$2M NSF Grant Supports New Science Curriculum Tools for Elementary Classrooms

The National Science Foundation has awarded a four-year, $2 million collaborative grant to Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development and the University of Texas at Austin to support the development of professional learning tools that help elementary teachers customize science curricula for multilingual learners.

Led by Katherine L. McNeill, Bryk Faculty Fellow and program director of curriculum and instruction at the Lynch School, the project focuses on strengthening scientific sensemaking among students. Scientific sensemaking includes using data, evidence, and multiple forms of communication to explain natural and designed phenomena. The research team aims to address gaps in how existing science curricula support the diverse communicative strengths students bring into elementary classrooms.

The project will co-design tools with 24 elementary school teachers to help customize open-source, standards-aligned science curricula for third, fourth, and fifth grade students. These tools are intended to help teachers better support students who use a range of communicative approaches, including multilingual learners, during science instruction.

Co-led by Lynch School Associate Professor Zhushan Li and University of Texas at Austin Associate Professor María González-Howard, the initiative will produce professional learning modules that guide teachers in adapting curricula to leverage students’ full communicative repertoires. These modules will be shared nationally to expand equitable access to high-quality science learning.

In a second phase, the customization tools will be introduced to a broader group of educators through research-informed professional learning experiences. Researchers will examine how participation influences teacher beliefs, preparedness, instructional practices, and curriculum modifications using surveys, classroom observations, video analysis, and instructional artifacts.

The project is expected to generate widely disseminated tools and research findings that advance understanding of how teacher professional learning can be designed to reflect the diverse linguistic and communicative needs of elementary classrooms across the country.

Read More: $2M NSF grant project will support development of science curricula