How Will the Next Gen Science Standards Be Tested?

     I have been wondering for a while how these new national science standards would be tested. The Common Core Standards, for Math and English, are supposed to be tested in more of an essay format and the push seems to be there to do the same thing for science. (I don't know what some people have against multiple choice, but I have never had a problem with them.) Still, the question was there.
    
     I noticed this week that the testing portion would be left up to the individual States. So, CA will write the test for my students based on the new standards. I took a little trip over to the California Department of Education - Testing website. There is nothing new. No mention of new Standards (they aren't official yet, anyway). No mention of their possible approach. No call for teacher input.

     The timeline states we should begin implementing changes next school year and be fully committed to the NGSS by the following year, yet we have no idea how our students will be tested. On top of that, we have to wait for our state (CA in my case) to make that decision. Crazy.

     BTW, looking at the names of the people involved in creating the new science standards, I did not find a single, current high school science teacher. Lots of college professors and a few former high school teachers, but not one current high school science teacher listed as an author. I suppose they will say they consulted, but should we have been involved in the authorship? Wouldn't that have given the standards more credibility?

 If you wanted to know what it was like to fight in the trenches during WW2, would you ask a Vietnam veteran or a WW2 veteran?

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