AMSTI

AMSTI strives to improve math and science teaching in Alabama using SPARKscience

The Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative has received both national and international attention for its effectiveness at raising achievement scores and improving student interest in math and science. The AMSTI recipe for success includes a hands-on approach to teaching science, making SPARKscience a natural fit for their model.

AMSTI teachers receive extensive subject and grade specific professional development to prepare them for leading discovery-based science activities. AMSTI has been piloting the use of the SPARK Science Learning System in their science training and they have developed SPARKlab activities for 4th and 8th grade students, as well as for high school chemistry classes. The teachers themselves learn by doing the science investigations during the summer, and when they return to their school they use the same equipment and materials to engage their students in hands-on, activity-based instruction. AMSTI has become the leading model for math and science education reform in the country and was recently ranked by Fortune 500 CEOs as one of only 35 “programs that work” from across the nation.