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A child’s early interest in science is essential. Without a passion for science ignited before middle school, children are significantly less likely to pursue science in higher education and to enter the science and engineering workforce (Tai, 2006). Unfortunately, within elementary schools across the United States, science is not taught as frequently as other content […]

Indigenous students may find that science education can be a discouraging experience. Science content often seems disconnected from their cultural beliefs, values, and heritage. The disconnection can create a sense of alienation, making it difficult for students to relate to or engage with the traditional classroom “science-as-taught” curriculum. As Michie, Hogue, and Rioux (2018) noted, […]

My Journey to Growth-Based Grading Over more than two decades of teaching, I’ve come to understand that true education is about fostering each student’s growth—not by focusing on where they start, but on how far they progress relative to their starting point. As society evolves, so too must our instructional methods to meet the changing […]

The promise of approximations to enhance teacher learning is exciting, yet their design and implementation require careful consideration. This blog builds on the previous post from Bondurant and Howell (2025), where they defined and examined approximations in alignment with the Teaching for Robust Understanding (TRU) framework (Schoenfeld, 2023). An approximation is a structured, scaled-down version […]

This is the first of two blogs centered on effective approximations of practice in mathematics teacher education. In a 2024 position statement on linking mathematics education research and practice, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) states that “research should identify high-leverage, effective, equitable mathematics practices shared in useful, actionable ways” (NCTM, 2024). In […]