Jill Grace

Overview

Jill Grace leads the K–12 Alliance, a WestEd Science and Engineering Project, and directs the design and coordination of programs for science educators throughout all levels of the education system. Her areas of expertise include development and implementation of educator leadership programs, curricula, and instructional and assessment practices. that establish equitable access for every student. 

Grace has experience in supporting large communities of science leaders from all levels of the educational system. She has extensive experience in consulting with school systems and science education leaders across states to help advance science education and the implementation of framework-based science standards over the past decade. She is currently the professional learning lead for two National Science Foundation DRK-12 grants and leads state and district contracts supporting the implementation of Framework-based science standards. She is an executive committee member for the CA NGSS Collaborative; a steering committee member for the California Math, Science, and Computer Science Partnership and statewide community of practice, and a steering committee member and coordinator of the California field test of OpenSciEd. 

Grace spent the early part of her career as an informal science educator, a role in which she developed a lifelong passion for science education. As a former elementary science specialist, middle school science teacher, and university lecturer, Grace has always been committed to centering and empowering all learners by strengthening and innovating transformative science teaching, learning, and leadership. 

Education

• MS in science education, California State University, Long Beach 
• Single Subject Biology Credential, California State University, Long Beach 
• BS in marine biology, California State University, Long Beach 

Select Publications

Grace, J., & Wertheim, J. (2024, March 20-23). Science notebooks as tools for guiding instruction around students’ ideas [Paper presentation]. National Science Teaching Association Conference, Denver, CO, United States. 

Gomez Zwiep, S., Nilsen, K., Grace, J., Buck Bracey, Z., & Iveland, A. (2024, March March 20-23)). Teachers’ attention to student interest in selecting anchoring phenomena in an environmental justice project [Paper presentation]. National Association of Research in Science Teaching Conference, Denver, CO, United States. 

Grace, J., & DiRanna, K. (2022, October 13). Creating a plan for NGSS implementation [Paper presentation]. CASE Science Leaders Pre-Conference, California Science Education Conference, Palm Springs, CA, United States. 

Grace, J., & Peach, C. (Eds.). (2021). Climate science [Special edition]. California Journal of Science Education, 11(1). https://journal.cascience.org/index.php 

Gomez Zwiep, S., & Grace, J. (2020, January 4). Investigating teacher concerns related to climate change and the effect of a climate summit professional development program [Paper presentation, ASTE Strand]. 2020 Hawai‘i International Conference on Education, Honolulu, HI, United States. 

Goldstein, S., Sawko, J., Grace, J., Vargas, C., Vandergon, V., Nemeckova-Fairfield, A., Metcalf, S., Bakshi, L., & Orlinski, J. (2019). Equitable access to science education in California. California Science Teachers Association. 

Ramanathan, V., Suárez-Orozco, M., Grenot-Scheyer, M., Uy, F., Arum, R., Cowe, K., Grace, J., Murchison, B., Ney, C., & Schell, E. (2019). Achieving climate stability and environment sustainability: PK–12 education as part of the solution for bending the curve (L. Leveen, Ed.). UC–CSU Environmental and Climate Change Literacy Project and Summit Steering Committee; UCLA. 

Grace, J., Reade, F., & Simani, M. (2019, December 8). Establishing systems that lead to high quality professional learning [Paper presentation]. Building Leaders in Math and Science Implementation Pre-Conference, California STEAM Symposium, Anaheim, CA, United States. 

Bintz, J., Curtis-Bey, L., Freitag, E., Grace, J., Jackson, K., Marks, C., & Price-Baugh, R. (2019, January 9). Role of support organizations [Panel]. Realizing the Vision: NGSS District Implementation, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, United States. 

Murchison, B., Grace, J., Nath, S., Schneider, D., Murphy-Shaw, M., & Chang, R. (2018, November 8). Update on the implementation of the California Next Generation Science Standards [Paper presentation]. State Board of Education Meeting, Sacramento, CA, United States.  

Grace, J. (2017, July 21). Using anchoring phenomena to engage all children in science [Paper presentation]. National Congress on Science Education, Buffalo, NY, United States. 

Honors, Awards, and Affiliations

Served on the Board of Directors for the California Association of Science Educators for 8 years, including as Past President (2019-2021), President, (2017–2019), President-Elect (2015–2017), and Middle School Director (2013–2015) 

California State Finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching—2015 

Continuing Service Award from the Palos Verdes Intermediate PTA—May 2013  

National Science Teachers Association Shell Science Teaching Award, Semi-Finalist—April 2012   

Ocean Science Leadership Award for Formal Teaching Excellence, awarded by USC QuikSCience and COSEE-West—March 2009  

Recent Media Appearances

• Why aren’t all California elementary school students learning science?, Los Angeles Times, August 3, 2024 
• Toward Equity in Science, California Educator, October 2012