For Immediate Release
Contact: Chad Colby: Chad.Colby@greatminds.org
Thursday, October 31, 2019—PhD Science™ from Great Minds® has earned two more Tier 1 ratings from the Louisiana Department of Education, highly respected for its curricular leadership. The curriculum for Level 3 and Level 5 join Level 4 in earning the top ranking for exemplary quality. All three levels received the top rating on first submission.
“Strong science instruction requires that students apply content knowledge to explain real world phenomena and to design solutions; investigate, evaluate, and reason scientifically; and connect ideas across disciplines,” the review states.
The Tier 1 ranking requires curricula to meet eight criteria: three-dimensional learning; phenomenon-based instruction; alignment and accuracy; disciplinary literacy; learning progressions; scaffolding and support; usability; and assessment. The review lists examples from the curriculum in support of the “superior quality” that instills deep learning of scientific concepts through hands-on study.
Unlike many other science curricula, PhD Science was designed from the beginning based on The Framework for K–12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards, incorporating a three-dimensional teaching and learning model into every lesson. Students build science knowledge and uncover Disciplinary Core Ideas by engaging in the Science and Engineering Practices and use Cross-Cutting Concepts to make sense of phenomena. This moves students from reading about science to actually doing science.
Levels 3–5 of PhD Science are available now for piloting or full implementation. Levels K–2 will be ready to pilot in the 2020–2021 school year and available for full implementation for the 2021– 2022 school year. Levels 6–8 will follow.
PhD Science was the first science curriculum to earn a Tier 1 ranking from Louisiana. Great Minds is the only curricula creator to have earned Tier 1 rankings for three separate curricula: PhD Science, Eureka Math®/EngageNY Math and Wit & Wisdom®, an English language arts curriculum.
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About Great Minds: Great Minds provides the highest quality curricula to schools and districts nationwide, inspiring joy in teaching and learning. Eureka Math and Wit & Wisdom both earned top scores from independent nonprofit reviewer EdReports.org. A 2016 RAND Corporation report found Eureka Math and its original version, EngageNY Math, to be the most widely used elementary school math curricula in the nation. Geodes®, a library of beautifully illustrated, content-rich books with phonics practice for emerging readers, is the latest Great Minds offering to delight teachers and students. Learn more at greatminds.org.
