Preparing to Implement PA STEELS K-12 Science Standards

To better prepare the science educators in your school district for implementing the shifts in science instruction entailed in the PA STEELS standards, the AIU's Math & Science Collaborative has constructed possible paths for your district to follow as you shift from “learning about” to “figuring out” as the normative culture in K-12 science classrooms.

The AIU is offering professional learning opportunities designed to engage K-12 science educators in each phase of the implementation plan:

During this first phase of moving towards implementing the PA STEELS K-12 science standards, science educators will become familiar with and experience the shifts entailed in moving from “learning about” to “figuring out” in science classrooms.

The following opportunities will be offered in the 2022-23 school year and the summer and fall of 2023:

Science Institutes

Attend a free institute for science educators. These three-day science learning experiences align to various grade-levels and science domains. Attendees will develop a shared understanding of phenomenon-based and problem-driven science instruction that effectively incorporates all three dimensions of the standards (disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts). Participants will engage in pedagogical practices that foster reasoning and sense-making in the science classroom and support equity and access for all students. Designed with science teachers in mind, science-supportive administrators are strongly encouraged to attend with staff.

*Note that these institutes were also offered during SY 2022-23. If you attended during SY 2022-23, we will have a second institute coming in January 2024 around assessment and pedagogical practices. Watch for that announcement!

Please choose the offering aligned with your teaching role:

K-2 STEM Institute

The content focuses on life science, physical science, Earth and space science and engineering design.

Price: Free to all AIU educators

Audience: K-2 Science, Engineering and STEM teachers

Fall 2023 Meeting Dates: 9/20/23, 11/28/23, 12/15/23

Register for Fall Session

Grades 3-5 Science Institute

The content focuses on physical science, life science and Earth and space science.

Price: Free to all AIU educators

Audience: Grades 3-5 Science teachers

Fall 2023 Meeting Dates: 9/22/23, 11/15/23, 12/12/23

Register for Fall Session

Life Sciences Institute for Secondary Teachers

The content focuses on the life sciences in grades 6-12 (with the inclusion of related Earth and space science topics as appropriately connected to the life science content under consideration).

Price: Free to all AIU educators

Audience: Grades 6-12 Life Science teachers

Fall 2023 Meeting Dates: 10/16/23, 11/13,23, 12/5/23 

Register for Fall Session

Physical Science Institute for Secondary Teachers

The content focuses on the physical sciences in grades 6-12 (with the inclusion of related Earth and space science topics as appropriately connected to the physical science content under consideration).

Price: Free to all AIU educators

Audience: Grades 6-12 Physical Science Teachers 

Fall 2023 Meeting Dates: 9/21/23, 11/1/23, 11/30/23

Register for Fall Session

Administrator-Focused Science Professional Learning

Fall 2023 Meeting Dates: September 27-28

Register for Fall Session

This one-and-a-half-day administrator-focused professional learning offering was specifically created to help leaders support shifts in science instruction towards phenomenon-based, 3-D science teaching. 

This offering is steeped in both science learning and leadership for science instruction. The experience is based on the Next Generation Science Exemplar System’s Principal’s Learn and Network to Support 3-D Science Learning (PLANS) Pathway. Although this offering is designed specifically for administrators, it is open to any science leaders, including department heads, grade-band science leads and science coaches. (This offering is a prerequisite for a two-day training opportunity in Phase 2: Create a Plan.)

During this second phase, science leaders embark on the planning process for the strategic implementation of phenomenon-based, three-dimensional science instruction in their school or district that is aligned with the K-12 science standards in the PA STEELS standards.

The following opportunities will be offered in the 2022-2023 school year, summer of 2023, 2023-24 school year, and the summer of 2024. Please note that some following offerings have important prerequisites for participation:

Science Leadership Group

Join other science leaders from Allegheny County school districts every other month to collaboratively learn and grow around science instructional leadership. Open to any science leader, the AIU's Math & Science Collaborative encourages school districts to have at least one representative participate in the group.

New Members: A Framework for K-12 Science (NRC, 2012) Hybrid Book Study 

New members of the Science Leadership Group are encouraged to enroll in the Framework for K-12 Science Education book study. Open to science leaders who have participated in at least one of the opportunities in Phase 1: Make the Case. This opportunity will be offered in a hybrid setting for the 2023-24 school year.

Price: Free to all AIU educators

Audience: Any AIU3 explicit or implicit science leader who has previously attended at least one phenomenon-based, three-dimensional science professional learning offering from Phase 1: Make the Case (e.g., science institute in 2022-23 school year or summer 2023; Digging into 3-D science-the Everest immersion; Administrator-specific science professional learning-PLANS)

2023-24 Meeting Dates: 

Full days at the AIU: 10/5/23 and 3/5/24

Half days on Zoom: 11/2/23, 1/19/24, 2/1/24

New Member Registration 

Science Leadership Group Continuing Participants

The AIU Science Leadership Group will continue the work we began together in 2022-23 when we engaged in the Framework for K-12 Science Book Study. Extend the collaborative work we’ve begun as learners, leaders and colleagues!

Price: Free to all AIU educators

Audience: Science leaders/educators who participated in the Framework Book Study during the 2022-23 school year

2023-24 Meeting Dates: 

Full days at the AIU: 10/27/23, 12/11/23, 2/14/24, 4/11/24 

Planning for Professional Learning around Science Standards: Strategically Building Capacity for Sustained Practice

Designed for a small team of three to six individuals from each school district, this is a two-day training opportunity to plan for science professional learning in your district. This training is free to the first 20 registrants.

Price: $1200 per district team of three to six participants

Audience: A district team of three to six science leaders including at least one administrator.  See Important Prerequisites above.

Important Prerequisites: At least one administrator on your team must have already attended the administrator-specific science leadership experience in Phase 1: Make the Case, and all other team members must have already attended at least one science institute or science immersion experience in the initial phase. 

Fall Meeting Dates 2023: November 6-7

Register for Fall Session

Advanced Science Institutes

Delve more deeply into phenomenon-based, 3-D science teaching and learning by enrolling in a new science-focused institute to build on your learning from Phase 1: Make the Case Open to any science educator who previously participated in any of the Math & Science Collaborative's introductory science institutes: K-2 STEM, Grades 3-5 Science, Life Sciences for Secondary Educators, and/or Physical Sciences for Secondary Educators. This new institute will include assessment and pedagogical practices in the science classroom and will begin in January 2024. Registration information will be made available later this fall.

The following opportunities will be offered in the 2023-24 school year, summer of 2024, and possibly 2024-25 school year:

Guided Review of Potential High Quality Instructional Materials

Designed for teams of four to six individuals who have already completed at least one Phase 1: Make the Case engagement opportunity and preferably have participated as a team in the Phase 2 offering of Planning for Professional Learning around Science Standards: Strategically Building Capacity for Sustained Practice: Work directly with the science coordinators from the Allegheny Intermediate Unit Math & Science Collaborative (AIU MSC) to vet potential High Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM) for science. Please contact Dr. Corinne Murawski or Kristen Rice directly regarding this opportunity. There may be a fee for this service.

Sharpen Content-Specific Knowledge

Enroll in a 1-2 day streamlined content-specific course to sharpen your knowledge; courses will begin in either Spring 2024 or Summer 2024.

Strategic Communication of Vision

Inform the community of your district’s undertaking during a parent, caregiver, and/or community information session. Work with AIU MSC science coordinators to design and implement strategies for best communicating the district’s vision for shifting towards more “figuring out” in K-12 science classrooms. This will be rolled out in Spring 2024.

The following opportunities will be offered in the 2024-25 school year:

Continue to involve more science educators throughout the district in science professional learning opportunities from the AIU MSC. 

As we move into the 2024-25 school year, MSC will continue some of its previous offerings and add new and refined institutes, short-courses and administrator-specific opportunities.

Get support from the Math & Science Collaborative to continue your district’s implementation of the STEELS science standards via your district’s science curricular materials.  

Please contact Dr. Corinne Murawski or Kristen Rice directly regarding this opportunity. Depending upon funding, there may be a fee for this service.

As teachers implement the science standards from PA STEELS standards, get support from the Math & Science Collaborative via content-focused science coaching. 

Please contact Dr. Corinne Murawski or Kristen Rice directly regarding this opportunity. Depending upon funding, there may be a fee for this service.