Challenges
Implementation
Results
Forsyth County Schools (FCS), the fifth largest district in Georgia, serves more than 55,300 students representing 129 countries and 69 languages. In the fast-growing county, located 30 miles from Atlanta, student enrollment has increased by 40% in the past decade.
While FCS is known for its high performance, it has also seen an uptick in literacy struggles since the pandemic, like many districts in Georgia and across the country.
In 2023, FCS Associate Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Lee Anne Rice attended a superintendents conference and set a goal to find new literacy programs and assessments. It was there she found Kide Science, an early childhood STEM program that combines storytelling, imaginative play, and hands-on experiences.
“Our state was talking about new legislation to increase early literacy, so I was looking for programs to boost literacy achievement and growth,” said Rice. “When I saw Kide Science, I was intrigued. It supports literacy but through the lens of scientific practices and principles — and that connects directly to our district’s Learner Profile and our 2022-2027 Strategic Plan.”
FCS piloted Kide Science in 10 of its 23 elementary schools in May 2023.
“It was amazing how many teachers wanted to try it,” she said. “It was the last month of school, and that’s usually when we see an increase in negative student behaviors. But when students were doing the Kide Science lessons, our kindergarten teachers said they saw very few discipline issues. They talked about how much fun their students had and how engaged they were.”
At the end of the pilot, FCS decided to implement Kide Science as a supplemental resource in all kindergarten classrooms in fall 2023. “Now all of our kindergarten teachers are utilizing Kide Science, and they absolutely love it,” said Rice.
In particular, FCS teachers and leaders appreciate that Kide Science supports cross-curricular domains. “Time is such a commodity,” said Rice.
“The pilot helped teachers see how Kide Science could be seamlessly integrated into their day; it wasn’t just ‘one more thing to do.'"
In addition to STEM topics, Kide Science lessons promote the development of literacy, social-emotional skills, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
“We have so many standards around reading and math, and a kindergarten teacher’s day can get so overwhelmed that science is often an afterthought. But that’s not what we want. We want students to be thinkers and doers and to understand the world around them. We want them to build a deep understanding in science, but we also have a need to integrate that with literacy,” said Rice.
“In Georgia, we have new state legislation — House Bill 538 and Senate Bill 211 — that aims to improve literacy in kindergarten through third grade. What’s nice about Kide Science is that it doesn’t take away from our literacy instruction; it enhances it. It integrates with the practices teachers are already implementing — like read-alouds and shared reading — and it supports our standards. That thematic integration is so powerful. The more connections we can provide, the deeper students’ learning will be.”
The research-based Kide Science program offers immersive, interactive learning experiences designed specifically to engage preK-2 students. Each science lesson starts with a story from an imaginary world, where a character experiences an open-ended problem that they need students’ help to solve. Students then act as scientists and investigators, actively engaging in inquiry, exploration, and problem-solving.
“Students have a real connection to the characters in the Kide Science stories,” said Rice. “They’re excited to participate in the activities, and they love trying to solve the problems. Their curiosity shines through. Our teachers are impressed with the types of questions students are asking and how well they’re able to explain their thinking.”
Kide Science is helping FCS kindergartners boost other skills as well.
“Since the COVID pandemic, we’ve seen a decrease in social skills among children entering kindergarten. Our English language learner population is also increasing, so finding something that expands on language development was also a need,” said Rice.
“Kide Science gives teachers a framework for creating a classroom environment where students can converse and interact. As a result, they’re seeing an increase in students’ abilities to communicate and in ways that are authentic and connected to our learning standards.”
Although Kide Science is entirely screen-free for children, teachers can access video support, comprehensive lesson plans, and other resources through the online teacher platform. The platform organizes content by topics, skills, subjects, and suggested bundles, providing easy access and navigation.
“We highly value teachers’ voices,” said Rice.
“Our teachers are excited about Kide Science and feel it’s a resource that is helping them meet the needs of their students and teach more effectively.”
Kide Science is also helping schools meet two key objectives for the learner experience — to increase student achievement and growth, and to increase student engagement — in the district’s five-year strategic plan.
“We’re a high-performing district, and our parents and community have high expectations. With the drive for academic achievement and accountability, we can sometimes lose sight of the power of play. Kide Science provides a way to enhance students’ academic knowledge through imaginative play. It also helps us support our standards, including speaking and listening standards that are sometimes hard to quantify,” said Rice.
“One of the things I’m most proud of is the level of engagement we’re seeing in our kindergarten classrooms and that we’re doing it without devices. With Kide Science, students are cognitively and behaviorally engaged. Five-year-olds are so imaginative and creative. When we can leverage their gifts and talents to help them learn and grow, that’s very powerful,” she said.
In addition to Kide Science, FCS has implemented STEMscopes Science as its core science curriculum in grades K-5 since 2016.
“We chose STEMscopes Science because we didn’t want students just hearing or reading about science; we wanted something they could use to actually do science,” said Rice.
STEMscopes Science combines a comprehensive digital curriculum with supplemental print materials and ready-made exploration kits. It also includes embedded support for teachers — such as lesson plans, professional development videos, on-demand webinars, and how-to guides — to help them continuously improve their teaching.
“Kide Science and STEMscopes Science are very complementary,” said Rice. “Getting kids excited about science in kindergarten leads to the next step in their inquiry and discovery when they’re digging deeper into STEMscopes.”
Each unit or “scope” in STEMscopes is developed around the research-based 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate) model of instruction, with additional phases for Intervention and Acceleration. With the 5E + IA model, FCS teachers are creating deeper learning experiences that engage students with all areas of the standards.
“When we look at the vision and the mission of our science program, the 5E model is at the heart of it,” said Rice. “With STEMscopes, we’re able to support our teachers and give them the resources they need to teach science effectively. We’re also able to create common experiences across our elementary classrooms.”
In addition to scientific investigations, STEMscopes Science has engineering challenges, math and literacy connections, real-world connections, and more.
“That’s one of the things I like about STEMscopes — the integration of science with other content areas like technology and math. That’s a big push in our district,” she said.
Rice also appreciates how much STEMscopes has helped transform science instruction in elementary classrooms.
“Before, I was a principal at two elementary schools, and I didn’t see a lot of science other than books being read and maybe an activity here or there,” she said.
“With STEMscopes, science teaching and learning is more organized and purposeful. Students and teachers are excited about science and how it connects to other content areas and the real world. Having the STEMscopes digital curriculum has helped our students interact more effectively with scientific principles and standards, and it has also increased student engagement.”
FCS students are assessed in science in grades 5 and 8, and in biology in high school. “Our science scores are very good. We’re leading the state,” said Rice. “A lot of that stems not just from building content knowledge and vocabulary, but from providing experiences that get kids excited about science.”
Georgia College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI)
2022-23 Content Mastery / Science Scores (0–100) / All Students
| Elementary School | Middle School | High School | |
| Forsyth County | 85 | 73 | 96 |
| State of Georgia | 60 | 54 | 67 |
FCS students also lead the state in awards and honors. “While we have very high test scores, when you see how students’ knowledge is expressed through their choices, their voices, their passions, and all the ways that they want to serve the world and make it a better place — that’s where you really see positive outcomes,” said Rice. “Our high school students’ achievements are incredible. They’re winning international competitions and working with universities and inventing products. For them to see science as an avenue to their futures is dependent on the foundational work we do in grades K-8.
“In Forsyth County, we don’t teach this program or that program; we teach science. We want to fill our classrooms with excitement for learning and with resources that empower teachers. With Kide Science and STEMscopes Science, we’re giving our teachers what they need to support the learning of our students and create that excitement.”
