Next Generation Science Standards Are Out!

            After months of waiting, the final draft of the Next Generation Science Standards is available. What this means is that these national standards have been released so that the individual states can chose to adopt or not adopt them. Although it is not mandatory to do so, in the end most states will likely adopt them. Why? In a word: Uniformity. If a student moves from one state to another, there needs to some continuity between what they were learning in their old school and what they will learn in their new school. [I've heard the conspiracy theory about the government wanting to brainwash our children using CC and NGSS and I think it is silly. There are far easier ways to do that using television.]

            Despite what many are saying, there is nothing ground breaking in the new standards. In fact, science students in CA are going to be responsible for learning less than they were before on most topics (except possible climate change). The idea is to go deeper into each concept, which I am all for.

            My only real beef with the standards are the assessments. They have not been created yet, but it is expected that there will be less multiple choice and more writing and possibly Lab Practicals involved. I don’t see how the state of California can afford to do score these types of tests. Multiple choice tests are easy with their bubbled–in forms that can be quickly scanned by computer. But scoring something as subjective as an essay or diagram or expecting the schools to pay for Lab Practical materials does not make good sense.

            So, we wait on pins and needles. The states will spend the next school year creating their own Standards and assessments based on the NGSS. They will ask for public comments (and possibly listen to them). There will be no end-of-course (CST) tests for high school next year in CA and only pilot testing the following year. That should help.