Standard 2

Professional staff members implement high quality STEM courses and curriculum aligned to recognized standards and organized into interdisciplinary frameworks.

Paine staff members implement high quality STEM courses and curriculum aligned to Alabama state course of study and national STEM standards. Our staff utilizes these curricula and standards to design integrated, interdisciplinary STEM experiences for our students. 

Click the image for a video of students completing a STEMscopes Challenge - JELLO Earthquake Simulation.

STEMscopes Science and math


STEMscopes math and science lessons are mapped and aligned to our adopted state math and science standards. This curriculum allows teachers to implement high quality STEM courses for all students. Each lesson offers rigorous, real world problem solving or project based learning. STEMscopes science was adopted at Paine Elementary School in 2016, and STEMscopes Math was adopted in 2021.


All students in grades K-5 use STEMscopes Math and STEMscopes Science. Teachers use our existing curriculum guides along with STEMscopes math. For science, STEMscopes is our only curriculum. We do supplement the curriculum with other materials, depending on the topic. Teachers are able to use our scheduled, protected collaboration time on Wednesdays to develop STEMscopes implementation plans.


Students are engaged with STEM content through the interactive nature of the STEMscopes curriculum. The tasks are rigorous and require deep thinking, but are accessible to all students at various learning levels. STEMscopes curriculum allows students to explore and move at their own pace. The nature of the program piques students’ interest and keeps them actively engaged in applying STEM skills. For science, a number of experiments are introduced for students to experience the learning objectives and practice the scientific method. STEMscopes math allows students to explore mathematical concepts and the curriculum is taught through these investigative opportunities. The lessons emphasize student discourse and collaborative learning. Their lessons are engaging and allow for the development of conceptual math for students.


Teachers use assessments developed by STEMscopes following the end of each science unit. However, these assessments are often supplemented as they are very limited in how they evaluate our students’ learning. Teachers also use skills checkpoints in STEMscopes math, and a district-wide assessment at the end of each math unit that has deeper Depth of Knowledge questions. Teachers are able to use data that has been collected and analyzed from STEMscopes and supplemental assessments to work towards achieving our STEM goals. Overall, the assessments and data are the biggest piece of STEMscopes programs that teachers find are lacking. Based on teachers’ feedback for STEMscopes math, Paine Elementary is writing and piloting a new math curriculum for 1st grade this year. This new curriculum along with the district’s existing math curriculum help supplement STEMscopes math assessments and data. The new 1st grade math curriculum is a great example of how STEM units are reviewed, monitored, and adjusted in our school.

Teachers analyzing ACAP data and determining next teaching steps for their students. 

Fourth grade math teachers shared this image with their classes to promote questioning for their Q focus lesson. 

First Grade teachers sharing interactive notebooks from each of their math classes and analyzing how this deepens student understanding. 

Weekly design collaboration

For over ten years now, Paine Elementary teachers have met weekly during protected collaboration time based on our bottom up research-based model for effective educator collaboration. This hour each week is designed for teachers to collaborate with all teachers in their grade level to develop and plan lessons, reflect on data, and receive instructional coaching about STEM content knowledge and instructional practices. Paine Elementary provides teachers one hour each Wednesday for protected collaboration time. All Kindergarten through 5th grade teachers participate during weekly collaboration with their grade level, and use this time to plan engaging and rigorous lessons that align with standards. At the beginning of the school year, teachers use this time to analyze data and classroom work to plan student individual Intervention and Enrichment Block (IE) schedules. During collaboration, teachers discuss data from IE block and make changes to student schedules as needed throughout the year. Weekly grade-level collaboration is also a time for teachers to plan and discuss ways to improve integrated STEM content.  

Paine Elementary has two specialist teachers for each of the following disciplines due to our enrollment: STEM Lab, Music, and Art.  These specialist teachers have 2.5 hours of protected collaboration time every Thursday. During this time, our two STEM Specialists collaborate to design experiences for the entire school, ensuring all students have equitable STEM opportunities.

Data analysis is a continuous focus in our weekly collaboration meetings. During one of our first meetings this year we analyzed our state summative assessment data (including science and mathematics)  from the spring. We started by looking at our aggregate data and grade level data, where we conducted a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats).  We established SMART goals from this exercise. This trickled down to teachers analyzing the specific data on their students as a gauge for their current proficiency levels. They used this information, along with other data, to design their daily IE Block, with the goal of providing every student with exactly what they need for growth.

Each month teachers participate in a district professional development. Recently, all kindergarten through fifth grade teachers engaged in a district PD on questioning called the Question Formulation Technique (QFT) where teachers use a Q-Focus (could be a content-related image, object, graph, or statement) to encourage reluctant learners to ask questions. During grade-level collaboration, teachers have the time to plan rigorous, engaging activities such as the 4th Grade Glow Day, 100th day of school for Kindergarten, 5th Grade cooking to learn and experience chemical reactions, 1st Grade Elf day, and many other amazing learning experiences. Without this time, we would not have as many rigorous, STEM integrated lessons. During another grade-level collaboration meeting one recent Wednesday, first grade teachers reflected on student interactive math journals from each of their classrooms. They analyzed student work and discussed how they are deepening student understanding through these math journals. 

Additionally, we dismiss one hour early on Thursdays to provide teachers additional time for professional learning and collaboration.  Paine Elementary uses this time for professional development, faculty meetings, grade level collaboration, and monthly PLC meetings.  We have a designated PLC for STEM referred to as our STEM Leadership Team.  We also have one for math which is facilitated by our district math coach.  Like Wednesdays, this is protected time on Thursdays for teacher learning and collaboration.

At Paine Elementary, we collaborate A LOT! In order for all stakeholders in our facility to be frequently involved, one way we organize our collaboration is through Google. All teachers and administrators can efficiently and effectively communicate and share information through Google Platforms, including docs, email, drive, and classroom. 

Below you will find the links to the current standards being used in the STEM Lab Paine Elementary as well as in the STREAM Studio:

STEM standards and curriculum


Paine Elementary implements high quality STEM courses and curriculum aligned to standards organized in an interdisciplinary framework. In 2017, the state of Alabama implemented new computer science standards for the elementary school.  Our district provided training for our teachers on these standards and we began writing curriculum aligned to these standards to insure our students were provided with rigorous lessons to meet these new standards.


Our STEM Specialists collaborate weekly to create rigorous units of study that are consistently organized around real-world problems. Our district's Technology Integration team also provides the STEM Specialists with support, encouragement, and additional opportunities for collaboration. Our STEM Specialists and district's Technology Integration team work together to write curriculum that meets the demands of teaching the skills necessary for the 21st century and beyond. Our STEM units are aligned with the NGSS, ISTE and state's DLCS standards, as evidenced by our STEM Curriculum Pacing Guide. 


Recent units of study include:


 All students in Kindergarten through 5th grade engage in these units during their thirty-minute weekly STEM Lab experiences. Students are also exposed to additional STEM lessons in their classrooms through teacher-created, interdisciplinary units. This year we have also added the STREAM Studio opportunity for classroom teachers to use with their students.  These STEM practices are also ingrained in the culture of the school through everyday use of technology in the classroom, in EnRICh experiences, and in the STEM Lab.