If you’re a teacher of science and engineering, it’s likely the Next Generation Science Standards are coming your way. 40 states across the U.S. have expressed interest in adopting them, while 16 of those have already begun the implementation process. The NGSS standards provide guidelines for science education from K-12 and are a radical change from existing science standards.

Why do We Need New Standards Now?

For the state-led committee that designed the new NGSS standards, the goal was twofold. First, was to educate all students in science and engineering and, second, was to provide a base of knowledge for the scientists and engineers of the future. The key difference is that the teachers and assignments will show students what they are expected to do versus what they learn — which engages the student at a higher level.

Now more than ever, careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) are in high demand, for two important reasons. First, the existing guidelines haven’t been revised in nearly 15 years and second, we live in a rapidly changing technological and scientific landscape. So a state-led team of educators, scientists, researchers and education policy experts created a two part-process to develop new standards. The first of this two-part process was developing the framework.

What does the Framework Provide?

At its broadest, the framework is meant to outline what science students should know before leaving high school. The framework identifies the key scientific ideas and practices all students should learn by the end of high school. Designed to make science education more closely resemble the way scientists work and think, the framework envisions that students will gradually deepen their understanding of scientific ideas over time by engaging in practices that scientists and engineers actually use.

The framework is contingent on three core principles: Science and Engineering Practices, Cross Cutting Concepts and Disciplinary Core Ideas. Science teachers at all levels will need to be knowledgeable about all three dimensions of the framework and understand what it means to integrate them. The framework is the first step to developing the new science standards, and is also designed to be useful for curriculum and assessment designers, teacher educators, and others who work in K-12 science education.

The framework dictates that the three dimensions should not be taught separately but rather, integrated across the board in standards, assessment, curricula and instruction. For example, students should use the practices – such as conducting investigations and then analyzing and interpreting the data – to learn more about the core ideas.

The framework provides a sound, evidence-based foundation for standards by drawing on current scientific research—including research on the ways students learn science effectively—and identifies the science all K–12 students should know.

Who Developed the Framework?

The team of scientists and educators who created the Next Generation Science Standards came from all over the United States. As the staffing arm of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council, or NRC, was responsible for convening a committee to identify what science all K-12 students should know. The 18 members of the committee included Nobel Prize laureates, cognitive scientists, science policy experts, education researchers, and standards experts. Each was nationally, if not globally renowned in his or her respective field.

About the NGSS Framework

In addition to the committee who created the Next Generation Science Standards, the NRC worked with four education design teams in the fields of physical science, life science, earth/space science, and engineering. In collaboration with the committee, these design teams created K-12 frameworks for each of their respective disciplines.

The team created a Framework using the most current research on science and science learning and released a draft to the public in July of 2010. It outlines what a student in each grade of primary and secondary education should know in the fields of life science, earth science, physical science, and engineering.

In shaping the Framework, the committee took into consideration increasing concerns about globalization, the goal of encouraging STEM careers in the U.S., and science engagement among students. Innovation and invention permeate our modern lives. In an increasingly global landscape, science and technology hold the keys to many of humanity’s most pressing needs and challenges.

Hoping to address the critical issue of the United States’ competitiveness in STEM careers, the Framework was formed to capture the student’s interest both early and throughout their education. By providing students with necessary foundational knowledge across the board, the committee hoped to encourage not only STEM careers but also a lifelong interest in science and technology.

For high school students, the goal is to graduate with sufficient science knowledge to engage publicly on science-related issues, to be thoughtful consumers of scientific information, and to pursue the careers they want.

The Framework helps guide decision-making at the state level by offering an internationally benchmarked basis for creating science curricula. Once the first draft was released, there was a year of comments and feedback from fellow educators, researchers, and the public until a final Framework was released on July 19, 2011. This critical first step was needed to develop the standards themselves, as the Framework provided an internationally and academically vetted outline for what science students should know.

Who created the Next Generation Science Standards? It was up to a coalition of state leaders and education experts to shepherd the development of the NGSS standards themselves. It came down to 26 states, their broad-based teams, a 40-member writing team and partners throughout the country to develop the standards. To ensure that the NGSS standards are consistent with the content and structure of the Framework, the NRC convened a fidelity review at the end of the process.

What are the Three Dimensions of the Framework?

The framework is built on three interrelated “areas of study,” or dimensions. Science and Engineering Practices cover the day-to-day practice and methodologies of science and engineering. The Cross Cutting Concepts are larger ideas that span multiple subjects of science and engineering and help to tie multiple areas of study together. And finally, the Disciplinary Core Ideas are the science and engineering subjects that will be covered by the guidelines.

An important thing to note about the overall approach of the framework is that the focus is on going deep on fewer subjects, rather than touching a lot of content lightly. The idea behind this is that it allows you to engage with the subject in a more rigorous manner to learn the skills that you can take far beyond the classroom.

The three dimensions work together by reinforcing inter-related concepts, giving you a way of organizing and applying your knowledge across a broad spectrum. This interdisciplinary approach represents a shift in traditional science education, which focused more on content delivery across multiple subjects. The new science standards are built on engagement. Teachers will be answering fewer questions, and instead, posing questions to the student in return.

For the NGSS, this core principle expresses the belief that merging the teaching of content with the teaching of practices leads to the application of that material. In short, when you learn by doing, things start to make sense. This allows the student to feel like they truly own the content and are able to apply it to other problems in the future.

The framework preceded the development of the Next Generation Science Standards by providing an overall goal for what a student should know by the time they graduate. Neither the framework nor the standards are meant to be followed as curricula, rather as guidelines for developers and instructors working in science and engineering.

How you incorporate the framework as an instructor is largely up to you, though there is a large amount of support, architecture and guidance is provided by the NGSS as well as the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association). But the most important part about thinking through the framework is, how do the three dimensions overlap? How can you use these purposeful overlaps as a way to bolster and deepen my student’s understanding of the subject? The NGSS standards are meant to be guidelines.

As a teacher, have you ever dreamed of creating your own, more hands-on curriculum? The new science standards offer educators that chance, while still providing a higher standard of science teaching across the board. The NGSS offers course maps for high school, which are fewer end products and more processes for integrating the new standards.

The overall Framework is outlined below:

I. Scientific and Engineering Practices

• Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
• Developing and using models
• Planning and carrying out investigations
• Analyzing and interpreting data
• Using mathematics and computational thinking
• Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
• Engaging in argument from evidence
• Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

II. Cross Cutting Concepts

• Cause and Effect: the idea that one process is responsible for another
• Patterns: a framework for understanding and analyzing repetition
• Systems and System Models: organizing principles
• Similarity and Diversity: commonalities and discrepancies across disciplines
• Scale, Proportion, Quantity: understanding size and growth
• Energy and Matter: the study of physical substance and how things work
• Structure and Function: principles of design and engineering
• Stability and Change: the study of equilibrium and evolution

III. Disciplinary Core Ideas

A. Physical Science

1. Matter and its Interactions
   • Structure and Properties of Matter
   • Chemical Reactions
   • Nuclear Processes
2. Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
   • Forces and Motion
   • Types of Interactions
   • Stability and Instability in Physical Systems
3. Energy
4. Definitions of Energy
   • Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer
   • Relationship Between Energy and Forces
   • Energy in Chemical Processes and Everyday Life
5. Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
6. Wave Properties
   • Electromagnetic Radiation
   • Information Technologies and Instrumentation

B. Life Science

1. From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
   • Structure and Function
   • Growth and Development of Organisms
   • Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
   • Information Processing
2. Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
   • Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
   • Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
   • Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience
   • Social Interactions and Group Behavior
3. Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
   • Inheritance of Traits
   • Variation of Traits
4. Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
   • Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
   • Natural Selection
   • Adaptation
   • Biodiversity and Humans

C. Earth and Space Science

1. Earth’s Place in the Universe
   • The Universe and Its Stars
   • Earth and the Solar System
   • The History of Planet Earth
2. Earth’s Systems
   • Earth Materials and Systems
   • Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions
   • The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
   • Weather and Climate
   • Bio-geology

D. Earth and Human Activity

1. Natural Resources
2. Natural Hazards
3. Human Impacts on Earth Systems
4. Global Climate Change

E. Engineering, Technology, and the Application of Science

1. Engineering Design
   • Defining and Delimiting an Engineering Problem
   • Developing Possible Solutions
   • Optimizing the Design Solution
2. Links Among Engineering, Technology, Science, and Society
   • Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology
   • Influence of Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World

This framework was released as a public draft in 2010, and is now being used as the foundation for the Next Generation Science Standards in a state-led process. The Next Generation Science standards became available when they were completed in April of 2013 and are currently adopted in 16 states. Up to 40 in total are likely to adopt over the next few years.

States can start to implement changes to their systems for professional development and teacher training based on a deep understanding of the Framework, even if their state hasn’t yet adopted the NGSS standards. Using the Framework, educators can already think about ways to align curriculum, instruction, and assessment with this vision. Once the NGSS standards are adopted in their state, the process can transition more easily.

Do you think the framework sets a student up for success? Is there any other concept you would’ve included if you’d been part of the development process? For more on the team behind the framework, check out our piece on who developed the NGSS standards.

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