Center for Standards, Assessment, and Accountability

Subject Area: Science

A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas

In A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas, the National Research Council articulates a new approach to K-12 science education and outlines a broad set of rigorous expectations intended to support all students in achieving scientific literacy. It provides guidelines on how to become better prepared to pursue STEM careers. […]

Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards

This resource is based on the vision and principles of the Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas, addressing NGSS-based assessment development practices. The three-dimensional science design and vision in the NGSS require new approaches for science assessment, posing challenges and opportunities for assessment development. To address this need, the Committee […]

Monitoring Progress Toward Successful K-12 STEM Education: A Nation Advancing?

This is the second report by the National Research Council (NRC) on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in K-12 schools. This report follows up on the 2011 report to identify methods for tracking progress toward quality STEM education. The Committee on an Evaluation Framework for Successful K-12 STEM Education, convened by the NRC, developed 14 […]

Successful STEM Education

This website, funded by the National Science Foundation, provides resources and events that highlight promising practices and tools in support of effective STEM education. The information on the website is designed for those involved in K-12 education to take action on creating successful STEM programs: policymakers; school and district decision-makers; local, state, and federal government […]

Field Ecology in a Cultural Context

The authors of this article describe their development of a module that integrates modern ecological theory within an American Indian (AI) cultural framework. In the weeklong field study course in Hot Springs, South Dakota, Lakota Sioux high school students explore woodpecker habitat selection and fire ecology. The article describes the module the authors develop and how […]

Next Generation Science Standards Web Seminar Series – By Grade Level

The National Science Teachers Association Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Web Seminar Series offers to the public archives of webinars done “live” between the spring of 2012 and early 2015. This tool provides support for educators to increase their understanding of the standards and their implementation in the classroom.  The webinars are an opportunity for […]