Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards (2014) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 11-24
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From page 11... ...
: that all students -- not just those who intend to pursue science beyond high school -- will learn core scientific ideas in increasing depth over multiple years of schooling. It calls for an approach to education that closely mirrors the way that science is practiced and applied, and it focuses on the cumulative learning opportunities needed to ensure that (National Research Council, 2012a, p.
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From page 12... ...
. The framework discusses ways in which some student groups have been excluded from science and the need to better link science instruction to diverse stu dents' interests and experiences.1 1See Chapter 11 of the framework (National Research Council, 2012a)
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From page 13... ...
. They have pointed out specific challenges -- for example, that many teachers who are responsible for science have not been provided with the knowledge and skills required to teach in the discipline they are teaching or in science education2 -- and the lack of adequate instructional time and adequate space and equipment for investigation and experimentation in many schools (OECD, 2011; National Research Council, 2005)
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From page 14... ...
These newer models of how stu dents learn science are increasingly dominant in the science education community, but feasible means of widely implementing changes in teacher practice that capitalize on these ideas have been emerging only gradually. The new framework builds on influential documents about science education for K-12 students, including the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996)
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From page 15... ...
The NGSS team also worked to coordinate the new science standards with new Common Core State Standards in English language arts and mathematics so that intellectual links among the disciplines can be emphasized in instruction. Preliminary drafts were available in May 2012, January 2013, and the final version of the NGSS was released in April 2013.
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From page 16... ...
New kinds of science assessments are needed to support the new vision and understanding of students' science learning. Developing an assessment program that meets these new goals presents complex conceptual, technical, and practical challenges, including cost and effi ciency, obtaining reliable results from new assessment types, and developing complex tasks that are equitable for students across a wide range of demographic characteristics.
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From page 17... ...
This committee's charge required a somewhat unusual approach. Most National Research Council committees rely primarily on syntheses of the research literature in areas related to their charge as the basis for their conclusions and recommendations.
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From page 18... ...
Based on these survey data, we identified states that made use of any types of open-ended questions, performance tasks, or technology enhancements and followed up with the science specialists in those states: Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Utah. 18 Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards
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From page 19... ...
GUIDE TO THE REPORT Throughout the report the committee offers examples of assessment tasks that embody our approach and demonstrate what we think will be needed to measure science learning as described in the framework and the NGSS. Because the final version of the NGSS was not available until we had nearly completed work on this report, none of the examples was specifically aligned with the NGSS per formance expectations.
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From page 20... ...
have macroscopic Planning and carrying structures that allow out investigations for growth Analyzing and LS1.B Growth and interpreting data development of organisms: Organisms Using mathematics have unique and diverse life cycles Constructing explanations Engaging in argument from evidence Communicating information 4 Behavior of Air PS1: Matter and its Developing and using Energy and matter: Middle (Chapter 4) interactions models flows, cycles, and school conservation.
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From page 21... ...
Analyzing and Patterns interpreting data Using mathematics and computational thinking Constructing explanations 10 Sinking and PS2: Motion and Obtaining, evaluating, Cause and effect Grade 2 Floating stability and communicating (Chapter 5) information Stability and change Asking questions Planning and carrying out investigations Analyzing and interpreting data Engaging in argument from evidence 11 Plate Tectonics ESS2: Earth's systems Developing and using Patterns Middle (Chapter 5)
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From page 22... ...
The report begins, in Chapter 2, with an examination of what the new science framework and the NGSS require of assessments. The NGSS and framework emphasize that science learning involves the active engagement of scientific and engineering practices in the context of disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts -- a type of learn ing that we refer to as "three-dimensional learning." The first of our example assessment tasks appears in this chapter to demonstrate what three-dimensional learning involves and how it might be assessed.
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From page 23... ...
Those challenges include the central one of accurately assessing the science learning of all students, particularly while substantial change is under way. The equity issues that are part of this challenge are addressed in Chapter 7 and elsewhere in the report.
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