District narrows options for K–12 science curriculum, plans June recommendation

District staff told the North Bend School District Board of Directors on May 1 that they have narrowed the pool of K–12 science instructional materials but are not yet ready to adopt a single program.

At the high school level staff said they plan to re-adopt most existing materials with selected updates; the high-school program under consideration is widely used in Oregon and aligns with state standards. At the K–8 levels, staff reviewed seven to ten publishers and convened grade-level teams to evaluate materials on ease-of-use, standards alignment, classroom rigor and student engagement.

Staff emphasized the middle-school challenge of meeting the Next Generation Science Standards’ expectation for an integrated, phenomena-based approach rather than the district’s older strand-by-strand (physical/earth/life) model. When district staff queried a remaining publisher that called its product “integrated,” the publisher acknowledged North Bend would be an early adopter in Oregon for that product. Staff then retrieved additional materials — including the TWIG/Imagine Learning program recommended by the state science specialist — for further comparison.

District leaders said they had opened review materials to the public and invited families to view publisher samples at the district office. Staff recommended additional review time, especially at the elementary and middle-school levels, because the adopted materials are likely to remain in use for a seven-year adoption cycle. They said the board should expect a formal adoption recommendation at the June meeting.

No adoption vote was taken May 1. Staff said they will return with a recommendation in June after further side-by-side review and teacher feedback.