Teacher Professional Learning
Ripple Effect provides OpenSciEd curriculum training and classroom coaching for K–12 schools and districts across Southeast Louisiana — helping teachers build the skills and confidence to deliver high-quality, phenomenon-based science instruction.
Our approach
Our professional learning is built around a simple idea: teachers learn best by doing. Before entering the classroom, teachers experience OpenSciEd units as learners themselves — working through investigations, engaging with anchoring phenomena, and practicing the discussion routines their students will use. That foundation is then deepened through ongoing coaching and evidence-based feedback throughout implementation.
Our model is built around four core elements:
Unit Immersion: Teachers experience the curriculum as learners before they teach it to students.
Video and Transcript Analysis: Study real classroom discussions to identify effective facilitation moves.
Teachback Practice: Practice lesson segments with rubric-based peer feedback before classroom implementation.
Ongoing Coaching: Evidence-based coaching cycles throughout unit implementation.
Services
Introduction to OpenSciEd
1–2 full days · Delivered before unit instruction begins
Provides teachers with a foundation in the OpenSciEd instructional model before a single unit is taught. Covers core design principles, the role of phenomenon-based learning, student agency, and three-dimensional sensemaking. Situates the unit within the grade-level sequence and introduces teachers to performance expectations and learning progressions.
OpenSciEd Unit Immersion
1–2 full days · Before or at the start of unit instruction
Prepares teachers to facilitate a specific OpenSciEd unit by experiencing it as learners and then analyzing it as teachers. Teachers work through lessons in sequence, engage with the anchoring phenomenon, conduct hands-on investigations, analyze student work samples, and practice facilitation of key discussion routines.
Embedded Instructional Support
Ongoing throughout unit implementation · Frequency determined by school or district
An ongoing service in which a Ripple Effect coach provides embedded support throughout unit implementation. Includes teacher-driven goal setting, lesson preparation coaching, evidence-based feedback from classroom observations or transcripts, and post-lesson debrief conversations centered on student work.
Science Coaching Foundations
1–2 full days · Standalone or alongside teacher training
Builds the capacity of school science coaches and instructional leaders to support OpenSciEd implementation internally. Participants learn structured classroom observation, evidence-based coaching conversations, and transcript analysis grounded in the Ripple Effect Coaching Rubric.
Partnership in practice
Elementary Science Transition
New Orleans Charter Network Grades 3–5
Over one year, Ripple Effect partnered with a New Orleans-based charter network to transition all elementary science classes to OpenSciEd. The model combined initial curriculum training, embedded coaching, and leadership capacity-building into a phased approach tied to LEAP assessment data.
Summer Launch
Presented to school leaders and teachers on OpenSciEd's instructional model and NGSS alignment. Delivered a 3-day launch PD: a whole-staff Introduction to OpenSciEd followed by grade-level breakouts to prepare teachers for Unit 1. Introduced the Ripple Effect Coaching Rubric to administrators, coaches, and teachers.
During the School Year
Weekly classroom observations aligned to the coaching rubric, with regular progress updates to school leaders and unit and LEAP assessment data monitoring throughout the year. Half-day PD sessions delivered before each new unit to prepare teachers for upcoming investigations and discussion routines.
Building Internal Capacity
Delivered Science Coaching Foundations to the network's internal coaches and instructional leaders. Shifted from external-led to co-observations. Completed a final LEAP data review with network leadership.
Ready to bring OpenSciEd to your school? Get in touch.
We work with schools and districts across Southeast Louisiana. Reach out to start a conversation about how Ripple Effect can support your science teachers.
Our Teacher Learning Projects
Bringing elementary school teachers and students into the field
Standards-aligned water literacy courses for high school
Catalyzing standards-aligned science teaching through water literacy
Continue exploring our vision for water literacy education in the areas of curriculum design, field-based learning, and strategic partnerships.
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