Center for Standards, Assessment, and Accountability

Subject Area: Science

English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and Lives

From the website: “English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and Lives examines the research on English learners (ELs) learning, teaching, and assessment in STEM subjects and provides guidance on how to improve learning outcomes in STEM for these students. This report considers the complex social and academic use of language delineated in the new […]

Engineering in K-12 Education: Understanding the Status and Improving the Prospects

This book resource is a report written by the Committee on K-12 Engineering Education, chaired by Dr. Linda P. B. Katehi. The report will be useful to advocates for greater public understanding of engineering, as well as to those working to boost citizens’ technological and scientific literacy. Educational researchers and cognitive scientists will also find […]

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Interactive Computer Tasks (ICTs)

In 2009, NAEP administered two types of innovative science assessments: Hands-on Tasks (HOTs) and Interactive Computer Tasks (ICTs). The released tasks include samples of innovative item types and innovative evidence types to demonstrate how hard-to-measure constructs, similar to what are called for in the NGSS, were addressed. Interactive computer tasks (ICTs) required students to solve scientific problems […]

Supporting the Implementation of NGSS through Research: Engineering

This resource is a brief that brings to light the challenges and opportunities that K-12 teachers, school leaders, policymakers, and teacher educators have in ensuring that the NGSS for the representation of engineering is considered by understanding the entire document. The authors emphasize that it is important to note that different aspects of engineering are […]

Supporting the Implementation of NGSS through Research: Professional Development

This resource is a position statement and paper from the National Association for Research on Science Teaching. The authors emphasize that much has been learned in the last several years about effective science instruction, including the importance of paying attention to student thinking throughout instruction, providing opportunities to delve deeply into substantive scientific ideas, and […]

Supporting the Implementation of NGSS through Research: Assessment

From the authors: “The NGSS [Next Generation Science Standards] identify three dimensions essential for providing students with a quality science education: science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts across domains of science, and disciplinary core ideas. Integrating these dimensions provides a meaningful context for science content and practices – how science knowledge is acquired and understood through conceptual […]