Transform Science Education Nationwide: Sponsor the Center for STEM Professional Learning at Scale

The Challenge We’re Solving Together

While 44 states have adopted Next Generation Science Standards, only 17% of available science curricula meet alignment expectations. Teachers are struggling: 96% say aligned materials are critical, yet only 37% believe their current materials meet this need. Nearly a quarter of teachers don’t even know if their schools are implementing NGSS.

Our Proven Impact: The Power of Exponential Growth

The Center for STEM Professional Learning at Scale, housed at Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, delivers transformative science education through research-based professional learning at scale. Our flagship program, NGSX (Next Generation Science Exemplar), has supported over 16,000 educators across 29 states representing approximately 5% of K-12 science educators.

Our train-the-trainer model creates exponential impact, as demonstrated in one recent partnership:

  • Year 1: 44 educators trained, reaching 7,006 students across 12 districts
  • Year 2: 71 educators trained, reaching 11,176 students across 12 districts
  • Year 3: 578 educators trained (13x growth), reaching 36,150 students (5x growth) across 71 districts (6x growth)

The dramatic Year 3 expansion occurred because Year 1-2 participants became facilitators who trained the next generation. This is the multiplier effect in action: each facilitator trains 20-30 educators in their region, and each of those educators reaches 100-150 students every year. Our 402 trained facilitators can collectively train over 10,000 educators. Those 16,000+ NGSX-trained educators are already reaching 2 million students—that’s 3.6% of all 55 million K-12 students in America.

This is how your investment multiplies: every dollar spent training facilitators returns exponentially as they train dozens more educators, who each impact hundreds of students.

The Center’s Reach and Scale

The Center’s impact spans both deep professional learning and broad digital reach:

Since inception, the Center has achieved remarkable scale:

  • 16,000+ educators trained through our NGSX professional learning pathways
  • Over 5 million views on our NGSS Phenomena platform from educators in 100+ countries across six continents—from Australia and Canada to Singapore, India, and Germany
  • 402 certified facilitators across 28 states who serve as regional education leaders
  • 2 million students reached annually through NGSX-trained educators—that’s 3.6% of all K-12 students in America

What Your Sponsorship Enables:

  • Train Future Facilitators: Build local capacity by developing teacher-leaders who will train hundreds more educators in their states and districts
  • Exponential Reach: Every facilitator you help us train will impact 25+ educators, who will each reach 3125+ students annually
  • Geographic Expansion: Support educators in the 21 states (42% of the nation) where we haven’t yet established programs
  • Develop New Pathways: Create professional learning programs for emerging science education needs where no quality options currently exist—including specialized pathways for administrators, veteran teachers, and content areas like biodiversity and climate science

When you invest in the Center, you’re not funding one-time training—you’re building a self-sustaining network of science education leaders whose impact grows year after year.

What Makes the Center Different

Unlike curriculum vendors, we provide authentic, research-backed professional development built on real classroom experiences. Our model combines face-to-face study groups with sophisticated digital platforms (including our globally-accessed NGSS Phenomena site), using high-leverage tools and resources that support the deep instructional shifts NGSS demands.

Our “principled-but-not-scriptable” approach enables local adaptation while maintaining research-based fidelity, ensuring cultural responsiveness across diverse educational contexts and sustainable scaling through distributed leadership models.

As one educational leader shared: “This isn’t a curriculum being sold by a company. It is real teachers with real students and real struggles. It is so empowering to see this in action.”

Your Partnership Benefits

By supporting the Center for STEM Professional Learning at Scale, your organization will:

  • Strengthen STEM Talent Pipeline: Help ensure all students—regardless of location—access world-class science education that prepares them for tomorrow’s workforce
  • Build Future Innovators: Strengthen science literacy and critical thinking skills for the next generation of problem-solvers and technical talent
  • Create Sustainable Impact: Support scalable, teacher-led improvement rather than top-down initiatives that fade when funding ends
  • Strategic Brand Alignment: Be recognized as a champion for transformative science education alongside partners like NSF, state departments of education, World Wildlife Fund, and leading foundations

Let’s Talk

We’re seeking partners who share our vision of high-quality, engaging science education for every student. Your support would directly enable expansion into new regions and development of innovative pathways addressing critical gaps in science professional learning.

Learn more about the Next Generation Science Exemplar Program here and visit our website of science phenomena. Please contact us to discuss how we can collaborate to transform science education nationwide. Please reach out to TJ McKenna, Ph.D. or Industry Engagement to learn more.

The Center for STEM Professional Learning at Scale is housed at Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. Our programs include NGSX (Next Generation Science Exemplar), NGSS Phenomena, and Project Resilience.