Students Across California’s Dunham School District to Begin the Year with Innovative New Resources Enhancing Science Education  | American Consortium for Equity in Education (2024)

Students across California’s Dunham School District (DSD) will return to classrooms this fall with new resources enhancing science education in their digital backpacks. Called the California Discovery Education Science Experience, these dynamic digital resources supporting students’ natural curiosity were created by global edtech leader Discovery Education specifically to support science education in California school systems.

Located in the rural dairy lands of North Petaluma, DSD serves students in grades TK-6 and seeks to create an environment where each child is known, valued, and supported. The district’s caring, dedicated staff create rich learning experiences that help students reach their full academic potential and master the skills and knowledge required by the California learning standards and curriculum frameworks. In addition, honesty, ethical behavior, integrity, cooperation, and responsibility are valued as all learners develop the ability to work well with others and solve problems with ingenuity and creativity.

To support the district’s ongoing efforts to provide all students high-quality science instruction aligned to California state learning standards, the DSD team sought an innovative, updateable, digital-print-kit blended science curriculum that would engage all learners and easily integrate into teachers’ classroom practice. Following a thorough review of available resources, the district selected California Discovery Education Science Experience for use in all classrooms. This innovative resource consists of:

Discovery Education Experience. Connecting educators to a vast collection of high-quality, standards-aligned content, ready-to-use digital lessons, intuitive quiz and activity creation tools, and professional learning resources, Discovery Education Experience is an engaging learning platform that facilitates instruction in any environment.These resources, sourced from trusted partners, are aligned to state and national standards and help educators bring the outside world into teaching and learning every day.Through expanded, lasting partnerships with Microsoft Teams, ClassLink, Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas, Brightspace, and Clever, integrating Discovery Education’s K-12 learning platform into existing IT architecture is easier than ever.

Discovery Education Science Techbooks. TheDiscovery Education Science Techbook series is a comprehensive, research-backed science solution for grades K-12. Used in classrooms across the United States, theScience Techbooksdrive engagement with exclusive phenomena and interactive content. Built specifically for California classrooms, the California Science Techbooks are aligned to state standards and feature virtual and hands-on investigations, STEM activities, and instructional supports thatenhance the delivery of impactful, blended instruction. The Science Techbooks also include standards connections and differentiation activities that inform instructional planning and guide three-dimensional learning. Available with the Science Techbooks are coordinated teacher guides offering unit, concept, and lesson overviews, and pre-packaged kits that make classroom activities easy to implement.

Recently, Discovery Education’s Science Techbook was certified as meeting the rigorous, evidence-based ESSA Tier III standards as set forth in Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Multiple studies show that regular use of Discovery Education Science Techbook in the classroom has many positive academic results for educators and students across a variety of districts and populations in the United States. This research and more can be found here.

Discovery Education Professional Learning. Dedicated professional learning helps school systems recognize the full return on their edtech investment. Through these interactive professional development sessions, participants will learn best practices for integrating their new digital resources into instruction. Effective professional development maximizes the power of these resources, increases student engagement in learning, and supports the continued academic development of all learners.

“Dunham School District believes that nurturing student curiosity in the sciences drives deeper engagement, improves academic achievement, and helps build the important communication, collaboration, creative, and critical thinking skills so important to our students’ future,” said Ani Larson, Dunham School District’s Superintendent. “We selected Discovery Education’s digital resources because they aligned to that belief and were simple for our teachers to integrate into their classroom routines. We look forward to using these new resources when school opens for the 2024-2025 year.”

All educators using Discovery Education’s digital resources have access to the Discovery Educator Network. A global community of education professionals, the Discovery Educator Network connects members across school systems and around the world through social media, virtual conferences, and in-person events, fostering valuable idea sharing and inspiration.

“Dunham School District is an outstanding example of how digital resources can be applied in a thoughtful manner to spur student curiosity and improve achievement,” said Discovery Education Account Executive Erin Creaven. “We are proud to be a part of their efforts to support the success of our youngest learners.”

For more information about Discovery Education’s award-winning digital resources and professional learning solutions visit www.discoveryeducation.com, and stay connected with Discovery Education on social media through X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Interested in writing for us?

Send us your insight so we can share it! We welcome article submissions from educators, advocates, thought leaders and companies who are working to make education more equitable, accessible and inclusive.