Key Considerations for Common Science Standards

1. Key Considerations for Common Science Standards Holyoke Community College September, 2012

2. Agenda • Vision for revised STE standards • Anticipated shifts in revised STE standards • Key considerations and decisions for MA • (if time) Implementation planning • (if time) STE-related policies Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

3. Vision for Revised STE Standards Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

4. A 3-Stage Process MA Adoption www.nextgenscience.org www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/Standards_Framework_Homepage.html www.doe.mass.edu/omste/review.html

5. Vision The overarching goal of our framework for K-12 science education is to ensure that by the end of 12th grade, all students have some appreciation of the beauty and wonder of science; possess sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on related issues; are careful consumers of scientific and technological information related to their everyday lives; are able to continue to learn about science outside school; and have the skills to enter careers of their choice, including (but not limited to) careers in science, engineering, and technology. (NRC, p.1)

6. Guiding principles Several guiding principles, drawn from what is known about the nature of learning science, underlie both the structure and the content of the framework: • Children are born investigators • Focus on core ideas and practices • Understanding develops over time

7. Anticipated Shifts in Revised STE Standards

8. Characteristics of any revised STE standards (state and/or NGSS) • Attention to progressions of learning • Integration of practices (inquiry & design skills) with content • Inclusion of Engineering • Career and college readiness perspective • Links to Mathematics & Literacy (ELA) standards

9. Attention to Progressions of Learning • Improve progressions of concepts and skills (vertical alignment) • Base changes on learning progression research as possible www.cpre.org/sites/default/files/researchreport/829_lpsciencerr63.pdf • Pay particular attention to PreK-8 standards to support High School and Career & College Readiness

10. MA STE Strand Maps: another representation of standards http://www.doe.mass.edu/omste/maps/default.html

11. Integration of Practices & Content • Current MA 2001/2006 STE standards: • Strong conceptual (content) focus • Inquiry skills are separate • Design process presented as content • Upcoming revised STE standards: • Integration of science and engineering practices with content to promote analytical thinking and learning in context • Note change from inquiry to practices! • Practices includes both inquiry and design skills • Focuses on just skills students are to learn, not instruction

12. Integration of Practices & Content • Verbs in standards will reflect STE practices • For example, predicting, investigating, designing, or modeling • Practices will be strategically integrated with content • Careful attention given to how a practice contributes to conceptual understanding and vice versa • Framework will include full list of STE practices and emphasize that students should continue to engage in full inquiry and design processes when appropriate

13. Thinking Analytically: Common Practices Practices of science and engineering very similar, with slight differences in purpose and product Adapted from A Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2011)

14. Inclusion of Engineering “Exponential advances in knowledge, instrumentation, communication, and computational capabilities have created mind-boggling possibilities, and students are cutting across traditional disciplinary boundaries in unprecedented ways. Indeed, the distinction between science and engineering in some domains has been blurred to extinction” (Charles Vest, former MIT President, 2006)

15. STE Career and College Readiness Under discussion. Basic state elements likely include: • Breadth of exposure • General knowledge and skills in a range of STE subjects • Depth of experience • Opportunities for in-depth learning, projects, laboratories, designs, field work, etc. • Advanced study: upper-level STE options • Capstone projects • Interest and ability to think analytically • Multiple pathways

16. Links to Math & Literacy • New Mathematics Curriculum Framework • Will allow us to write STE standards that includes more explicit math • New Standards for Literacy in Science & Technical Subjects (in ELA Framework) • Includes key disciplinary literacy skills • Contributes to effective learning of STE

17. A 3-Stage Process – option 2 MA Adoption www.nextgenscience.org www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/Standards_Framework_Homepage.html www.doe.mass.edu/omste/review.html MA STE Review Panel (State Revision Process)

18. Considerations and Decisions for State Adoption

19. 3-dimensional standards? • Current MA standards 1-D • Content focused; cognitive verbs • Draft state standards (review panel) 2-D • Content with practices integrated in some (replacing cognitive verbs in those instances) • Draft NGSS 3-D • Content, practices & cross-cutting concepts in each • Is that doable?

21. Treatment of Engineering? • State revision assumes same structure as current MA 2001/2006 Framework • Equivalent strand for Tech/Eng • Equivalent Tech/Eng high school course • NRC Framework and NGSS treats engineering as “applications of science” • Engineering design the focus • Integrates engineering core ideas into traditional sciences

22. Scope? Structure • Are all the concepts, core ideas and topics in NGSS what we want for all students? • Will high school be articulated as grade span or end-of-course? • What is career and college readiness for science?

23. Is this doable, reasonable? • Is the NGSS something that we can realistically implement in the next 5 or so years? • Does it go beyond the state’s ZPD? • Are their components that MA values that are not represented in NGSS? • Are their components included in NGSS that we feel are ‘nice to have’ rather than ‘all students need to have’?

24. Please Provide Input! • For more information on NGSS: www.nextgenscience.org • Next public draft will be late November • Please provide feedback on broad considerations and issues as well as specific performance expectations Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

25. Stay Involved! • Public drafts of Next Generation Science Standards (May, 2012; ~ Nov, 2012) • Final version of NGSS (~ March 2013) • Discussions of viability of NGSS for MA: consideration of pros and cons (~ early 2013) • Public comment draft of revised standards for Board of Education (~ spring or fall 2013) • Final STE standards adopted (~ fall 2013) • Dissemination & implementation (~ 2013-2015) • MCAS Assessment Development Committees (every year)

26. Initial Planning for Implementation of Revised STE Standards

27. Implementation planning • Intent: • To make available a range of resources to support schools and districts as they implement revised STE standards • Particularly focused on key shifts in revised STE standards • ESE role: • Identify currently available resources • Coordinate organizations to develop needed resources • Enhance access and sharing of resources by all

28. Possible resource categories • Dissemination & Awareness Events • STE Resources • Standards alignment documents • Curriculum, instruction & assessment resources • Tools for data-rich learning • Student learning supports • Observation instruments • STE Professional Development • STE Technical Assistance If you have anything that could help others, please share! (see contacts last slide)

29. STE-Related Policies

30. STE State Assessment • No change in MCAS structure anticipated at this time • Continue to test at grades 5 & 8, end-of-course at high school • Once revised STE standards adopted, will take 2-3 years to revise MCAS • Looking into performance assessments formats and options (through RTTT grant) Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

31. School & District Accountability • NCLB Flexibility Waiver in effect next school year (and for the next 3 years) • Changes how school & district calculations will be made; redefines some subgroups • Includes science in addition to ELA and Math www.doe.mass.edu/apa/titlei/default.html Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

32. Educator Evaluation • Phasing in revised educator evaluation system • 5-step evaluation cycle • Multiple sources of evidence needed www.doe.mass.edu/edeval/ Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

33. Admissions to State Higher Ed • ESE MassCore: “3 units lab-based science” • Which does include any technology/engineering course taken for science credit • www.doe.mass.edu/ccr/masscore/ • DHE Admissions Requirements: “3 sciences (including 2 with laboratory work)” • Working with DHE to be explicit about recognizing technology/engineering courses as science • www.mass.edu/forstudents/admissions/admissionsstandards.asp Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

34. John and Abigail Adams Scholarship • Current: score Advanced on the ELA or Math test and Proficient or higher on the second test; AND have combined scores from both tests that places the student in the top 25% of students in the graduating class in their district • Beginning with the class of 2016: Science and Technology/Engineering (STE) will be added to the Adams Scholarship eligibility criteria www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/adams.html Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education