Connecting K-12 educators and districts with high quality, open education science resources and sustained support to bring all students relevant science learning.
Relevant Science Partners catalyzes science instructional innovation through:
- Hosting face-to-face and virtual professional learning leveraging open-sourced, high-quality instructional materials (HQIM).
- Collaborating with educators and administrators in building district structures that promote instructional change within and around the classroom through systems coaching.
- Recruiting well-prepared and experienced facilitators to support educators in using the most effective instructional resources.
We Value
Collaborative
Harnessing the collective expertise of educators, administrators, facilitators, and coaches to produce outcomes that surpass what individuals can achieve alone.
Customized
Tailoring professional learning to the specific needs of districts, adapting and modifying based on context and data to fit the unique demands and desires of educators.
Coherent
Creating seamless and lasting processes through connecting ideas across stakeholders within communities to build structures that encourage instructional innovation.
Services
Science Professional Learning
Collaborative: Collaborating with classroom educators and experienced facilitators to create customized learning experiences that help address the unique challenges of teaching and learning with high-quality instructional materials.
Customized: Specializing in crafting tailored learning experiences for classroom educators ensuring that each experience meets the specific needs of different contexts.
Coherent: Facilitating continuous and cohesive experiences that explore the essential pedagogical elements of high quality instructional materials (HQIM) to generate learning success. This coherence in professional learning mirrors the coherence of student learning in science.
Systems Coaching
Collaborative: Bringing together diverse people in various roles to generate a collaborative vision and design for classroom instruction and a coherent implementation plan that considers all voices and multiple perspectives.
Customized: Sustaining professional learning based on the systems that affect teachers in their classroom through reflecting on data to co-create and adapt the implementation plan based on the unique opportunities, needs, and constraints in your district.
Coherent: Reflecting on the roles all stakeholders play in advocating for and creating relevant and engaging science learning environments and sustaining instructional change in educators’ classrooms through innovation and adaptation.
About Us
Mary Starr, Ph. D.
Co-Founder, Professional Learning Specialist
Mary Starr is an accomplished science educator and leader, currently serving as the Executive Director of the Michigan Mathematics and Science Leadership Network (MMSLN). She has made significant contributions to science education over her career, particularly focusing on professional development for science teachers and promoting equity in STEM education. Her work includes developing curricular materials for K-12 students and leading initiatives like OpenSciEd, which aims to provide high-quality science learning resources.
University of Michigan
PhD, Science Education
University of Michigan
Master’s degree, Science Education
University of Michigan-Dearborn
B.A. – Education, Science and Mathematics; Teaching Certificate K-8
Jeffrey Spencer, Ph. D.
Co-Founder, Implementation Specialist
Jeff has been working in education as a high school teacher, researcher, instructional coach, and professional learning provider for 15 years. With Relevant Science Partners, he fuses his expertise in collaborative design and science coaching to support systems coaching in our partner organizations as they work with districts. He is a science instructional coach with the Illinois Regional Office of Education #17, focusing on building professional learning structures that guide the implementation of practices-based science education in classrooms throughout Illinois.
University of Michigan
Doctor of Philosophy – PhD, Chemistry
University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana
Master of Science – MS, Teaching of Chemistry
University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana
Bachelor of Science – BS, Chemistry