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This is the third in a series of essays from a tour of school districts using high-quality science curriculum. In this piece, Susheela Valdez, a science consultant working with the Knowledge Matters Campaign, interviews Amanda Henson, supervisor of elementary instruction for Graves County Schools in Kentucky. Henson recounts how top-notch professional learning has been the secret to the district鈥檚 successful implementation of high-quality science curriculum. Follow the rest of the series and previous curriculum case studies here.

I, Shusheela Valdez, recently had the pleasure of joining the Knowledge Matters School Tour on a visit to Graves County, Kentucky 鈥� just down the road from where, a year ago, Mayfield, Kentucky was decimated by a Category 4 tornado. The School Tour traveled to this little community in the southwest corner of the state because of the reputation it had received as a model district for implementation of the OpenSciEd curriculum. We wanted to see what that looked like and learn how it happened. 

For the last eight years, I have trained educators from Kentucky to California on implementing , a high quality open source curriculum aligned with the . I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the instruction in Graves County 鈥� and the elegant way in which this amazing curriculum came to life 鈥� was the strongest I鈥檝e seen anywhere.

Amanda Hanson is one of two instructional supervisors in the district. We spent some time together processing her district鈥檚 story. Below is a transcript of that conversation that has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Valdez: When did you adopt OpenSciEd and why?

Henson: Our journey began back in 2018, not long after the Next Generation Science Standards were adopted. I was visiting many classroom teachers’ rooms at the time and when we saw what our new state assessment in science entailed, we were like, 鈥渙w, we are not preparing our students to do this!鈥� I talked to other teachers and we were all pretty overwhelmed at what our kids were expected to do. We knew we needed help and started looking around at what was available. OpenSciEd really rose to the top.

Why was it such a right fit for your district?

One thing is that we鈥檙e a huge 鈥渃ooperative learning鈥� district. All of our teachers are trained on and implement in their classrooms. Students are very familiar with talking and discussing as a group. Our structure is to have students talk in an organized manner, and not opt out 鈥� to ensure every voice is heard. So we had that in place and were making some important progress 鈥� and then we looked at OpenSciEd and recognized that that’s how it’s designed: it’s designed for that kind of student thinking and student talk. It just fit really well with what we were already doing in the district.

What would you say was the secret of your success?

Without a doubt it was the professional development we received. We knew we couldn鈥檛 throw a new curriculum at teachers without providing extensive support. We were extremely fortunate to receive a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York that enabled us to bring in an external partner, Tricia Shelton, chief learning officer for the National Science Teaching Association. We received two days per unit from her, so 12 days total. 

Because we were a 鈥渇ield test鈥� 鈥� pilot 鈥� district for OpenSciEd, we got additional coaching from NSTA. They wanted to know how the curriculum was working in classrooms. What does this look like? Where do students struggle? Tricia would come in and watch our teachers, co teach with them, model lessons, etc. This was invaluable. The other thing that was great about this is that it conveyed to our teachers a culture of open, continuous improvement. Now we have teachers who can do that modeling, that coaching. If a teacher has a question, our more experienced teachers will say, 鈥淐ome on in and watch me do this lesson.鈥� And because we鈥檙e doing the same thing district wide, we have lots of opportunity for ongoing collaboration and support. 

Tell us a little bit more about the Kagan structure and how you think it鈥檚 such a powerful bedrock for OpenSciEd.

Kagan structures allow the teacher to be the facilitator of instruction and OpenSciEd is designed perfectly to encourage this. The OpenSciEd curriculum asks many open-ended, high-level questions. The teacher can pose the question and use a Kagan structure to facilitate student talk in a manner where all students must think and engage in the task. This allows for rich conversation in which the students want to explore the topic and they are in turn taking responsibility for their learning. Students are on task learning and having fun, as well as building a teamlike approach and collaborating with one another. Every student has a role, no one is left out and equal participation happens as students show positive interdependence where they need each other to learn.

What are some of the highlights of the student experience you鈥檙e seeing as a result of your implementation of this curriculum?

Students are really exploring, they鈥檙e learning, they鈥檙e talking, they鈥檙e discussing, they鈥檙e figuring things out. Most importantly, they鈥檙e excited. You saw it in the classrooms you visited. The students were all very focused. There鈥檚 not a single student off task. I really think we鈥檙e training our students to take ownership of their learning. That鈥檚 one of the beauties of this curriculum.  There are guiding questions but the teachers are taught to hold back so that students get engaged in finding the answers for themselves. Our students are really engaged in science.  Across our buildings, it鈥檚 one of their favorite subjects.

I also love how kids are learning that it鈥檚 ok to struggle, and it鈥檚 even OK to be wrong. We saw that in one of the classrooms you visited. One of the students, who happens to be very bright, was wrong about something he鈥檇 written down and another student came in and corrected him and it was OK. He even said, 鈥淭hank you for helping me鈥�. That鈥檚 the culture we want to build for our students. 

Is implementation of this science curriculum supporting your literacy goals?

An additional bonus of OpenSciEd is how reading and writing are embedded into the curriculum. They do a lot of writing, but they hardly notice it because it鈥檚 just so natural for them to record what鈥檚 happening. And because of how much collaboration there is, they鈥檙e constantly explaining their thinking. The curriculum is designed to ensure that students grow in all areas, not just science.

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