TAPS

New science standards like the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) set ambitious and exciting expectations for all students by changing the very nature of what we want students to know and be able to do in science. With the adoption of better science standards, many educators have been left to grapple with what high-quality and aligned assessments look like in practice--what do we want students to actually be able to

do with their science learning?  In our national work supporting educators and policy makers, the most pressing question from teachers and leaders alike is "what does it look like when students meet rigorous science standards?" This hasn't been an easy question to answer because there haven't been clear examples and models we can collectively point to and say, "this is it!"

Today, we are proud to release a set of tools and resources that have been collaboratively designed to show educators what it looks like to give students tasks that measure three-dimensional science standards. We have annotated examples of classroom tasks that highlight concrete examples of the features of good science assessments; emerging models and guidelines about assessment must-haves, phenomena, equity, sense-making, practices, and crosscutting concepts for educators who want to design their own three-dimensional performance tasks; and tools educators and developers can use to figure out whether tasks they are considering using are really going to provide meaningful feedback to students, their parents and teachers, and policy makers in districts and states. 

We want to thank our partners who have been invaluable in the development of this suite of resources. In the coming weeks, our team looks forward to diving into important takeaways for the field of science education.

In learning,

The Achieve Team

Share the suite of task resources and join our conversation on Twitter! Tell us how these resources change the way you think about three-dimensional teaching, learning, and assessment? Tag us in your response!