Professional Learning & Support from PIMSER
PIMSER partners with schools and districts across Kentucky to support high-quality, three-dimensional science instruction aligned to the Kentucky Academic Standards for Science (KAS-S). Our professional learning is customized, job-embedded, and grounded in research-based best practices, helping educators move beyond coverage to student sensemaking.
Our exceptionally trained Master Teachers and Regional Teacher Partners work alongside teachers and leaders to strengthen instructional practice, classroom culture, and assessment—ensuring students engage deeply with science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts.
Professional learning can be designed as 3-hour, 6-hour, multi-day, onsite, or virtual sessions, depending on your needs.
📩 Contact us to design science professional learning that fits your school or district.
Coaching & Instructional Support Services
Science Program Review
Gain a comprehensive view of your school’s science instructional program.
The Science Program Review provides schools with a research-based analysis of instructional practice and program coherence. This process includes:
- Onsite classroom observations
- Interviews with teachers, students, parents, and administrators
- Online surveys completed by teachers and principals
- Data analysis and a detailed written report with recommendations
- A follow-up meeting to review findings and plan next steps
The resulting report can inform school improvement planning for 3–5 years, supporting sustainable, standards-aligned growth.
Coaching for Science Implementers
Targeted support for implementing three-dimensional science instruction
Designed for:
- New science teachers
- Teachers new to science
- Educators seeking support with KAS-S implementation
Teachers partner with a PIMSER Master Teacher through one-on-one or small-group coaching to deepen understanding of:
- Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs)
- Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs)
- Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs)
- Three-dimensional learning in instruction and assessment
Support includes:
- Clarifying what three-dimensional learning looks like in classrooms
- Planning lesson sequences and units aligned to HQIR and KAS-S
- Designing assessments that elicit student thinking
- Developing classroom norms, discourse routines, and visible thinking
- Supporting implementation through observation, feedback, and reflection
Available virtually or onsite.
Core Areas of Science Professional Learning
Scientific Discourse
What does productive talk look like in a science classroom?
Teachers explore strategies to facilitate student-to-student and student-to-teacher discourse as students:
- Share observations and wonderings
- Explain evidence-based ideas
- Make connections across concepts
- Revise their thinking over time
Developing Student Vocabulary Through Sensemaking
Learn how to plan for authentic vocabulary development within phenomenon-driven instruction. Teachers build a toolkit of strategies to support students in speaking and writing using scientific language—without front-loading vocabulary or interrupting sensemaking.
Building a Culture for Collaborative Science Learning
How do you create a classroom culture focused on figuring out phenomena together?
This session supports teachers in:
- Establishing norms for collaboration and discourse
- Encouraging risk-taking and revision of ideas
- Making student thinking visible throughout instruction
Supporting Student Success with Scientific Modeling
Develop a deeper understanding of scientific modeling and its role across the SEPs.
Teachers explore:
- What models are—and what they are not
- How models help students explain phenomena and make predictions
- Strategies for engaging students in the iterative cycle of developing, testing, evaluating, and revising models
Developing Student Writing in Science
Writing is a critical tool for sensemaking in science.
Teachers examine how writing supports:
- Analysis and clarification of thinking
- Explanation and argumentation from evidence
- Language development and communication
This session focuses on implementing the SEPs Constructing Explanations and Engaging in Argument from Evidence through classroom-ready strategies.
Accessing Complex Text in the Science Classroom
Support students in reading, annotating, and using complex informational texts as sources of evidence. Teachers learn strategies to help students:
- Extract relevant information
- Evaluate evidence
- Connect text-based ideas to phenomena and investigations
Leadership in Science Instruction
For administrators, instructional coaches, and district leaders.
This session supports leaders in:
- Recognizing high-quality, three-dimensional science instruction
- Providing feedback that moves teacher practice forward
- Identifying student engagement with SEPs, CCCs, and DCIs
- Aligning walkthroughs and observations to the intent of KAS-S
OpenSciEd Curriculum Professional Learning
PIMSER provides professional learning aligned to OpenSciEd at multiple stages of implementation:
- Awareness – Understanding the instructional shifts and design principles
- Implementation – Supporting teachers as they enact lessons and units
- Refinement – Raising the ceiling of implementation through coaching, reflection, and instructional refinement
Support may include coaching and planning for individual teachers or grade-level teams, delivered virtually or onsite.
Ready to Strengthen Science Instruction?
Whether you are launching three-dimensional instruction, supporting HQIR implementation, or refining science teaching practice, PIMSER partners with you to design professional learning that leads to meaningful, lasting change.