Killeen, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching & Learning. “Our educators continue to engage students’ curiosity, hands-on learning, and make meaningful real-world connections which show in these results.”

    For more than a decade, North Reading Public Schools have partnered with KnowAtom, a Massachusetts-based company and national provider of high-quality hands-on instructional materials, curriculum, and professional development for K-8 schools in NGSS adaptive and adoptive states, including Massachusetts’ STE Frameworks. This partnership equips teachers with research-based tools that help students think critically, conduct experiments, and reason like scientists and engineers to develop a lifelong understanding of key skills and concepts.

    “When students apply what they learn through inquiry-based science instruction, they are encouraged to explore phenomena, ask meaningful questions, and uncover scientific concepts. Engaging in these inquiry-driven experiences enhances both their engagement and academic achievement.” , Grade 5 Teacher/Science Curriculum Leader – Batchelder School, Tina Borek.

    Massachusetts consistently ranks among the top states in the nation for public education (Consumer Affairs, 2024). Within this highly competitive landscape, North Reading’s results stand out. While other leading districts such as Sudbury, Andover, Dover, and Brookline reported between 24% and 25% of students exceeding expectations, North Reading reached well above at 47% and maintained the highest overall proficiency rate.

    “These results reflect what happens when teachers are trusted as professionals and equipped with effectively designed and appropriately supported resources. With KnowAtom, educators create classrooms where students take responsibility for their learning, think independently, and develop the habits of mind that drive achievement in science and beyond.,” said Francis Vigeant, CEO of KnowAtom. “We’re proud to support communities like North Reading that are creating learning environments where students think critically and learn more deeply than conventional, screen-first or textbook-only approaches typically allow.”

    Contact Information

    Nicole Lanoue
    Press Contact
    nlanoue@knowatom.com
    617-475-3475 x2002

    Source: KnowAtom, LLC

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  • How teachers and administrators can overcome resistance to NGSS

    Key points:

    Although the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were released more than a decade ago, adoption of them varies widely in California. I have been to districts that have taken the standards and run with them, but others have been slow to get off the ground with NGSS–even 12 years after their release. In some cases, this is due to a lack of funding, a lack of staffing, or even administrators’ lack of understanding of the active, student-driven pedagogies championed by the NGSS.

    Another potential challenge to implementing NGSS with fidelity comes from teachers’ and administrators’ epistemological beliefs–simply put, their beliefs about how people learn. Teachers bring so much of themselves to the classroom, and that means teaching in a way they think is going to help their students learn. So, it’s understandable that teachers who have found success with traditional lecture-based methods may be reluctant to embrace an inquiry-based approach. It also makes sense that administrators who are former teachers will expect classrooms to look the same as when they were teaching, which may mean students sitting in rows, facing the front, writing down notes.

    Based on my experience as both a science educator and an administrator, here are some strategies for encouraging both teachers and administrators to embrace the NGSS.

    For teachers: Shift expectations and embrace ‘organized chaos’

    A helpful first step is to approach the NGSS not as a set of standards, but rather a set of performance expectations. Those expectations include all three dimensions of science learning: disciplinary core ideas (DCIs), science and engineering practices (SEPs), and cross-cutting concepts (CCCs). The DCIs reflect the things that students know, the SEPs reflect what students are doing, and the CCCs reflect how students think. This three-dimensional approach sets the stage for a more active, engaged learning environment where students construct their own understanding of science content knowledge.

    To meet expectations laid out in the NGSS, teachers can start by modifying existing “recipe labs” to a more inquiry-based model that emphasizes student construction of knowledge. Resources like the NGSS-aligned digital curriculum from Kognity can simplify classroom implementation by providing a digital curriculum that empowers teachers with options for personalized instruction. Additionally, the Wonder of Science can help teachers integrate real-life phenomena into their NGSS-aligned labs to help provide students with real-life contexts to help build an understanding of scientific concepts related to. Lastly, Inquiry Hub offers open-source full-year curricula that can also aid teachers with refining their labs, classroom activities, and assessments.  

    For these updated labs to serve their purpose, teachers will need to reframe classroom management expectations to focus on student engagement and discussion. This may mean embracing what I call “organized chaos.” Over time, teachers will build a sense of efficacy through small successes, whether that’s spotting a studentconstructing their own knowledge or documenting an increased depth of knowledge in an entire class. The objective is to build on student understanding across the entire classroom, which teachers can do with much more confidence if they know that their administrators support them.

    For administrators: Rethink evaluations and offer support

    A recent survey found that 59 percent of administrators in California, where I work, understood how to support teachers with implementing the NGSS. Despite this, some administrators may need to recalibrate their expectations of what they’ll see when they observe classrooms. What they might see is organized chaos happening: students out of their seats, students talking, students engaged in all different sorts of activities. This is what NGSS-aligned learning looks like. 

    To provide a clear focus on student-centered learning indicators, they can revise observation rubrics to align with NGSS, or make their lives easier and use this one. As administrators track their teachers’ NGSS implementation, it helps to monitor their confidence levels. There will always be early implementers who take something new and run with it, and these educators can be inspiring models for those who are less eager to change.

    The overall goal for administrators is to make classrooms safe spaces for experimentation and growth. The more administrators understand about the NGSS, the better they can support teachers in implementing it. They may not know all the details of the DCIs, SEPs, and CCCs, but they must accept that the NGSS require students to be more active, with the teacher acting as more of a facilitator and guide, rather than the keeper of all the knowledge.

    Based on my experience in both teaching and administration roles, I can say that constructivist science classrooms may look and sound different–with more student talk, more questioning, and more chaos. By understanding these differences and supporting teachers through this transition, administrators ensure that all California students develop the deeper scientific thinking that NGSS was designed to foster.

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

    Nancy Nasr, Ed.D., Santa Paula Unified School District

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  • Rural Regional School District Achieves Significant Increase in State Science Test Scores With New KnowAtom Curriculum

    Massachusetts’ Orange School District Achieves 26-Point Increase in Science Proficiency


    ORANGE, Mass., November 7, 2024 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Fifth-grade students from Fisher Hill Elementary School achieved their highest-ever proficiency levels on the Next Generation Massachusetts Common Assessment Program for Science (MCAS) in 2024. The school district partners with KnowAtom, a nationwide provider of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-based hands-on curricula. Leanne Lovell, a 5th grade teacher at Fisher Hill says, “The students are more engaged than ever using KnowAtom. Each student has their own supplies, and they feel like real scientists.”

    Students from the rural Massachusetts community of Orange, MA, gained 15 points over last year’s state test results. These scores also represent a 26-point improvement over the district’s results in 2022 and are just nine points shy of the statewide average. 

    “I’m not surprised at all!” says Fisher Hill’s 6th Grade Teacher Chrislyn Newton, “Science has never been more engaging! Our students have a limited background in grade-level science topics, and they have absolutely blown us away with what they are capable of doing in our science classrooms. We wanted a science program that was science-focused and hands-on for our students. It was important that we not just sign on for another reading anthology disguised as science. This program does a wonderful job of delivering important information with consistent application and hands-on opportunities. The materials are wonderful and prepared with students and busy teachers in mind!”

    Fisher Hill Elementary School uses KnowAtom’s hands-on science curriculum for grades K-6, which is designed to teach Massachusetts Science and Technology Engineering Frameworks entirely hands-on screens-off. In 2024, Consumer Affairs ranked Massachusetts the best in the country for public education, noting that “the state has the best fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math scores in the country on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests,” (Consumer Affairs, 2024). This year, two of the top four districts in the state are KnowAtom curriculum partners.

    “Rural schools face a lot of unique challenges, and to see a district’s science test scores rise 15 points in one year and 26 points in just two years is remarkable,” said Francis Vigeant, CEO of KnowAtom. “KnowAtom’s hands-on curriculum gives teachers the tools, training, and resources to engage their students to think like scientists and engineers in the classroom. The success of the Fisher Hill Elementary School’s students this year highlights the impact that teachers with the right resources have on learning outcomes when they engage students’ thinking about phenomena and empower them to use their own ideas to solve problems and answer questions through prototyping and experimentation.”

    About KnowAtom 

    KnowAtom makes real science possible with complete K-8 resources designed for mastery of NGSS: fully aligned curriculum, integrated hands-on materials, and targeted professional development.

    Explore more at www.knowatom.com

    Source: KnowAtom

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  • Leader Panel Challenges How Teachers Ask Students to Think in the K-8 Classroom

    Leader Panel Challenges How Teachers Ask Students to Think in the K-8 Classroom

    Changing the “what” and “how” in science education doesn’t have nearly as much impact as looking at the “why.”


    SALEM, Mass., August 1, 2023 (Newswire.com)
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    Typical conversations about education reform revolve around things like how we teach (education policy) or what we teach (the curriculum). But today, according to Dr. Ron Ritchhart, world-renowned educator, researcher, and author, and Francis Vigeant, KnowAtom’s Founder and CEO, changing the “what” and “how” in K-8 science education under NGSS doesn’t have nearly as much impact as looking at the “why.”

    In KnowAtom’s July leader panel “Improving Engagement and Performance: Key Thinking Moves All Instructional Leaders Should Look for K-8,” Dr. Ritchhart and Vigeant explained that teachers who evaluate why they teach what they teach will make decisions that lead to deeper student learning and preparation for long-haul learning.

    First, they challenged the audience to examine how the status quo in next-generation science education actually works.

    • Transmission-style teaching: Students become dependent on a textbook, teacher, or app to tell them what they should know.
    • Focus on short-term performance: Teach the students some information, give them a test, see the results, and call it learning. While this is good for the test at the moment, it doesn’t work for long-term learning.
    • Emphasis on reproducing results: When students are given a task or project, the goal is for all of them to replicate the teachers’ results—or each other’s—to show they have learned something with little independent inquiry.
    • Simplified learning: Teachers often assume students need their subject matter made easier or “fun” so that they can understand it and don’t create instructional environments that challenge them to look beyond what the teacher presents.
    • Concentration on review: Questions in the classroom often ask students to repeat what they’ve learned before and don’t extend beyond the curricular material.

    What all of these have in common is that the students aren’t being authentically challenged to think for themselves. They are repeating and reciting information, but they aren’t internalizing it and understanding how what they’re learning connects together.

    Instead, the panelists advocated for teachers to create a culture of thinking, where teachers are as invested in next-generation science lessons and an environment focused on nurturing curiosity about phenomena.

    Embrace Challenges

    For students to have a deeper understanding, they need tasks that reflect that goal. They don’t need to start at lower-level tasks because the tasks targeted at the upper levels will teach the lower-level skills as well.

    The idea with KnowAtom curriculum is to help students struggle with next-generation science standards productively. Give them a chance to get stuck, figure out why they are stuck, and unstick themselves. If a teacher’s why is to just complete the task, then the instructional focus is on completion. Effective teachers understand that it’s in the grappling where the learning will happen.

    Inspire Curiosity and Creativity

    Rather than approaching a lesson with a set outcome and expected answers from students, think about how the students can explore a topic. What do they know? What do they want to know? What experiences have they had? The teacher can model their own curiosity as well. KnowAtom creates activities for the students that allow them to dig deeper into these questions.

    Show a Genuine Interest in Student Thinking

    Instead of questions motivated by reviewing content for an assessment, ask constructive questions that let students demonstrate their thinking. Let them share how they are making connections between concepts. When student thinking is made visible and supported, it can lead to greater engagement and deeper learning and understanding of the concepts.

    Let Students Guide the Lessons

    While there are concepts teachers need to emphasize, every lesson shouldn’t just be making students curious about what you want to teach. KnowAtom supports a culture of thinking in classroom situations where you work on what students are curious about as it relates to the science phenomena. The classroom should be a place to talk about real-world situations that impact their lives and help them make connections between science at school and home.

    Ultimately, the goal is to create a culture of thinking where students and teachers are investigating concepts and making connections. While teachers want their students to become more engaged in the classroom, switching to this method makes teachers feel nervous about not covering all of the content.

    Dr. Ritchhart encouraged teachers to change their own thinking. Instead of sprinkling the content over the students over the course of the semester, think about providing magnets of deep understanding that will allow students to connect the smaller bits of knowledge.

    Source: KnowAtom, LLC

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  • Teachers Raise Expectations and Student Achievement in Elementary & Middle School Science

    Teachers Raise Expectations and Student Achievement in Elementary & Middle School Science

    Press Release
    –


    updated: Jul 26, 2021


    SALEM, Mass., July 26, 2021 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Research from Northeastern University’s Dr. Tracy L. Waters on the implementation of KnowAtom’s Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-based curriculum in fourth and fifth-grade classes showed elementary and middle school teachers increased their expectations of what students can achieve. In addition, students were better prepared for new standardized test questions aligned with the NGSS after completing KnowAtom’s hands-on, collaborative science lessons.

    Educators who participated in Waters’ study expressed having higher expectations of their students after implementing KnowAtom’s NGSS hands-on curriculum that’s designed for the NGSS. Waters‘ research also revealed major changes in teaching practices, student achievement levels, and classroom behavior. Using KnowAtom, students also strengthened critical thinking and writing skills through their science time on learning. Teachers began changing their testing requirements from vocabulary and traditional recall to performance tasks where students demonstrate their level of mastery of the NGSS standards.

    “KnowAtom integrates the scientific and engineering design process throughout its NGSS-based curriculum,” said Francis Vigeant, founder and CEO, KnowAtom. “By creating a learning environment where students take more responsibility for their own learning process and by giving them the opportunity to test their own ideas hands-on, we’re able to fuel learning with a student’s own personal interest in real-world phenomena. KnowAtom improves student engagement and, as Waters’ study shows, our professional development shifts teachers’ expectations of what their students can achieve.”

    One educator who participated in the study described changing her instructional methods from asking students to fill in missing words on a handout, which required low-level cognition but aligned to the teacher’s expectations for the students, to asking students to apply core concepts in real-world situations. With collaborative, hands-on lab work, elementary and middle school students analyzed data and described the weather and climate of a specific region, while identifying factors that contributed to changes in both. The teacher reported altering her own belief about what her students could accomplish after using the KnowAtom science curriculum. In addition, her students were better prepared for the types of questions asked on new standardized tests aligned with the NGSS.

    According to Waters’ research, critical thinking, math and literacy skills were also strengthen with the use of KnowAtom’s curriculum. One administrator noted seeing students do more writing in the science classroom when previously there had been no expectation that reading or writing was a part of learning science. Teachers reported that holding their students accountable for more than low-level recall, requiring them to model habits of mind during classroom discussions and debate, which helped improve literacy skills.

    Read the full article here.

    About:

    KnowAtom provides solutions designed for NGSS mastery: thoughtfully designed curriculum, integrated hands-on materials, and personalized professional development. Our research-based, classroom-tested tools and techniques bring students’ own ideas to life with hands-on materials and technology.

    To learn more, visit www.knowatom.com.

    Media:

    Francis Vigeant
    617-475-3475
    fvigeant@knowatom.com

    Source: KnowAtom

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  • New Constructivist Teaching With 5e Model Promotes Diversity of Thought and Hands-on Participation in the Classroom

    New Constructivist Teaching With 5e Model Promotes Diversity of Thought and Hands-on Participation in the Classroom

    Researchers Study Elementary and Middle School Teachers Using Resources Designed for NGSS

    Press Release
    –


    updated: Jul 19, 2021


    SALEM, Mass., July 19, 2021 (Newswire.com)
    –
    A study of the use of KnowAtom’s Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-designed curriculum in the classroom from Northeastern University researcher Dr. Tracy L. Waters shows an increase in student engagement and hands-on application of core principles and 21st-century career skills. The collaborative KnowAtom curriculum promotes differentiation in how students learn core science concepts and helps spark excitement about the scientific process in K-12 students.

    Dr. Waters investigated the implementation of KnowAtom’s hands-on science curriculum by 4th– and 5th-grade teachers. Her research shows teachers better met the needs of diverse learners through the use of differentiation, allowing students more responsibility over their own learning process and promoting diversity of thought through hands-on science investigations.

    “Using the KnowAtom curriculum, learners take the lead in their own journey,” said Francis Vigeant, founder and CEO, KnowAtom. “Instead of being given information, students begin to discover core competencies on their own within a framework of phenomena and the NGSS. Rather than recalling facts, students discuss what they’ve read, challenge thinking, collaborate with peers, and identify their own connection to STEM – skills vital for life.” 

    A district administrator who took part in Dr. Waters’ study reported a dramatic change in how students learned using the KnowAtom curriculum with 5e constructivist teaching techniques. Promoting teamwork and diversity of thought through hands-on science investigation, students were encouraged to come up with their own ideas and hypotheses, as well as processes for testing them. Together, students experimented, tried different ways to solve problems, worked together to overcome obstacles, and learned core competencies while strengthening reading, writing, math, and teamwork skills. Previously, teachers in the district taught by demonstrating experiments, with students watching and recording results.

    The teachers in the study also reported a change in their teaching processes and beliefs about what students could learn when given the opportunity to take the lead in the classroom. Rather than pre-defined classroom activities where all students are encouraged to take the same route and report the same results, KnowAtom’s curriculum gives students more choice in the classroom and rewards a variety of outcomes. Students are encouraged to work together to overcome obstacles and model their knowledge in response to real-world scenarios.

    Implementing the KnowAtom curriculum also resulted in an increase in the use of science vocabulary and “strong academic language” during classroom discussion, teachers reported. Dr. Waters found that students strengthened core reading, writing and math skills while using the KnowAtom curriculum. For English language learners, KnowAtom’s visual vocabulary helped students master the communication needed to accomplish teamed hands-on learning opportunities.

    Using KnowAtom’s curriculum helped improve engagement and made students more accountable for the choices they made throughout their learning process, the teachers reported. Their testing methods changed, differentiation increased, with fewer “one right answer” assessments. Continue reading.

    Media Contact:

    Francis Vigeant

    617-475-3475

    Source: KnowAtom

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  • Science Curriculum Links Top-Performing Schools

    Science Curriculum Links Top-Performing Schools

    Press Release
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    updated: Oct 22, 2018


    SALEM, Mass., October 22, 2018 (Newswire.com)
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     Two KnowAtom schools lead Massachusetts in science scoring on the 2018 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), according to the most recent data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). 

    The J. T. Hood Elementary School and L.D. Batchelder Elementary School were two of only four schools in Massachusetts with more than 90 percent of its students scoring “Advanced” or “Proficient” on the most recent statewide science standards-based assessment.

    Our users are among the most discerning and forward-thinking public educators in the world. North Reading’s strong teacher leadership adopted KnowAtom to push elementary science and engineering to the top. We celebrate NRPS success as a sustainable milestone in what it means to teach and learn elementary science in Massachusetts.

    Francis Vigeant, KnowAtom CEO and founder

    This is nearly double the state average, with just 48 percent of students across Massachusetts scoring proficient or greater.

    Out of 847 schools in Massachusetts, J.T. Hood ranked No. 1 in the state for Grade 5 students scoring ”Advanced,” with 68 percent of students reaching this category. Across Massachusetts, only 18 percent of fifth-grade students scored “Advanced.”

    J.T. Hood is also tied for No. 3 for students scoring proficient or greater, at 91 percent.

    L. D. Batchelder Elementary School is tied for No. 2 for Grade 5 students scoring “Advanced,” and No. 2 in the state for students scoring proficient or greater.

    “Our users are among the most discerning and forward-thinking public educators in the world,” said KnowAtom CEO and founder Francis Vigeant. “North Reading’s strong teacher leadership adopted KnowAtom to push elementary science and engineering to the top. We celebrate NRPS success as a sustainable milestone in what it means to teach and learn elementary science in Massachusetts.”

    North Reading Public Schools has been using KnowAtom’s comprehensive, grade-specific science curriculum designed for the new Massachusetts science standards since 2010.

    The core of KnowAtom’s next generation inquiry process is students investigating phenomena and designing solutions to problems hands-on. This approach ensures that all students are engaged every day as scientists and engineers in the classroom.

    Whitney Cleary, the fifth-grade science teacher at J. T. Hood, has been teaching using the KnowAtom curriculum for nine years and credits her school’s focus on making science a core subject, equal to ELA and math, for the gains in scoring and students’ overall enthusiasm for science learning.

    “We get science throughout our day,” Cleary said. “With that extra time, I’m allowed more opportunities to do hands-on activities, so we do a lot of maker space ideas and problem-solving. The hands-on experiments are the fun part. That’s where students at this age really shine. They get to see how the knowledge they’ve learned really connects to the world around them.”

    About KnowAtom

    KnowAtom makes real science possible in every K-8 classroom. We provide a complete K-8 solution designed for mastery of the Next Generation Science Standards: fully aligned curriculum, integrated hands-on materials and targeted professional development. Our research-based, classroom-tested tools and techniques bring students’ own ideas to life with hands-on materials and technology.

    To learn more, visit www.knowatom.com or call 617-475-3475.

    Media Contact:

    Sara Goodman
    617-475-3475 ext. 2005
    sgoodman@knowatom.com

    Source: KnowAtom

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