Massachusetts’ Revision of the Science & Technology/Engineering(STE) Standards

Overview and updateMid-May, 2012

Agenda

Background and context

Anticipated shifts in revised STE

standards

Overview of draft NGSS

Initial planning for implementation of

revised STE standards

STE-related policiesMassachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Background and Context

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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MA Revision

State Review Panel (started 2009) Charged with guiding STE standards

revision Phase I: Recommended changes Progress report (January 2011) Phase II: Drafting state revision

http://www.doe.mass.edu/omste/review.html

NGSS

Delayed state process to join development of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Collaborative effort of 26 states Key organizations: Achieve, NRC, NSTA, CSSS First draft available for review now (to June 1) Second draft available for review fall, 2012 Final standards expected ~spring 2013

www.nextgenscience.org

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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NGSS Lead States (26)

www.nextgenscience.org

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/Standards_Framework_Homepage.html

A Two Stage Process

Anticipated Shifts in Revised STE Standards

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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

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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

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MA STE Strand Maps: another representation of standards

http://www.doe.mass.edu/omste/maps/default.html

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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

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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

Integration of Practices & Content

Scientific Inquiry Engineering DesignAsk a question Define a problem

Obtain, evaluate and communicate technical information

Obtain, evaluate and communicate technical information

Plan investigations Plan designs and tests

Develop and use models Develop and use models

Design and conduct tests of experiments or models

Design and conduct tests of prototypes or models

Analyze and interpret data Analyze and interpret data

Use mathematics and computational thinking

Use mathematics and computational thinking

Construct explanations using evidence Design solutions using evidence

Engage in argument using evidence Engage in argument using evidence

Adapted from A Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2011)

Thinking Analytically: Common Practices

Practices of science and engineering very similar, with slight differences in purpose and product

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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)

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Inclusion 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 integrates engineering Engineering design highlighted Integrates engineering core ideas and cross-

cutting concepts with traditional sciences

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STE Career and College ReadinessUnder 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

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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

Overview of Draft NGSS

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Dimensions of the FrameworkThe Framework establishes three

dimensions for science learning:

1. Scientific and Engineering Practices2. Crosscutting Concepts3. Disciplinary Core Ideas

NGSS Architecture

Integration of practices,

crosscutting concepts, and core

ideas.

Science and engineering require both knowledge and practice. Science is not just a body of knowledge that reflects current understanding of the world; it is also a set of practices used to establish, extend, and refine that knowledge.

When students actively engage in science practices they deepen their understanding of core science ideas.

Past science standards have treated the dimensions of science as separate and distinct entities leading to preferential or differential treatment in instruction and assessment.

Scientific & Engineering Practices

1. Asking questions (science) and defining problems (engineering)

2. Developing and using models 3. Planning and carrying out investigations 4. Analyzing and interpreting data 5. Using mathematics and computational thinking 6. Constructing explanations (science) and

designing solutions (engineering) 7. Engaging in argument from evidence 8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating

information

Scientific & Engineering Practices

Crosscutting Concepts Crosscutting concepts are concepts that

cross disciplinary boundaries and contribute to the sense making that leads to students valuing and using science and engineering practices

Many of the concepts cross other areas of the curriculum Language arts (e.g., cause and effect,

structure) Math (e.g., patterns, scale and proportion) social studies (e.g., cause and effect, structure

and function, systems)

1. Patterns2. Cause and effect3. Scale, proportion, and quantity 4. Systems and system models 5. Energy and matter6. Structure and function 7. Stability and change

Crosscutting Concepts

Disciplinary Core Ideas The Framework describes science content

essential to understanding natural and designed phenomena.

The ideas are generally of a large grain size and tend to focus on specific aspect for making sense of phenomena.

“Matter of any type can be subdivided into particles that are too small to see, but even then the matter still exists and can be detected by other means (e.g., by weighing or by its effects on other objects).” 5th Grade - Grade Band Endpoint Physical Science

Framework 5-3

Disciplinary Core IdeasSpecifically, a core idea for K-12 science instruction should:

1. Be a key organizing principle of a discipline or have broad importance across multiple sciences or engineering.

2. Provide a key tool for understanding or investigating complex ideas and solving problems.

3. Be connected to societal or personal concerns that require scientific or technological knowledge or relate to the interests and life experiences of students.

4. Be teachable and learnable over multiple grades at increasing levels of depth and sophistication.

Framework 2-6

Disciplinary Core Ideas

Physical Sciences PS 1: Matter and its interactions PS 2: Motion and stability: Forces and interactions PS 3: Energy PS 4: Waves and their applications in technologies for information

transfer Life Sciences LS 1: From molecules to organisms: Structures and processes LS 2: Ecosystems: Interactions, energy, and dynamics LS 3: Heredity: Inheritance and variation of traits LS 4: Biological Evolution: Unity and diversity Earth and Space Sciences ESS 1: Earth’s place in the universe ESS 2: Earth’s systems ESS 3: Earth and human activity Engineering, Technology, and the Applications of Science ETS 1: Engineering design ETS 2: Links among engineering, technology, science, and society

How to Read the NGSS Performance Expectations (the

standards) Foundations Boxes (from the NRC

Framework) With coding (letters and/or color)

Connections Boxes

Presentations: Search by topic Search by individual performance

expectation Filtered by dimension or feature (grade-span,

practices, core idea, etc.)

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Please Provide Input! To access the draft NGSS and survey:

www.nextgenscience.org

Review what you can Please provide feedback on broad

structure as well as specific performance expectations

A summary of MA feedback will be returned to MA ESE

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Stay Involved! Public drafts of Next Generation Science

Standards (May, 2012; ~ fall 2012)

Final version of NGSS (~ early 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 2013)

Final STE standards adopted (~ late spring 2013)

Dissemination & implementation (~ 2013-2015)

MCAS Assessment Development Committees (every year)

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MA STE Standards Revision Timeline

Action Anticipated Timeline

Recruit review panelists Completed March 2009

Solicit input to initial public survey Completed April 2009

Phase 1: Review panel meetings (develop broad recommendations for changes; direction setting)

Completed October 2009

Phase 1: Regional focus groups on progress report (see documents below) Completed December 2009

Phase 1: Progress report presented to the Board Completed January 2011

Phase 2: Review panel meetings (revising standards) March 2010-ongoing

Phase 3: Interface with other states, Achieve and other science education organizations to develop Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

March 2011- ~December 2012

Phase 3: Coordinate and solicit public input to NGSS drafts (2) May 2012 & ~ fall 2012

Phase 4: Review panel reviews NGSS and state draft; makes recommendation for revised standards

~ Spring 2013

Phase 4: Public comment draft of revised standards presented to the BESE ~ Spring 2013

Phase 4: Public comment and editing of the draft revised standards ~Spring 2013

Final draft of standards presented to BESE ~ Summer 2013

Dissemination of standards; district curriculum adjustment and implementation; MCAS updated

~ Summer 2013- ~ Spring 2015

Initial Planning for Implementation of Revised STE Standards

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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

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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)

STE-Related Policies

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

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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.htmlMassachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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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

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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

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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

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Thank you!Questions, Comments,

Contributions:mathsciencetech@doe.mass.edu

Jake Foster781-338-3510

jfoster@doe.mass.edu

Joyce Bowen781-338-3540

jbowen@doe.mass.edu