BSCS designs, develops, and leads intensive professional learning programs for the OpenSciEd middle school program. Our professional learning helps teachers to understand the design and content of the units, to plan for instruction, and to support student success in the classroom.

BSCS offers programs that that range from a week to multiple years. We specialize in more intensive programs that develop the knowledge and capacity of teachers over extended periods of time through a combination of conceptual learning, classroom practice, and reflection in professional communities. Analysis of classroom videos is a centerpiece of our professional learning programs for teachers. Teachers watch and analyze videos of other teachers and then of themselves to learn how to improve their own classroom practice. This approach helps teachers make “in-the-moment” decisions that are consistent with the design of the materials and their students’ learning progress and needs.

BSCS is committed to science learning that is meaningful, inclusive, and advances social and environmental justice. Two equity goals drive our current work: to include and elevate knowledge, experience, and voices from marginalized communities; and to provide equitable and meaningful opportunities for students from marginalized communities to learn science. Our programs develop teachers who can identify potential barriers to learning, capable of adapting our materials to be accessible to all students, and who respect the variety of ways in which students engage in sense-making and express their ideas. BSCS’s professional learning programs for OpenSciEd help teachers recognize and leverage the elements of the OpenSciEd middle school program that promote meaningful learning opportunities for all students, and particularly those that support emerging multilingual learners.

BSCS works with local educational agencies to develop leadership capacity and implement systems that support teachers as they learn to use the OpenSciEd middle school program and that enable a transition to sustained use with continuous improvement. These programs include the development of teacher leaders to lead ongoing teacher professional learning (e.g., workshops, study groups) for the OpenSciEd middle school program.