The Official STEMscopes Blog

The effects of the pandemic have left almost no one untouched, and education is one area in particular that has experienced tremendous hardship. In December 2020, the former administration signed into effect a $900 billion stimulus package that includes section H.R. 133, which provides $70 billion to help public and private schools recover from the pandemic. This bill is of paramount importance for anybody with skin in the education game (which is all of us), so we’ve provided an overview of how H.R. 133 works.

What is learning loss? 

Carri Bevil saw firsthand how effective STEMscopes Science was in her district. So when asked to join the new STEMscopes Math team as a curriculum writer, she knew she’d be helping to create a quality learning experience. Bevil has been a key writer in the development of STEMscopes Math since 2018, and is actively involved as the team prepares to craft the company’s first middle school math curriculum. 

Learning is a process that entails different levels of understanding. This is the basic idea behind Norman Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) model, which posits four tiers of understanding that students move through as they learn new content (but not necessarily in sequential order): recall and reproduction, skills and concepts, strategic thinking, and extended thinking. 

Is being good at math necessary to finding a good job? Increasingly so, this is the case. While a discrete math skill (e.g., knowing how to use the quadratic formula) is not the key to getting a job, having a solid foundation in data interpretation, analytical skills, problem-solving, and quantitative thinking is.