South Washington County Schools reviews K‑12 science curriculum and assessment results

South Washington County Schools presented an in‑depth K–12 science report at its April 10 board workshop, with district teaching and learning staff describing how new state standards, classroom practices and assessment data are informing instruction.

The report, introduced by Kelly Jansen, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, outlined the district’s standards review and implementation cycle and showed classroom videos that staff said illustrate anchor phenomena, hands‑on investigations and a claim–evidence–reasoning (CER) approach across grades.

District staff said the new science standards are organized in three dimensions—science and engineering practices, cross‑cutting concepts and disciplinary core ideas—and that the Standards and Instruction Review Cycle (CERC) guides resource selection and rollout. “I’m excited to introduce our teaching and learning services department here to do this science report,” Jansen said.

Presenters described three “satellite” data sources staff use for system‑level monitoring: MCA science (state assessment), preACT (10th grade) and the ACT (11th grade). For the 2023–24 school year the district reported a districtwide MCA science proficiency rate of 41.7 percent, a preACT college‑readiness (science score 20) rate of 41.1 percent for 2024–25 cohorts, and an ACT science benchmark (23) met by 43 percent of tested students across five years of aggregated data. Presenters noted participation rates (for example, about 83 percent participation on the preACT over five years) as a factor in interpreting those numbers.

Elementary instruction was illustrated with videos and a unit on ecosystems that staff said begins with an “anchor phenomenon” and proceeds to hands‑on investigations and a culminating student project. Laura Larson, TLS supervisor for elementary, described unit storylines and classroom routines intended to engage students: “Our elementary students really experienced this launch with an anchor phenomenon…so it’s sort of hooking them in.”

At the secondary level presenters showed classroom examples from sixth through ninth grade and described districtwide practices such as CER common assessments in seventh grade and the use of Discovery Education resources in Earth and Space Science. Staff said the district offers flexible high school science pathways, including IB and AP options, and that some students move directly from Earth and Space Science to AP Biology.

Board members asked about evidence that the narrative/CER approach improves comprehension. Ian Bronson and other staff said anecdotal teacher reports are positive and that the district expects to analyze MCA strand data once new tests are administered: “We’re really looking forward to that data this year,” a staff member said. A question about whether high school pathways reduce access to advanced courses drew discussion about scheduling choices and about students who successfully transition directly into AP coursework.

Staff committed to returning with additional data requested by the board, including a breakdown of who opts out of assessments (MCA and preACT) and strand/subtopic results from state tests. “We can certainly bring back that information,” a presenter said regarding opt‑out demographics and preACT nonparticipation.

The presentation closed with district staff saying they will use assessment results to guide professional learning communities and to consider targeted supports (for example, ACT academies) to improve college‑readiness outcomes.

Next steps: the teaching and learning team will report back with strand‑level MCA data and with demographic analyses of opt‑outs and preACT nonparticipation that board members requested.