Motivate and empower students to excel in science using Penda Learning's engaging activities, handcrafted to NGSS, Texas TEKS, and Florida SASS standards. Penda Learning combines phenomena-based, three-dimensional science content with interactive gamification to keep students actively engaged in learning.

Penda Learning's easy-to-use intervention resource assists teachers with the RTI/MTSS process to effectively reach every student. The well-designed activities, combined with an assessment suite and reporting tools, make it the perfect complement to classroom instruction, supporting students, teachers, and administrators.

Formats/platforms used:

Single Sign-on Systems, Clever, ClassLink, and Google SSO.

Primary URL:

https://www.pendalearning.com/

Problem solved:

Elementary science instruction is often reduced or pushed aside because accountability pressure tends to focus heavily on reading and math. However, science is not a subject that can be successfully addressed only in tested grades. Many schools report that science is now taught for as little as 20 minutes a week.

Science learning is, by its very nature, stair-stepped. Students build knowledge, vocabulary, inquiry skills, background understanding, and confidence over time. Early grades establish the foundation. Intermediate grades connect and extend concepts. Tested grades serve as checkpoints that reveal how effectively students have progressed. Strong outcomes at the top of the staircase depend on the strength of every step below it.

When science is neglected in the elementary years, the impact becomes evident later in middle school, high school, state assessment performance, STEM confidence, and long-term career readiness.

By investing in engaging, high-quality science instruction from the earliest grades, districts can build a stronger foundation for student success, improve outcomes in tested grades, and better prepare students for future STEM learning and careers.

Pricing Model:

Penda Learning is designed to be an affordable addition to a district’s existing science program, with flexible pricing available per student or per building. Pricing scales based on implementation size, making it accessible for individual schools, multi-school districts, and larger statewide or regional initiatives.

What makes Penda Learning unique?

Penda Learning is built around three pillars: intervention supports, automation, and gamification—always keeping content at the forefront of rigorous science instruction.

Penda Science features activities and assessments developed from the ground up to help students overcome learning obstacles. The content development team created activities and assessments using the NGSS Framework as well as the NSTA Atlas to support coherent learning progressions across grade levels.

Every Penda Learning activity includes a comprehensive instructional guide that helps teachers understand the learning progression, what students should already know, what they are learning now, and what comes next. Teachers also receive a detailed breakdown of each activity, enabling them to support whole-class instruction, small-group learning, and individualized intervention with confidence.

Characteristics:

Three-Dimensional, Phenomena-Based Activities & Assessments

● Activities and assessments aligned to each grade level's performance expectations.

● Formative and summative assessments, including content set assessments, course assessments, and high-stakes test preparation.

● Embedded assessments provide continuous progress monitoring throughout the school year.

Inclusive, Equitable Instruction

● Content translated into more than 100 languages to support multilingual learners and English learners.

● Read-aloud functionality and two reading levels provide appropriate access for struggling readers and emerging English learners.

Differentiated Instruction for Every Tier of RTI

● Scaffolded activities based on text complexity.

● Assign activities by classroom, small group, or individual student.

● Create flexible groups to support targeted Tier 2 interventions.

● Line-item reporting quickly identifies learning gaps and intervention needs.

Comprehensive, Actionable Reporting

● Role-based dashboards give district leaders, principals, instructional coaches, and classroom teachers clear visibility into student mastery, usage, and progress.

● Easily shareable reports help educators monitor performance, identify instructional gaps, and make data-informed decisions throughout the school year, providing district leaders with a real-time window into every classroom.

Comprehensive Teacher Support

● Whether they're a first-year teacher, long-term substitute, or veteran science educator, Penda equips every teacher to deliver engaging, high-quality science instruction with confidence. Penda Learning's unique Pacing Assistance Service (PAS) hand-aligns activities to each district's scope and sequence, then automatically assigns lessons at the appropriate point in the instructional calendar—reducing planning time while ensuring instructional consistency across classrooms.

● Comprehensive instructional guides accompany every activity, unpacking standards, identifying common student misconceptions, outlining learning progressions, and providing hands-on instructional strategies that extend learning beyond the screen. Teachers also receive answer explanations, lesson implementation tips, and differentiated instructional recommendations to support students at varying levels of readiness.

● To further reduce teacher workload, Penda includes AI-powered grading for short-answer and essay responses. Teachers maintain full control—they can review AI-generated scores and feedback, accept or modify recommendations, or override them entirely. Combined with automated assignments and actionable reporting, these tools free teachers to spend less time on administrative tasks and more time supporting student learning.

What People are Saying:

At the district level, Penda gives us another layer beyond Tier 1 instruction. It supports remediation, small-group tutoring, and accountability because we can track usage, monitor output, and make sure students are getting the support they need.

-Richard Jordan, Coordinator Science and Health, Allen ISD

The Arkansas science standards are rigorous, three-dimensional, and phenomena-based. Not every teacher feels fully prepared with the standards yet, so Penda helps present the content in another way and gives students another opportunity to make sense of what they are learning.

-Kendra Powers - Science Specialist for SW Arkansas Education Cooperative