Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Science Curriculum topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board hears update on new Lab-Aids middle-school science curriculum that reached 1,300 students
Summary
Teachers and administrators described adoption and classroom implementation of a Lab-Aids NGSS-aligned curriculum affecting about 1,300 middle-school students and 12 teachers, emphasizing hands-on labs, reusable materials and teacher professional development.
The Woodstock CUSD 200 board received an implementation update on the district's newly adopted Lab-Aids middle-school science curriculum during its May 14 meeting.
Christie Wolter, who identified herself as a fifth-grade/middle-school science teacher, described the curriculum adopted last spring and implemented this year: four grade-level books with multiple reusable lab boxes for each grade, professional development for teachers led by Lab-Aids trainers, hands-on experiments (including investigations of streams and deltas, volcano simulations and earthquake/GPS analysis) and classroom practices such as scientific notebooks and the CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) writing structure. Wolter said the program currently impacts about 1,300 middle-school students and involves 12 teachers.
Wolter explained that teachers received summer access to supplies and multiple opportunities for classroom practice and professional development before full implementation. She said the curriculum emphasizes phenomena-driven instruction and student discussion to build scientific language: "Students are responsible to have a scientific notebook where they take observations ..." Wolter highlighted the curriculum's classroom structures (vocabulary word walls, the 4-2-1 discussion method and repeated use of hands-on lab materials) and noted that much of the equipment is reusable and does not require ongoing purchasing.
Board members praised the staff and said they had observed strong engagement and academic-language development. One board member noted the curriculum's wider regional adoption and that Spanish-language resources were available following adoption and transition at a larger district, which helped Woodstock obtain materials.
The board received the report and had no formal vote on the curriculum at this meeting; the update was presented as part of the monitor report and instructional oversight responsibilities.
The board moved on to new business after members thanked Wolter and the district staff for the curriculum implementation work.
