Instruction should be planned to ensure students explicitly utilize science practices and cross-cutting concepts to develop a deep understanding of the core ideas and to understand the relevance to the concept(s).
Outcome
Students will use science and engineering practices to build their understanding and apply their learning across disciplines.
| Feature | Expanding Implementation | Implementation | Beginning Implementation | No Implementation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2A | Learning is framed by big ideas of science/themes (cross-cutting concepts) in a grade-appropriate manner that would allow students to make sense of phenomena within or across disciplines. Students use cross-cutting concepts to connect more than one science discipline. | Learning is framed by big ideas of science/themes (cross-cutting concepts) but likely would not be explicitly seen by students without teacher prompting or guidance. | Learning may be framed by big ideas of science/themes (cross-cutting concepts) but connections are implicit or very loosely connected. | Learning is not framed by big ideas of science/themes (cross-cutting concepts) and concepts are disconnected from unit to unit. |
| 2B | Students engage in grade-appropriate elements of the scientific and engineering practices to learn about the world around them and solve problems with little prompting and teacher guidance. | Students engage in grade-appropriate elements of the science and engineering practices but their engagement is teacher-directed. | Students engage in the science and engineering practices in service to learning the disciplinary core ideas but engagement does not meet grade level expectations. |
Students use a standard scientific method or are given a set of step-by-step procedures to follow. |
| 2C | Students use elements of the SEPs, CCCs, and DCIs to make sense of given phenomenon/problems and are able to transfer their understanding/skills to explain related phenomenon or design solutions to new, related problems. | Student engagement in making sense of phenomena/designing solutions requires student performances that integrate grade-appropriate elements of the SEPs, CCCs, and DCIs. | Students engage in all three dimensions, but they are incorporated as 3 separate entities. Instructional activities utilize two of the three dimensions (disciplinary core ideas, or science/engineering practices, or cross-cutting concepts). | Students learn the three dimensions in isolation of each other. Instructional activities appear to only utilize one of the three dimensions with student learning centered on facts; content is an end in itself. |
| 2D | Students provide evidence of learning in all three dimensions in a way that allows the teacher to determine and provide feedback related to student progress in each of the dimensions. Classroom assessments align to, look like, and are part of classroom instruction. | Students provide evidence of learning in all three dimensions in a stand-alone assessment event (i.e. test, project). The assessments might utilize scenarios to show application of learning but the majority of the assessment focuses on content with an uneven balance of the other assessed dimensions. | Students provide evidence of learning in one or two of the dimensions in a singular event that is isolated from instruction. Additional assessments such as vocabulary quizzes are utilized during instruction but the results are not used to inform instruction or learning. | Students provide evidence of learning on summative assessments that are predominantly focused on disciplinary core ideas. These assessments often use recall type questions. |
| 2E | Formative assessments are utilized by the teacher in making instructional decisions and students use peer and teacher-provided feedback to revise or extend their oral or written explanations/models/arguments. | Formative assessments are utilized to assist in identifying student misconceptions and progress in more than one dimension and there is an instructional plan for how to move student learning based on the evidence obtained. | Formative assessments are focused on obtaining evidence of students’ understanding of disciplinary core ideas or identifying misconceptions without an instructional plan for how to move student learning based on the evidence obtained. | Formative assessments are not used to guide instruction or learning. |
Feature 2A Resources
STEM Teaching Tools include short courses and instructional tools developed by the University of Washington in collaboration with researchers and educators from across the county. Educators can search for tools focused on various instructional and assessment strategies.
Bozeman Science Videos includes information on and practical strategies for incorporating the practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas in classroom instruction.
Crosscut Symbols - A collection of questions to help students view phenomena through the lens of the crosscutting concepts.
Feature 2B Resources
Practices Resourc in Science and Math (PRISM) - Descriptions, videos and strategies associated with each science and engineering practice and each mathematical practice. The faculty, staff and students from the University of California, Davis and teachers from Dixon Unified School District and Davis Joint Unified School District who developed this site also provide a framework and shifts that incorporate both the SEPs and mathematical practices.
Instructional Leadership for Science Practices - Instructional tools (rubrics and instructional strategies) to promote and measure student engagement in the science and engineering practices. It also has supervision tools and case studies for instructional leaders to use for coaching and mentoring.
PD Playlist: Incorporating Scientific Argumentation into Your Classroom - Promotes argument-based learning in the science classroom.
Feature 2C Resources
Practices Resourc in Science and Math (PRISM) - Descriptions, videos and strategies associated with each science and engineering practice and each mathematical practice. The faculty, staff and students from the University of California, Davis and teachers from Dixon Unified School District and Davis Joint Unified School District who developed this site also provide a framework and shifts that incorporate both the SEPs and mathematical practices.
Instructional Leadership for Science Practices - Instructional tools (rubrics and instructional strategies) to promote and measure student engagement in the science and engineering practices. It also has supervision tools and case studies for instructional leaders to use for coaching and mentoring.
Next Generation Science Storylines has developed a Storyline Design Toolkit that provides a process for unpacking standards and developing a storyline based on the unpacked standards.
Feature 2D Resources
PD Playlist: Incorporating Scientific Argumentation into Your Classroom - Promotes argument-based learning in the science classroom.
Achieve has developed a set of Evidence Statements associated with each standard. These evidence statements describe potential ways students could demonstrate proficiency on the standard. These evidence statements are examples and are not mandated as the only way students can demonstrate proficiency on a standard.
Seeing Students Learn Science is a user-friendly report from the National Academy of Science that includes examples of science assessment formats, ways to embed assessments in classroom activities, and ideas for interpreting and using assessment information.
How to Assess Three-Dimensional Learning in the Classroom: Building Assessment Tasks that Work
How to Develop 3D Formative Assessments for the Science Classroom
Feature 2E Resources
How to Develop 3D Formative Assessments for the Science Classroom
Introduction to Formative Assessment to Support Equitable 3D Instruction
Student Assessment - Describes summative and formative assessments and provides examples of each.
Getting Started with Assessment for Learning (AFL) - Offers information on what it is, the research behind it, and what AFL looks like in practice.
Formative Assessment - Resources supporting formative assessment practices from the Iowa Department of Education.
Created 2018 through the work of M. Sanderman, P. Christensen, K. Kilibarda; Updated 2020 through the work of E. Hall, M. Sanderman, T. Jarrett, S. Nelson, K. Schmidt