Developing NGSS Aligned Performance Based Tasks – A State’s Perspective

Building Capacity for State Science Education ConferenceJune 20, 2014Denver, Colorado

Peter J. McLarenScience and Technology SpecialistRhode Island Department of Education

Council of State Science Supervisors

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• The NRC Science Framework & NGSS have proposed descriptions of student competence as being the intersection of knowledge involving: o important science and engineering practices o core disciplinary ideas, o and crosscutting concepts witho performance expectations representing the intersection of the three.

• Both the Framework and the NGSS view competence as something that develops over time & increases in sophistication and power as the product of coherent curriculum & instruction  

New Definition of Competence

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Four key elements of the Framework’s vision that will likely require significant change in most science classrooms

1. A focus on developing students’ understanding of a limited set of core ideas in the disciplines and a set of crosscutting concepts that connects them

2. Emphasis on how the core ideas develop over time as students’ progress through the K-12 system and how students make connection between ideas from different disciplines

3. A definition of learning as engagement in the use of scientific and engineering practices to develop, investigate, and use scientific knowledge; and

4. An assertion that science and engineering learning for all students will require providing the requisite resources and more inclusive and motivating approaches to instruction and assessment, with specific attention to the needs of disadvantaged students

WDTFS (What Does the Framework Say)

Assessment Purposes

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An Effective Assessment System Should Include a Variety of Types of Internal and External Assessments

Internal Assessments• Also known as classroom

assessment• Given during or closely

following an instructional activity

• May include teacher interactions, observations, student products resulting directly from ongoing instruction, quizzes closely tied to instructional activities

External Assessments• Designed by districts,

states, countries, or international bodies

• Used to audit or monitor learning

• More distant in time from instruction

• May be based upon content and skills defined in state and national standards but they do not reflect the specific content covered in any particular classroom

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• Formativeo Occur during course of instructiono Identify students’ strengths and weaknesseso Assist educators in planning subsequent instructiono Assist students in guiding their own learning by evaluating

and revisiing their own worko Foster students sense of autonomy and responsibility for

their learningAndrade and Cizek, 2010

Assessment Purposes

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• Summativeo May be administered at the end of a unit of instructiono Designed to provide evidence of achievemento Used in decision making (assigning grades, promotion or

retention, classifying test takers according to defined performance categories such as “basic, “proficient” and “advanced”

Andrade and Cizek, 2010

Assessment Purposes

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Chapter 4 - Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards

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• Measuring the three-dimensional science learning called for in the framework and the NGSS requires assessment tasks that examine students’ performance of scientific and engineering practices in the context of disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts

• To adequately cover the three dimensions, assessment tasks will generally need to contain multiple components (e.g.; a set of interrelated questions)

• It may be useful to focus on individual practices, core ideas, or crosscutting concepts in the various components of inferences about students’ three-dimensional science learning as described in a given performance expectation

• The NGSS require that assessment tasks be designed so that they can accurately locate students along a sequence of progressively more complex understandings of a core idea and successfully more sophisticated applications of practices and crosscutting concepts. (Conclusion 2-2; NRC)

Characteristics of NGSS-Aligned Assessments

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• Multiple components that reflect the connected use of different scientific practices in the context of interconnected disciplinary ideas and crosscutting concepts

• Reflect progressive nature of learning by providing information about where students fall on a continuum between expected and ending points in a given unit or grade; and

• An interpretive system for evaluating a range of student products that is specific enough to be useful for helping teachers understand the range of student responses and that provides tools to help them decide on the next steps of instruction.

Conclusion 4-1 Tasks designed to assess the PEs in the NGSS will need to have the following characteristics:

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1. Use multiple practices in developing a particular core idea2. Apply each practice in the context of multiple core ideas3. Effective use of practices often require that they be used

in concert with one another (support explanation with argument, use mathematics with data)

Conclusion 4-2 To develop the skills and dispositions to use SEPs needed to further their learning and to solve problems, students need to:

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• These tasks provide evidence that informs teachers and students of the strengths and weaknesses of a student’s current understanding

• The tasks can guide further instruction (formative) and student learning and can also be used to evaluate students’ learning (summative)

Conclusion 4-3 It is possible to design assessment tasks and scoring rubrics that assess three-dimensional science learning

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• Teachers will need extensive professional development to successfully incorporate this type of assessment into their practice

Conclusion 4-4 Assessments of three-dimensional learning are challenging to design, implement, and properly interpret

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What Are We Trying To Do In Rhode Island?

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• Designed as a program to respond to the needs expressed around standards-based curriculum, instruction, and assessment statewide

• Building a Strong Foundation (BSF) began as the Mathematics Science Partnerships (MSP) Grant with cohorts in mathematics and in science,

• expanded through use of Race to the Top funds. • It seeks to increase instructional coherence at all levels of

the system by aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessment to each other and to the state standards

• 8 districtsProject Goal• Develop more rigorous science curricula aligned with

challenging Next Generation Science Standards

Building a Strong Foundation

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• The primary purpose of the interim assessments is for instructional planning and monitoring purposes. 

• developed under the Race to the Top initiative• will enable districts, schools, and teachers to use and create

locally managed interim assessments • Item bank of MC, CR, SA and Performance Tasks in grade 3 -

12. • delivered primarily online,• provide rapid turnaround of student results, so that instruction

can be changed in real time

Rhode Island Interim Assessments

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• Everything gets built from the standard(s) out• Students participating in the performance task should not see

this as an assessment…they should see it as part of their instruction.

• One task per grade (3-12)Goals:1. Provide example of how the NGSS can be assessed three-

dimensionally2. Provide a model for development at the state and classroom

levels

Overall Performance Task Design – Keep It Simple!

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RIIA Performance Tasks

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• Select tasks from the Units of Study from BSF work• Identify driving questions from the Unit of Study

• Utilize the concepts identified within the driving question of the Unit of Study to build the student PT.

• Build task in three parts (formative, formative, summative)• All tasks will have summative assessment as the culminating portion The task as a whole should provide a scaffolding towards the summative

with the prior components of the task providing the teacher formative assessment opportunities.

Build from the standard out

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ExampleModeling Chemical Compounds(7th Grade Performance Task)

MS-PS1-1. Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on developing models of molecules that vary in complexity. Examples of simple molecules could include ammonia and methanol. Examples of extended structures could include sodium chloride or diamonds. Examples of molecular-level models could include drawings, 3D ball and stick structures, or computer representations showing different molecules with different types of atoms.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include valence electrons and bonding energy, discussing the ionic nature of subunits of complex structures, or a complete depiction of all individual atoms in a complex molecule or extended structure.]

Driving question 1 (from Grade 7 Unit 1 – Structure and Properties of Matter)

How can models be used to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures?Concepts Practices

Substances are made from different types of atoms.- Atoms are the basic units of matter

Substances combine with one another in various ways. -Molecules are two or more atoms joined together

Atoms form molecules that range in size from two to thousands of atoms.-Molecules can be simple or very complex

Solids may be formed from molecules, or they may be extended structures with repeating subunits (e.g., crystals).

Solids may be formed from molecules, or they may be extended structures with repeating subunits (e.g., crystals).-Repeating subunits form patterns -Diamonds and sodium chloride are composed of repeating subunits

Develop a model of a simple molecule

Use model of the simple molecule to describe the atomic composition

Develop a model of an extended structure

Use model of the extended structure to describe the repeating subunits

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• Part 1: Engagement - Students will use the process of evaporation to separate an impure substance (salt water) into its pure components (salt and water). Students will study the atomic structures of the components of salt water by using chemical formulas to construct and sketch their molecular models.

• Part 2: Investigation - Student will continue to investigate the molecular structure of other compounds by sketching and making additional models based on their structural formulas. They will examine the process of crystallization by evaporation through the use of a process model to illustrate how salt crystals form and grow. Students will then create a second model that shows how salt crystals can grow.

• Part 3: Application: Students will review and analyze the information in Parts 1 and 2 to construct an explanation for the following question:Describe how atomic models were developed to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and their crystalline structures?

Task is presented in three parts:

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• The goal of the TG is to provide guidance for the teacher but not a scripted approach.

• We want support the teacher in the task administration but not limit their natural interaction in terms of instruction with students.

Teacher Guidance Document

Table of ContentsIntroduction XXOverview XXBackground from the Framework for K-12 Science Education (Framework) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS):(i) Framework: XX(a) Disciplinary Core Idea XX(b) Progression for Practice XX(c) Crosscutting Concepts XX(ii) Targeted Next Generation Science Standards:Performance Expectations XX(iii) Common Core State Standards Connections XX(vi) Associated K-12 NECAP Assessment Target XX

The Performance Task:(i) Task Description XX(ii) Time Allotment XX(iii) Key Vocabulary XX

Teacher Guidance in Task Administration:(i) Part 1: Engagement XX(ii) Part 2: Investigation XXAppendices:Appendix A: Scoring Guides XXAppendix B: Word Bank XXAppendix C: Comprehensive Task Materials Checklist XX

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• TG is basically be a copy of the student PT but in a separate cell the pertinent guidance at each stage of the PT.

• For every PT the TG would have:o background from the framework o DCI progressions, SEPs, CCCs, and PEs as standard opening pages within

each TG. o TG for the PT as a two-celled document with the student PT detailed the left

column as the student would see it and in the right column have correlated and direct guidance for the teacher (as shown in the example above).

Teacher Guidance Document

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Teacher Guidance Document

What the Students Will Do What the Teacher Will DoIn this area will be the student PT This would be copy and

paste of what the student “sees” in their performance task

In this area the teacher guidance to implement the student PT is noted side-by-side so the teacher will have an awareness of: Formative question probes to

administer Prompts to distribute

materials (i.e. worksheets, equipment, etc.)

Suggestions of what to look for in terms of student understanding and/or misconceptions

Note: The summative component of the task would have rubrics for the teacher to score the student work with exemplars.

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Let’s Look At The Task

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• Do not assume that assessment developers understand the NGSS

• Designing a performance task is a very time consuming process

• Never forget your experience as a teacher• Considerations for equity (materials, access, etc.)• Allow freedom for teacher innovation

Lessons Learned from our Experience

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Discussion

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• Building A Strong Foundationo http://www.ride.ri.gov/InstructionAssessment/InstructionalRe

sources/BuildingaStrongFoundation.aspx• Charles A. Dana Center

o http://www.utdanacenter.org/ o User: Rhodeo Pass: Island

• Peter McLareno Peter.mclaren@ride.ri.govo 401-222-8454

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