1. Michael Heinz, Science Coordinator NJDOE Science Homepage
Science Assessment
Michael Heinz, Science Coordinator
Office of Academics
NJDOE Science Homepage

2. Shifts in the NJSLS-Science
All Standards, All Students
Explaining Phenomena or Designing Solutions
Relevance and Authenticity
Three Dimensional Learning Experiences
Integrating the Three Dimensions for Instruction and Assessment
Student Ideas
Building on Students’ Prior Knowledge
The New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science bring significant changes to teaching, learning, and assessment. I am going to begin this afternoon by talking briefly about the shifts that are essential if students are to be proficient in science.
There are six major shifts that we look for in science learning environments.
All Standards, All Students: This shift has two implications, one is that all students are provided learning opportunities with all three dimensions of the standards across life, physical and Earth and space sciences. In order to accomplish this, students need adequate time, resources and access to a teacher who has a rich understanding of the science that they are teaching. This shift also speaks to curriculum needing to be accessible to all students. The include, but are not limited to economically disadvantaged students, English language learners, students with learning challenges, and gifted and talented. 
Explaining Phenomena or Designing Solutions: The lessons and units focus on supporting students to make sense of engaging and authentic phenomena or to design solutions to a real-world problem. Phenomena and real-world problems are the anchors for the learning experiences. Student learning across all three dimensions of the science standards occurs during these sense making opportunities.
Three Dimensional Learning Experiences: The lessons/units help students develop and use multiple grade-appropriate elements of the science and engineering practices (SEP), disciplinary core ideas (DCI), and crosscutting concepts (CCC), which are deliberately selected to aid student sense-making of phenomena or designing of solutions. Each of the dimensions of the standards follow unique learning progressions. Attending to what is grade appropriate across all three dimensions is fundamental to an effective learning opportunity.
Integrating the Three Dimensions for Instruction and Assessment: The units require students to use the SEPs, DCIs, and CCCs in an integrated way as they make sense of phenomena or to design solutions to a problem. These learning tasks elicit student artifacts that show direct, observable evidence of three-dimensional learning. Formative Assessment can take place simultaneously with the student learning.
Relevance and Authenticity: The lessons/units take advantage of student questions and prior experiences in the context of the students’ home, neighborhood, and community as appropriate as a way to make the sense-making or problem solving engaging. We use relevant and authentic phenomena and problems as a way to motivate students to do the work necessary and to provide multiple entry points for English language learners, students with special needs, students from poverty, and gifted and talented.
Student Ideas: The lessons/units provide consistent and safe opportunities for productive students discourse. The culture and learning experiences require students to express, clarify, justify, interpret, and represent their ideas (i.e., making thinking visible) and to respond to peer and teacher feedback.
Building on Students’ Prior Knowledge: The lessons/units identify and build on students’ prior learning in all three dimensions in a way that is explicit to both the teacher and the students. Teachers should be identifying what students learned about a disciplinary core idea previously and where they are going next. There are several resources available on the NJDOE Science website. The Compilation documents for Life, Earth and Space, and Physical Sciences organize information from the Framework for K-12 Science Education, the NJSLS-S, Storylines, and Evidence Statements into three volumes. The Matrices of the three dimensions provide summaries of the progressions of the SEPs, DCIs, and CCCs. Then there are the NGSS Appendixes E, F, and G, which also describe the learning progressions across all three dimensions.

3. All Standards, All Students
Science standards are organized by Life Sciences, Physical Science, and Earth and Space Sciences
Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2012) and
NJSLS-S, NGSS Lead States, 2013
Misunderstood Administrative Code
Curriculum and Instruction 6A:8-3.1
Graduation Requirements 6A:8-5.1

4. Resources
Model Science Curriculum Framework
3 year model
4 year model
NGSS Accelerated Course Pathways (grades 6-12)
AP Essential Knowledge and Practices
NGSS Example Bundles
2016 Science Framework (California, pre-publication)
Science College Board Standards for College Success (College Board, 2009)

5. Credit: American Association of Physics Teachers, 2017

6. Credit: American Association of Physics Teachers, 2017

7. Grouping of Science Practices into Investigating, Sense-making, and Critiquing
This graphic is from ​Instructional Leadership for Science Practices (ILSP). ILSP is a NSF project at Boston College. We have linked to their resources on the department’s science Professional Development webpage.
Pedagogies that are built around Investigating, Sense-making and Critiquing are effective. 

8. Gathering, Reasoning, and Communicating
This graphic organizer comes from a book titled “A Vision and Plan for Science Teaching and Learning” by Moulding, Bybee, and Paulson.
It illustrates how to organize the practices around Gathering, Reasoning, and Communicating.

9. Why change the high school science assessment?
The Framework and the NJSLS-S shift learning targets from learning about science topics, examples, and formulas to students being able to explain how or why a phenomenon occurs.
Explanatory models of phenomenon require proficiency with multiple Performance Expectations, often across science domains.
Curriculum and learning opportunities need to be anchored by phenomena rather than organized by topics.
A comprehensive exam promotes a more balanced high school curriculum.

10. Practice Tests and Information about the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments for Science.
Answer the physical science questions and be prepared to describe the characteristics of them as a whole.

11. State Board of Education soliciting comments regarding the shift from science assessment being given at the end of grade four to five at Deadline is April 9, 2018.
Comments about sample science assessments should be sent to
Questions about science assessments should be directed to John Boczany at
Questions about science curriculum and instruction should be directed to Michael Heinz at