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Explore guides, research papers, policy briefs, and tools to aid decisions on standards and assessments.
Generation STEM: The Four Cs of Next Generation Engineering Standards
This article aligns the “four Cs – collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and communication” from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2004) to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The author advocates that the NGSS lay out a vision of science education that embraces a project-based STEM education connected to these four Cs, as is particularly evident in the NGSS sections on engineering design and science and engineering practices.
This one-page article, originally published through the ASCD Express online publication, provides a succinct overview of the science and engineering practices in the NGSS. The author offers a clear and succinct summary of the engineering standards at grades 3-5, middle school, and high school through the lens of 21st-century skills. It is a brief and free tool for professional development or for a professional learning community holding discussions and clarification on the implementation of the practices in the NGSS.