NextWaveSTEM
Depends
Confidence: Medium
A fit for districts and grant-funded schools wanting turn-key STEM/CTE courses bundled with hardware and teacher training.
New check
Comparison
NextWaveSTEM vs Teaching Resources & Lesson Plans | TPT
NextWaveSTEM lands on Depends, and Teaching Resources & Lesson Plans | TPT lands on Worth it.
Teaching Resources & Lesson Plans | TPT
Worth it
Confidence: Medium
Buy if you're a teacher, tutor, or homeschool parent who wants cheap, ready-made PreK-12 materials . many are free and it's rated 4.8/5.
| Compare | ||
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Worth it |
| Best for | K-12 districts building STEM/CTE pathways | PreK-12 classroom teachers |
| Who it's not for | Teachers wanting one cheap course or single lesson units | Districts needing licensed, uniform curriculum across schools |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.11 | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. |
| Support quality | Free PD and instructor staffing offered; unverified | No support experiences found in sources |
| Public sentiment | Independent customer reviews are scarce . most public reviews are employee ones, and educators on Facebook debate its price versus PLTW.⁷ | Teachers praise TPT as an affordable source of ready-made, educator-created materials, especially new and special-ed teachers. |
| Biggest gotcha | Pricing is quote/PO-only . no budgeting without a sales call⁴ | Lookalike login site exists . only use the real domain. |
Pick NextWaveSTEM when
- K-12 districts building STEM/CTE pathways
- Schools spending Perkins or 21st Century grants
- Schools lacking certified STEM teachers
- Title I / under-resourced schools
When NextWaveSTEM is not a fit
- Teachers wanting one cheap course or single lesson units
- Buyers needing transparent, self-serve pricing
- Districts already committed to PLTW pathways
- Non-US schools . funding alignment is US-grant specific
Pick Teaching Resources & Lesson Plans | TPT when
- PreK-12 classroom teachers
- New and substitute teachers
- Homeschool parents
- Special-ed teachers
When Teaching Resources & Lesson Plans | TPT is not a fit
- Districts needing licensed, uniform curriculum across schools
- Buyers wanting SLAs, admin controls, or procurement paperwork
- Teachers who won't vet outside materials for standards alignment
- Anyone expecting one consistent vendor quality bar . it's an open marketplace
Sources
- NextWaveSTEM homepagenextwavestem.comofficial
- NextWaveSTEM course catalognextwavestem.comofficial
- NextWaveSTEM FAQs / supportnextwavestem.comofficial
- NextWaveSTEM Request P.O.nextwavestem.comofficial
- Perkins grant alignmentnextwavestem.comofficial
- Washtenaw ISD drones pathway case studynextwavestem.comofficial
- NextWaveSTEM Glassdoor reviewsglassdoor.comreview
- NextWaveSTEM Indeed employee reviewsindeed.comreview
- CTE Teachers Facebook: price vs PLTWfacebook.comreview
- NextWaveSTEM Crunchbase profilecrunchbase.comnews
- SDPC student data privacy supplemental infosdpc.a4l.orgsecurity
- D. Stewart STEAM Resource Guide 2026marketing.dstewart.comnews
- TPT homepage . largest PreK-12 marketplaceteacherspayteachers.comofficial
- TPT University . 4M free and priced resourcesteacherspayteachers.comofficial
- TPT Free Resources browseteacherspayteachers.comofficial
- TPT on-sale resourcesteacherspayteachers.comofficial