NURTURES Professional Learning connects classroom science with meaningful teaching and family experiences -supporting educators as they build confidence, facilitate inquiry, and extend learning beyond the classroom.
NURTURES Professional Learning is designed to support meaningful science teaching through inquiry, reflection, collaboration, and family engagement.
Teachers engage in immersive learning experiences, apply ideas in their classrooms, and extend learning beyond school through meaningful family connection.
Sustained, collaborative professional learning helps teachers build confidence, strengthen instructional practice, and support meaningful student learning.
Teachers develop:
Improved Student Achievement
Students taught by NURTURES teachers showed higher performance in science and mathematics compared to peers whose teachers did not participate in the program.
National Performance Exceeded
Students taught by NURTURES-trained teachers outperformed national cohorts on Galileo assessments in science and mathematics, which are aligned with Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
Sustained Academic Gains Longitudinal studies suggest that academic improvements in science, literacy, and mathematics among NURTURES students persist through 5th grade.
Family Engagement Benefits Students whose families engaged with NURTURES activities experienced significant score increases in early literacy, science, and math, highlighting the positive impact of family involvement on academic outcomes.
This integrated approach has been shown to support student achievement in science, literacy, and math.
Live, hands-on sessions where teachers experience science learning as students through immersive, grade-level–relevant lessons that model 3D inquiry for PreK–3 classrooms.
Teachers explore curated content and engage in reflective discussions about teaching, learning, and the high-leverage instructional practices that support meaningful 3D learning.
Teachers collaborate to design meaningful lesson sequences and instructional experiences that support 3D learning in early childhood classrooms.
Build: Collaboratively design lessons and instructional experiences.
Test: Implement lessons in real classroom settings.
Analyze: Reflect on student learning, discussion, and classroom experiences.
Refine: Use peer and facilitator feedback to strengthen instructional practice.
During PLCs, teachers reflect on and strengthen their Family Engagement implementation, helping connect classroom learning with meaningful family experiences.
High-leverage instructional practices introduced through professional learning are embedded throughout Family Engagement experiences, supporting meaningful learning at home.
Teachers describe the experience as:
Engaging and directly relevant to their classroom
Immediately applicable to instruction
Supporting both science and literacy development
A collaborative space to grow and refine practice