Core Guides

The Science Core Guides are created to provide guidance for developing effective instruction aligned to the Utah Science with Engineering Education (SEEd) Standards. They are intended to support teachers, administrators, science specialists, instructional coaches, parents, and other stakeholders as they plan instruction at a local level.

The Core Guides are not intended to be read from cover to cover. They are meant as a resource document to be used, when needed, to support teacher professional learning and curriculum decisions. They are not meant to be used by students, and therefore they may not be written in student-friendly language. The Core Guides are meant to inform teachers and leaders as they make science curriculum decisions.

Educator Endorsements

The Utah State Board of Education desires that all educators in Utah are fully qualified to teach the courses they are assigned to assure that all students get the best education possible. All secondary science courses (Grades 7-12) require specific secondary science endorsements for teachers to be eligible to teach them. 

USBE uses competency-based endorsements. The Secondary Science Endorsements Requirement Area Options (Google Doc) document summaries the options available to demonstrate competency in the requirement areas for each Secondary Science Endorsement in a one page table format.

The Course Assignment Eligibility for Secondary Science Endorsements (Google Doc) document outlines what courses each endorsement qualifies a teacher to be able to teach.

Applications

 

How to apply for an Endorsement

Endorsement Courses

To fulfill university course requirements for secondary science endorsements each course needs to meet the following three requirements:

• The course must be posted on a college/university transcript,
• The course must be worth 3 or more credits, and
• The course must be passed with a grade of C or better.

University Online Course Options

Many universities offer online courses that can be taken to fulfill endorsement course requirements. These courses vary from semester to semester and vary in price from university to university. Some universities also require a small payment to become a matriculated student and gain a student identification number. Please be sure to read all university requirements to assure that you are eligible, can meet prerequisite requirements, and can successfully take the course.

UtSTA's Courses for University Credit

The Utah Science Teaching Association (UtSTA) has partnered with local universities to offer endorsement courses for university credit.  See the Endorsement Course (Utah Science Teaching Association) webpage on UtSTA's website (Utah Science Teaching Association) for the available online and in-person courses that are offered. 

Safety Certification

As part of the application for a secondary science endorsement, the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) asks that all applicants complete a safety certification. There are three options for Safety Certification:

 

Professional Learning

The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) offers two different types of Canvas courses for K-12 Science:

1. Implementing the Utah Science with Engineering Education (SEEd) Standards (K-12)
2. SEEd Content Courses for each grade (K-8)

Implementing the Utah Science with Engineering Education (SEEd) Standards K-12

Enroll in Implementing the Utah Science with Engineering Education (SEEd) Standards
CANVAS

The course’s purpose is to support educators in understanding shifts to instruction that are required to effectively implement the Utah SEEd Standards. The Canvas-based course contains six modules: Introduction to the SEEd Standards, Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs), Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs), Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), Engineering Design, and Using Phenomena.

This course is free for participants and is self-paced. K-12 educators may register at any point. Successful completion of the entire course is worth 2.0 USBE Credits. 

SEEd Content Courses Grades K-8

Accessing SEEd Content Courses for Grades K-8
CANVAS

The purpose of these courses is to build and support teacher science conceptual knowledge of the Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) used within the SEEd Standards. The Grade K-6 courses are developed specifically for elementary educators and therefore only licensed K-6 teachers will be awarded USBE credit upon completion.

For these content courses, each grade level or content area has one main course in which to enroll. Within the course, there are mini-courses that explore the content knowledge expectations of each strand within the SEEd Standards for that grade level. The number of mini-courses available for each grade level are equal to the number of strands within the SEEd standards for that grade level. Educators may select which mini-courses they want to pursue and the order they want to take each one after a short introduction module is completed within the main course. Educators do not need to complete all of the mini-courses. Credit for the K-5 mini-courses is either .5 or 1.0 for each strand mini-course depending on the number of standards within the strand (2-5 standards = .5, 6+ standards = 1.0). Credit for 6-8 courses is listed as you sign up for the course. Credits will post in MIDAS three times during the year as delineated in Table 1 below. These courses are free for participants and are self-paced. Educators may register at any time.

Completing content courses for Grades 6-8 do not qualify teachers to meet requirement areas for a Science Core Endorsement. For information on the course requirements for this teaching endorsement, review the Secondary Science Core Endorsement Specs document.

Credit for Science Canvas Courses

To receive credit for a mini-course or for the K-12 Introduction to Three-Dimensional Instruction course, educators enrolled in any of the courses must receive 90% on the quizzes, complete the discussion posts, and submit the required feedback survey for the mini-course or the entire Introduction course. Once enrolled in a course the participants will continue to have access to the Canvas course content even after they are finished so that it can be used as a reference in the future.  Credit will be assigned three times during the year as delineated below.

USBE Science Canvas Course Credit Posting Dates

Log into your Canvas account before clicking on the enrollment links provided above. If you are already logged in when you enroll, the self-enrollment process will be much smoother. This is important because if you cannot remember your password, the login page will provide a Forgot Password link to fix the issue. The self-enrollment page of each course does not provide that option. 

If you do not have a Canvas account when you self-enroll in a course, you will not be asked for a password at that time. You will receive an email asking you to finish setting up your account.

Utah Science Open Educational Resources (OER) Textbooks

Note: The final revision of the OER Textbooks do not have a year posted on the front cover.

OER textbooks are available for K-12 and align to the Science with Engineering Education (SEEd) Standards. The Utah Science OER Textbook Project was started to bring Utah teachers together to create a resource that aligns to the Utah core science standards. They are not intended to be curriculum as they do not include labs, assessments, or a teacher guide with answers. They are intended as a reference material for students with content to support teachers’ classroom instruction and help make sense of science concepts found in standards.

The OER textbooks are available in digital formats for free under a creative commons license. These digital documents can be used and adjusted to support teacher and student needs. They can be loaded onto student electronic devices or printed in their entirety or as individual pages through school or district printing services. Formatted OER textbooks are also available to purchase in bulk at a low cost using a state printing contract. For more information access the 2024-2025 USBE Science Textbook Document.

OER Textbooks

Open Educational Resources: Utah's Open Textbook Projects (Science)
Utah Education Network (UEN)

To provide teachers with a formatting version of each textbook, PDF versions of the printed books are available to download for free. These files can be used to print the books in-house if districts and charters have a better system for printing or they can be loaded on student machines.

Important Note: The OER Textbook Project works very hard to ensure that only materials with an open creative common license are used. After a copy is made it is the responsibility of that person to assure that any content, pictures, illustrations, diagrams, etc. added to your adapted books are free of a private copyright license and are solely responsible for consequences regarding breaking regulations with these copyrights.

 

Utah Science Education Tools

Science Education Leaders in Combined SSECC are developing science education tools for educators. These tools focus on a specific aspect of high quality, phenomena based, three-dimensional teaching and learning in Utah. They provide background information, give examples of what teachers and students do in the classroom, shares a rubric for self-assessment and reflection, and has resources for further learning. The USETs can be found below and on Utah's Education Network's (UEN) SEEd emedia hub.

USETs on Utah's Education Network's SEEd eMedia Hub

USET 01 - Intentionally Aligned to SEEd Standards

USET 02 - Using Three-Dimensions in a Student Centered Classroom

USET 03 - Scaffolds in Three-Dimensional Science

USET 04 - Student Science Discourse

USET 05 - Disciplinary Literacy in Science

USET 06 - Student Sensemaking of a Phenomenon

USET 07 - Equitable and Accessible Science Instruction for All

USET 08 - Grade Band Progressions

USET Series: Personalized, Competency Based Learning

USET 14 - Three-Dimensional Assessments

USET 15 - Supporting Multilingual Learners in Science

USET 16 - Driving Question Board

USET 17 - Preparing Students for the Rise Test

USET Series: Principles for English Learners

To give feedback on the USETs, ask to write a USET, or suggest a USET to be written, please fill out this google form (Google). 

The USET Development Process (Google) document outlines the process of creating and publishing a USET. 

STEM Endorsement Incentive Program (EIP)

The STEM EIP was created in July of 2019 to incentivize educators across the state to achieve endorsements in the STEM subjects. The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) will be using these funds to provide reimbursement for applicable STEM endorsement coursework for both elementary and secondary educators. For more information, please refer to the STEM Endorsement Incentive Program Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) (Google Docs).

Please contact Isaac Pitcher at isaac.pitcher@schools.utah.gov if you have questions about the STEM EIP Program

State Science Education Coordinating Committee (SSECC)

SSECC is voluntary science community that work to discuss the needs of and share information about how to improve science education in Utah. It is made up of representatives from Utah districts and charter schools, Utah institutes of higher education, and Utah informal education organizations. Three sections of SSECC exist: Elementary (K-6), Secondary (6-12), and Combined (K-12)

Meetings

Meetings are held three times a year either in-person or virtually.  If you are interested in attending, please reach out to one of the science education specialists listed below.

2025-2026 Meeting Schedule

Past Meeting Notes

Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST)

Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST)