Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
Adoption and Implementation Workbook
Alissa Peltzman, Achieve, Vice President of State Policy & Implementation Support
February 18, 2014
Challenges of implementation
Implications for adoption
▪ The shifts that the standards will
▪ Before they support adoption,
▪
require in the classroom
The scale and complexity at which
the shifts must take place
– Equipping and motivating
thousands of educators to
change their day-to-day practices
– Ensuring coherence with existing
efforts to implement the
Common Core State Standards or
other College and Career Ready
standards in ELA and Math
▪
policy-makers, educators,
stakeholders, and the public will
want a clear sense that your
system will be able to meet these
challenges
In particular, they will need to
understand your plans and
timeline for adoption and
implementation, before
implementation even begins
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Overview of the Workbook
Critical steps for Adoption and Implementation of the NGSS
Designate a strategic
leadership team,
Review capacity, and
Create a preliminary
timeline
Determine the state’s
role and approach to
implementation
Define your aspiration
Set targets and
trajectories
Evaluate past and
present performance
Develop a stakeholder
engagement strategy
Establish routines and
solve problems
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The workbook contains guidance, exercises, and templates for
teams to use as they work through each step
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The diagnostic tool helps assess readiness
The diagnostic questions are available in the workbook on pages 13-16
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Example: Defining an Aspiration
EXAMPLE: What is an aspiration and why does it matter?
An aspiration is a statement that clearly articulates your big-picture goal for NGSS
implementation
Defining an aspiration will help you:



Build the necessary support and coalition for adoption and implementation
Ensure common focus and priorities across different stakeholder groups
Develop your own deeper understanding of the NGSS – one that will anchor
decisions about strategy and implementation down the road
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A good aspiration will answer five questions
1▪ What are we trying to accomplish for our students and why?
2▪ How will we know that we have done it?
3▪ What is holding us back from getting there?
4▪ Why and how are the NGSS essential to our success?
5▪ How do the NGSS fit into our overall STEM agenda and more broadly the
economic development and growth agenda for our state?
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1 What are we trying to accomplish for our students and why?
There are four common reasons to consider:
The economic imperative
The competition imperative
The equity imperative
The informed citizen imperative
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2 How will we know that we have done it?
Some examples:
In this step, establish specific
goals for science education
in the context of your overall
goals for education in your
state
▪ Increasing course-taking and passage rates
for rigorous science courses at the high
school level
▪ Improving NAEP science proficiency or
proficiency on internationally benchmarked
science assessments (e.g. TIMSS)
A goal translates the vision
defined previously into a
series of specific measures
▪ Increasing proficiency over time on science
assessments aligned to the NGSS
▪ Closing equity gaps between disadvantaged
students and their peers on any of the above
measures
•**See workbook p. 26 for more examples
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3 What is holding us back from getting there?
4 Why and how are the NGSS essential to our
success?
Once you have established your goals, reflect:
▪ What are the greatest areas of weakness in
current practice and instruction?
▪ How will these things stand in the way of
achieving the broad vision you articulated?
▪ The first three questions set up the problem
that NGSS can help solve – this question
makes the solution explicit
▪ This is an opportunity explain, in language
that resonates in your state, why the
conceptual shifts in the NGSS are essential
to improving student achievement
The answers to both questions should be informed by the conceptual shifts:
▪ K-12 science education reflects the real-world interconnections in science
▪ All practices and crosscutting concepts are used to teach core ideas all year
▪ Science concepts build coherently across K-12
▪ The NGSS focus on a deeper understanding and application of content
▪ Science and engineering are integrated in science education from K through 12
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▪ Science standards coordinate with the CCSS in English language arts/literacy and mathematics
5 How do the NGSS fit into our overall STEM agenda and more
broadly the economic development and growth agenda for our
state?
Consider how the NGSS fit into
your state’s broader STEM goals,
including:
▪ K-12 goals
▪ Postsecondary goals
▪ Economic goals
▪ Business-related goals
This step is designed to improve
the coherence of the STEM
agenda across the state
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EXAMPLE Exercise: Articulating your NGSS vision
What
▪ Consider the answers to the five
questions for your state and record
your responses on flipchart paper
– What are we trying to accomplish
for our students and why?
– How will we know that we have
done it?
– What is holding us back from
getting there?
– Why and how are the NGSS
essential to our success?
– How do the NGSS fit into our
overall STEM agenda and more
broadly the economic
development and growth agenda
for our state?
How
▪ In state teams
Materials
▪ Template on
workbook p. 29 or
digital copy
Time
▪ 40
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Group Discussion & Questions
Next Steps
▪ You can download the workbook at:
http://www.achieve.org/publications/ngss-adoption-and-implementationworkbook
▪ Questions about using the workbook or ideas for improving it?
– Alissa Peltzman, apeltzman@achieve.org or 202-419-1573
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