K-12 Articulation of Physics Curriculum: Teacher collaboration in K-12 is as important as student collaboration. In district wide programs, K-12 teachers explore vertical articulation of physics concepts

Physics should be taught throughout grades K-12. We need physics teacher leaders within school districts and across all grades who understand how physics principles are articulated across all grades. Teacher leadership is an important aspect of strong schools and school districts and has been shown to be an important factor in teacher retention, teacher development, and student growth. For over a decade, the Center of Science and Mathematics in Context (COSMIC) at the University of Massachusetts – Boston has been refining and deploying a professional development program to build science teacher leadership capacity in high needs school districts. The program has been successfully deployed in 35 school districts in seven states around the country. The program is a two-year professional development for STEM teachers across K-12 grades. The first year is dedicated to thinking about teaching and examining teaching practice. This includes vertical articulation of curriculum as well as in-depth look at science and engineering practices. The second year of the program is dedicated to developing teacher leadership skills. At the completion of the program, school districts have a critical mass of science teacher leaders who can support district initiatives while remaining in the classroom.