When Teachers Learn, Students Learn.
ASSET Inc. is an education improvement nonprofit that supports school districts in implementing a standards-based science education program through teacher professional development aligned with hands-on curriculum materials for grades K-8. ASSET believes that teachers are both the targets and agents of change, and that when teachers are learning, students are learning.

The Evolution of an Experiment
When ASSET began its efforts in 1994, it set an ambitious goal: to lead – not just contribute to – the national science education reform movement. For the last 15 years, ASSET has been working to improve teacher and student learning with the support of national and regional corporate partners who have a vested interest in cultivating a pipeline of future science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workers. From its early days as a pilot program in two school districts, ASSET has now grown to be a systemic education improvement initiative serving more than 180 school districts, charter and private schools - impacting more than 5,000 teachers and 142,000 students across Pennsylvania.

ASSET’s Approach
ASSET accomplishes its mission by supporting schools in implementing all five essential components identified by the National Science Resources Center for sustaining quality

standards-based science education programs:

• Curriculum Materials - research-based science curriculum materials that are aligned with state and national education standards

• Ongoing Professional Development - programs and courses that prepare educators to teach inquiry-centered science and that consider professional growth to be a long-term process

• Materials Support - cost-effective systems for supplying science equipment and materials to classrooms

• Assessment - strategies that align the evaluation of student performance with the goals of an inquiry-centered science program

• Community/Administrative Involvement - strategies for building and sustaining district and community support
  

Expanding ASSET’s Approach: Science: It’s Elementary
Based on its history of success and results, ASSET was selected in 2006 to design and manage Pennsylvania’s statewide Science: It’s Elementary (SIE) program in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Education. This landmark $50 million initiative is bringing hands-on, inquiry-based science to nearly 3,000 teachers and 67,000 students in 145 school districts across the Commonwealth.