Background & Context
Ms. Caldwell teaches eighth grade science in San Antonio ISD, an inner-city Texas district where 98% of her students are economically disadvantaged. Her classroom is small in square footage and huge in range.
She has 137 students on her roster. Twenty-nine are Emergent Bilingual. Thirty are in special education. Twelve have 504 plans. A few are still being identified. Many of her students came into the year reading at a kindergarten or first-grade level. The class average is around 1.5.
Most teachers would describe that as overwhelming. Ms. Caldwell describes it as resilient.
“They’re amazing, and they’re resilient. And if you come in with differentiation, my kids are performing.”
— Ms. Caldwell, 8th Grade Science Teacher, San Antonio ISD
Her partner at Summit K12, Jesse, has been part of the rollout from the very first call.
The Challenge
Eighth grade science in Texas is high stakes. If students don’t reach Approaches on STAAR, they don’t move into biology. Ms. Caldwell could not afford to lose a single learner — but the gaps in her room were wide.
Reading levels stretched from end-of-kindergarten to a few on grade level. Emergent Bilingual students needed visual scaffolds and richer vocabulary support. Special education students needed pacing they could control. And every student needed real phenomenon-based science — the three-dimensional instruction the TEKS now demand.
Ms. Caldwell had 45-minute class periods. She was already running small groups. She did not have time to design differentiated science instruction for 137 different starting points from scratch.
Access made it harder. Most of her students did not have a computer or stable internet at home. Many were working off a single cell phone.
The Search for a Better Solution
Ms. Caldwell did not need another worksheet platform. She needed a tool built on real phenomenon-based science — aligned to the Texas TEKS, designed for Texas learners, and rigorous enough to prepare students for STAAR.
She also needed something her students would actually want to open. Without engagement, no platform reaches the kids who are furthest behind.
Her district adopted Summit K12’s Dynamic Science late in the school year. Ms. Caldwell launched it anyway.
The Solution
Dynamic Science fits into Ms. Caldwell’s rhythm without replacing it. On Fridays, students log in inside her 45-minute block. Many come back at lunch. Some stay after school on Mondays and Tuesdays. Some keep going from the public library over spring break.
“Once they got on, they got hooked. And once they started to see that they were climbing the mountain, it turned into a competition with each other.”
— Ms. Caldwell
Each student moves through a Personal Learning Plan built around exactly what they need. The arcade and coin system rewards effort. The 80% mastery cutoff pushes students to retake, refine, and master — not just pass.
“I think the rigor of K12 is stronger than some of the STAAR questions, which makes it an even better learning tool.”
— Ms. Caldwell
The platform’s videos, vocabulary cards, and visual supports don’t just teach the content. They build the background knowledge Ms. Caldwell could feel showing up in her live lessons. When she introduced biodiversity, students were already talking about energy flow. When she ran an “I notice, I wonder” phenomenon, her EBs were using accurate science vocabulary.
“I was like, wow, the seventh grade teacher did a really good job. And they were like, no — when we did Summit K12, we learned that.”
— Ms. Caldwell
After just a few weeks on the platform, Ms. Caldwell’s students posted 37% growth between her beginning-of-year and middle-of-year released STAAR practice. Her class outscored other campuses in the district. Her class outscored the state.
“It is a game changer. K12 Summit is a game changer.”
— Ms. Caldwell
And the growth was not limited to her on-grade-level students. Special education students were already at Approaches. Emergent Bilingual students were building Venn diagrams in Google Docs in their second language. Several students were already past 50% completion on their Personal Learning Plans.
“I have very few students that are at or above grade level — and all of my students are showing success.”
— Ms. Caldwell
Most Impactful Features
- Phenomenon-based, three-dimensional instruction aligned to the Texas TEKS and STAAR science blueprint
- Personal Learning Plans that meet every student at their actual reading and content level
- An 80% mastery cutoff that drives revision, retakes, and real proficiency
- Vocabulary cards, videos, and visual supports that build background knowledge before live lessons
- Recurring themes across units that help students transfer knowledge from one concept to the next
- Arcade-style points and coins that turn daily practice into a class-to-class competition
Ongoing Partnership and Support
Summit K12’s team made a late-year rollout possible. When Ms. Caldwell enrolled eight new students after the initial assessment had already opened, her support partner reset the cut date the same day so no learner was left out. Trainings built in real time to practice — something Ms. Caldwell rarely sees in district PD.
“Jesse is absolutely amazing. He was extremely welcoming, never rushed, even when he’s on the phone troubleshooting.”
— Ms. Caldwell
Ms. Caldwell is heading into next year ready to push deeper. Dynamic Science is already mapped into her weekly plan, her lunch tutorials, and her after-school sessions. Her students are asking when they can take the next assessment — and her district is watching her data.
“I would love to celebrate y’all, because you have elevated my children.”
— Ms. Caldwell
That is what Texas science instruction can look like when phenomenon-based learning, real teacher expertise, and a platform built by Texas teachers come together — students climbing the mountain, every single one of them.
