Published August 29, 2018
Who says homework isn’t effective?
Amanda Morgan, the STEM coordinator for San
Diego (TX) ISD, did her homework researching the
Pitsco Education STREAM Missions, ensuring that the
hands-on, standards-based content would apply the
concepts fifth graders were learning in science.
“I took our year-at-a-glance document, which
is our scope and sequence, and aligned the
Missions with what the students were studying
in the classroom,” said Morgan. “This led to the
lab being an extension of the classroom learning
as opposed to a stand-alone curriculum.”
A full year of STREAM Missions exploration and
discovery in topics such as ecosystems, energy,
and weather proved to be the perfect academic
boost to core science instruction at Collins-Parr
Elementary School during the 2017-18 school
year. The rate of fifth graders passing the State
of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness
(STAAR) science test shot up 23 percent over the
previous year to 66 percent.
The significant improvement in science was
particularly noticeable. “Scores in most other
areas stayed about the same as the previous
year,” Morgan said. “Science is the only area
which demonstrated significant growth.”
Two Pitsco STEM labs – STREAM Missions
for Grades 3-5 and STEM Units for Grades
K-2 – were the cornerstone additions made
possible through a four-year, $5 million Texas
Title I Priority Schools (TTIPS) grant awarded
in 2016. The district also added a family STEM
night, STEM Saturdays, and STEM camps
that utilize Pitsco materials. The experiential
STEM curriculum helps students develop a
foundation of lifelong, transferable 21st-century
skills such as critical thinking, collaboration,
career exploration, and problem-solving.
“We have seen the excitement from students
and parents,” Morgan said. “We will be increasing
our STEM presence in our school as well as at the
junior high school and high school.”
The STEM success didn’t stop when school
let out in early June. The district hosted 21
STEM summer camps for elementary school
students at all ability levels. “While our STEM
camps have attracted our higher-performing
students,” Morgan said, “we have also seen
many of our at-risk students enjoy camps.”
Superintendent Dr. Samuel Bueno was
already a believer in the Pitsco labs before the
stellar test results arrived in June. “I have not
walked into the STEM lab, not once, where
the kids aren’t just completely immersed and
operating at a high level of engagement. . . .
There’s an authentic play going on and they’re
learning. There’s a lot of dialogue.”