Building Pipelines & Breaking Down Silos: A Recap of the NJSELA Winter Roundtable
December 5, 2025 | Rutgers Lifelong Learning Center

Science education leaders from across the state gathered for a day filled with connection, policy clarity, and forward-thinking science leadership for the NJSELA Winter Roundtable. Hosted at the Rutgers Lifelong Learning Center, the day was dedicated not just to leadership development, but to actionable strategies for building K-12 STEM ecosystems and navigating the shifting landscape of high school graduation requirements.

The morning kicked off with a dynamic keynote from Christine Girtain, the 2023 NJ Teacher of the Year and Co-Founder of the Jersey Shore STEM Ecosystem. Her session, titled "STEM Ecosystem Partnerships: Building a K thru Industry Pipeline," challenged leaders to look beyond their district walls for resources. Girtain shared a treasure trove of partnership opportunities to engage diverse learners, like IEEE, Lectec, The MicroNanoTech Ed Center, ThorLabs, and AviNation. Girtain challenged attendees to look outside their district walls to find transformative resources.

Rich Stec also provided a much needed update on the new High School graduation requirements. The conversation provided critical clarity on the changing landscape of science course classification and/or teacher certification needs. Biology is no longer a mandatory specific course for graduation in NJ. However, students still must complete 15 credits in evidence-based science courses that span all NJ standards, including life science. Leaders were advised not to "tear down" existing curricula but to use Appendix K in the framework to integrate Cross-Cutting Concepts and practices. Rather than rushing to design new integrated courses, which requires significant budget and training, districts should collaborate across Bio, Physics, and Chem departments to articulate the 3D progression over several grades.

During the midday break, attendees participated in a "Lunch & Learn" with Mike Rutherford, Founder and CEO of GotLearning. Rutherford introduced "Learning Pulse," a new platform designed to analyze student narratives and show growth over time using qualitative and formative data. The platform emphasizes rapid storytelling for leaders and helps vertical alignment across courses. Mike demonstrated how the tool can ingest hundreds of lab reports, even handwritten ones, to provide feedback that saves teacher time.

The day was rounded out by deep-dive focus groups where leaders tackled some of the most pressing issues in the field: Using AI to support 3D Assessment, Designing professional learning for teachers, Supporting diverse learners, and Curricular Program Evaluation. Each session was led by a curriculum leader who shared resources and posed questions for discussion. 

The NSELA affiliate will convene again in May for another in-person leadership event.