By Lauren Knapp
It was 2022 and Kenne Dibner saw an opportunity.
It had been nearly 10 years since the launch of the Next Generation Science Standards, a national framework for K–12 schools about teaching science. Most of the country — 49 states — had adopted the framework for their schools. The standards were developed in a collaborative process “for states, by states,” according to the NGSS website, so that all students could learn from an internationally benchmarked science education.
This was great progress, said Dibner, who is a senior program officer with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM).
Yet, there was a gap.
“Those who designed the assessments weren’t necessarily talking with people who prepare teachers who implement the assessments,” Dibner explained. But, Dibner and her colleagues saw that, with leadership from NASEM, they could make a difference—a real change.
Dibner set to work on establishing a network of core partners who were invested in state-level implementation of science standards. The partners came from various parts of the country, including K–12 school districts, state departments of education, curriculum leaders and higher education.
The efforts, led by Dibner and others in NASEM, created the Collaborative for Advancing Science Teaching and Learning in K–12, or CASTL-K12. Dibner is the founding program director from NASEM.
“It was the first time anyone was attempting to create this kind of network,” said Dibner, ’13 Ph.D. (Education Policy). She also leads efforts to find funding to support the initiative.
CASTL-K12 launched in 2024, and the first meetings were conducted in 2025. The MSU College of Education is one of 33 core member organizations.
Today, CASTL-K12 is a network of “cross-sector organizations ... [that] collaboratively work toward and share targeted, evidence-based action to support equitable implementation of [Next Generation Science Standards] Framework-inspired state-level science standards.”
Put another way, CASTL-K12 exists to help ensure implementation is “rowing in the same direction,” said Dibner. The point of NGSS is for state-level efforts to be aligned, and CASTL-K12 ensures that it is happening.
It also serves as a network for junior or mid-career faculty to grow into senior leaders, and the MSU College of Education has “remarkable” representation amongst the participants, according to Dibner.
Steering the conversation
Take the Steering Committee as an example.
The committee was selected by Dibner and includes Spartan faculty and graduates:
- Terrance Burgess, assistant professor in the MSU College of Education’s Department of Teacher Education
- Nathan D. Jones, Ph.D. ’09 (Special Education and Education Policy), commissioner of the National Center for Special Education Research (Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education)
- Jeffrey J. Rozelle, Ph.D. ’10 (Curriculum, Instruction and Teacher Education), president and CEO of the Knowles Teacher Initiative
In 2024, the Steering Committee put out a call for nominations to construct a group of core organizations, and leaders within them, that had “deep experience in policy, research and practice” of science teaching and education, Dibner explained.
Burgess suggested MSU as a core member.
“It makes sense for MSU to be a leader in this effort because we have a range of phenomenal scholars (as represented by the diverse expertise of the representatives) who are already doing this work within their individual areas,” said Burgess. “By coming together, we’re able to leverage our cutting-edge scholarship in teacher education to expand our approach to focus on the policy implications of the standards while also leading the conversation on standards implementation.”
The core member organizations each self-selected three representatives to serve as proxies in NASEM. Representatives attend biannual meetings and help CASTL-K12 meet its goals.
MSU chose Professor Amelia Wenk Gotwals, Associate Professor Michael Lachney and Associate Professor Stefanie Marshall. (Marshall earned her Ph.D. in 2018 from MSU in Educational Policy.)
Spartan nation
It was CASTL-K12’s first public summit in July 2025 that more of MSU’s representation came to light.
“I was chatting with Stefanie Marshall, and we realized that Michigan State University is far and away the best represented higher education school in CASTL-K12,” Dibner explained. “In a national organization of 120 representatives, it is an amazing penetration into the field.”
Three representatives from the core member institutions are graduates of MSU. In total, Spartans represent about 7.5% of the CASTL-K12 makeup. The number is even higher when you add regular Spartan contributors into the mix, including those with ongoing connections to the Department of Teacher Education and MSU’s CREATE for STEM Institute.
“It is a total coincidence so many of our representatives across CASTL-K12 are Spartans,” Dibner continued.
Organizations chose the representatives, and several just so happened to be MSU College of Education alumni. That several across the country selected Spartans “speaks to the quality of professionals and leaders that MSU produces,” Dibner said.
The MSU alums are:
- Christie Morrison Thomas, TCRT ’03 (Secondary Provisional) and Ph.D. ’22 (Curriculum, Instruction and Teacher Education), representative from the Michigan Math and Science Leadership Network; academic specialist in the MSU Department of Teacher Education
- Angela Kolonich, who earned multiple teacher and graduate-level certifications through the college and a Ph.D. in 2017 (Curriculum, Instruction and Teacher Education); science education specialist with the Minnesota Department of Education
- Wendy Johnson, who earned a teaching and graduate-level certificate as well as a Ph.D. in 2017 (Curriculum, Instruction and Teacher Education); science education specialist with the National Center for Science Education
“My initial thought was: ‘There are so many people here that I attended graduate school with!’” said Marshall. “Then, people began introducing me to other MSU alums, and I quickly realized the unmatched impact MSU was making across our field. When we introduced our team, I asked MSU alums to stand. People across the room began to stand. It was remarkable.”
Meet Kenne Dibner
Ph.D. ’13, Education Policy
Dibner started her doctoral program in 2007. She was struck by MSU’s “care and attention” during the application process. MSU faculty, she said, were “invested in my personal growth.” She credits individuals like Professor Emeritus Michael Sedlak, Professor Emeritus Gary Sykes and Suzanne Wilson, former University Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Teacher Education, as among her mentors and influencers.
At MSU, she conducted a project on “Learning Science as Inquiry with the Urban Advantage: Formal-Informal Collaborations to Increase Science Literacy and Student Learning.” The research was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the American Museum of Natural History. It was in this project that she truly discovered a passion for helping students use science to understand the world around them.
After a role as a research associate with Policy Studies Associates, Dibner joined NASEM in 2015 as a senior program officer. She has served as the director of the Collaborative for Advancing Science Teaching and Learning (CASTL-K12) within NASEM full-time since November 2023.
“I’m proud of being a Spartan,” Dibner said. “My MSU education is invaluable and makes me extraordinarily qualified for various professional roles.”
About CASTL-K12
CASTL-K12 holds bi-annual meetings for the collaborative to learn from and with one another, while also learning from experts and stakeholders. As the Collaborative continues, they will develop coordinated action plans, produce research publications and ultimately disseminate practices, resources, tools, research and lessons learned for use in K–12 schools and districts across the United States.