OpenSciEd Middle School Science Program Earns “All-Green” Ratings from EdReports

All teachers have access to free, high-quality science curriculum

For Immediate Release – February 7, 2023 – OpenSciEd has gained widespread support for its freely available, open source middle school program designed for the next generation science standards. Today, EdReports validated that support by giving the program all-green ratings. Green ratings signify that materials meet expectations for high standards of quality and usability in EdReports’ review system for science programs in grades 6-8.

“We can now confirm with complete confidence that every middle school teacher has access to free, high-quality science curriculum,” said James Ryan, Executive Director of OpenSciEd. “We believe this recognition by EdReports, a trusted external review source, will mean a lot to the nearly 50,000 teachers who are currently using our materials in classrooms nationwide. And we suspect that many more teachers will turn to this program as they aim to engage and inspire students while meeting the demands of challenging science standards.” 

EdReports gave the OpenSciEd Middle School program green ratings on all three benchmarks: designed for the next generation science standards; coherence and scope; and usability. The free report offers comprehensive information of the program’s quality. 

It took a massive, collaborative team to produce such a highly-rated program. In 2018, OpenSciEd convened four philanthropic organizations, 10 partner states, a network of national educators, and a developers consortium–including BSCS Science Learning, Boston College, The Dana Center at the University of Texas-Austin, Digital Promise Global, and Northwestern University. The complete (grades 6-8) open source program became freely available in February 2022. 

“When we set out to create the OpenSciEd Middle School Science program, we worked with our incredible network of partners to institute a rigorous process for developing, field-testing, and revising each unit,” said Dr. Daniel Edelson, Executive Director of BSCS Science Learning. “We learned an enormous amount from classroom feedback and from external reviews. All of these important steps allowed us to produce a program that teachers can trust to engage their students and achieve their standards.” 

Now more than ever, OpenSciEd encourages teachers to register for free access to the program. Teachers will discover phenomenon-driven units that provide equitable learning opportunities for students of all backgrounds. They’ll also find freely available professional learning materials, such as facilitator guides, slide decks, and videos to accompany every unit.

OpenSciEd continues to differentiate itself by offering access to high-quality curriculum and high quality professional learning – both of which are critical in transforming science teaching and learning. In fact, OpenSciEd has a network of certified providers who are ready to support teachers with using the materials. 

“The success of our middle school program is possible because of hundreds of field test teachers and thousands of students; their voices and wisdom are integrated throughout the curriculum.  And, we recognize that we are just getting started,” said Ryan. “Right now, we are rolling out high school science units and preparing for the development of elementary science units. We will continue providing free, high quality materials, along with high quality professional learning support, so that all K-12 students have the opportunity to excel in science.” 

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About OpenSciEd
OpenSciEd was launched in 2018 as a nonprofit to address the need among teachers and school districts for high-quality, open-source, full-course science instructional materials, as well as curriculum-based professional learning materials to support the implementation of middle school science instructional units as a result of the adoption of the National Research Council’s document, A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The middle school materials are made possible by the generous philanthropic support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

About EdReports
EdReports is an independent nonprofit designed to improve K-12 education. EdReports.org increases the capacity of teachers, administrators, and leaders to seek, identify, and demand the highest quality instructional materials. Drawing upon expert educators, our reviews of instructional materials and support of smart adoption processes equip teachers with excellent materials nationwide.