Achieve released the first draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for public review Friday afternoon. As we predicted last week, the standards are far more rigorous than what most states are currently implementing. Given that the majority of eighth grade students did not demonstrate proficiency on the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress science exam, raising the rigor of science standards will require a significant amount of work to implement.

Just as our math and English teams did with the Common Core State Standards, the LTF science team is closely reviewing this first draft. So far they have confirmed our initial hunch. The NGSS support what LTF is all about -- letting students experience rigorous, relevant science and make connections within the bigger picture. 

The standards emphasize how science concepts connect vertically between grade levels but also how seven crosscutting concepts thread through all the science domains. 

When the NGSS are finalized later this year, we anticipate that the tools we have already developed will give teachers classroom-ready tools and strategies for incorporating NGSS into their school’s curriculum. LTF science training itself is a hands-on, minds-on experience that engages teachers to find and examine direct, meaningful, and relevant connections, and the NGSS seek the same experiences for students.

 

It’s a big week for science education! The draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) should be out any moment, and I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon poring over the results from the 2011 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) for eighth grade science.

Compared to 2009, middle grades students are making gains and closing achievement gaps, but the majority of students scored below the Proficient cut score.

Other key points:
• Students at all ability levels improved, except for the most advanced.
• Racial/ethnic achievement gaps narrowed. All groups increased scores, but Black and Hispanic students increased scores at higher rate than White students.
• Achievement gaps narrowed between students eligible for the National School Lunch Program and those who not eligible.

Particularly encouraging for our LTF Science Team were the results from the teacher questionnaire included with the 2011 NAEP. The questionnaire allows us to see that students of teachers who reported they used hands-on science activities at least once a week scored five to 14 points higher than students doing fewer hands-on experiments. The same trend existed for students of teachers who reported their students frequently worked in groups.

This reinforces all the work our science team does to maximize the amount of inquiry-based, hands-on learning students can do in a limited amount of class time. One way LTF helps teachers fit in more hands-on experiences is by developing labs that can also teach a concept. For instance, take a look at the hands-on demonstration our science coordinator Jason Walker set up for teaching meiosis.

Another part of the NAEP findings struck us. All groups of students made improvements, except for the most advanced. As teachers are being asked to do more with less, sometimes those students that are doing just fine fall through the cracks. We get it, because we’ve been there. LTF Trainers are current or former teachers and know the constant push and pull. LTF strategies are designed to help teachers differentiate their instruction to push all students to do better, even those at the very top and very bottom. We aren’t saying it is easy, but we have the strategies and support to make it possible.

Check back with us as we start to review the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) after they are released later today. Our hunch is they will encourage teachers to incorporate even more hands-on labs and activities to build conceptual understanding, and the tools we’ve already developed will be a near perfect match.

The moment of truth for Advanced Placement students is here. Over the next two weeks 2 million students will take 3.7 million AP exams to show just how much they absorbed in class this year. 

High school administrators are increasingly turning to Advanced Placement to offer a level of rigor matching that of introductory college courses. Because AP courses conclude with a national, externally-scored exam, students are able to judge their mastery of the material by earning a score of three or above. However, there are still districts where none of the students who take an AP test make a qualifying score.

For these districts it is highly likely they have hastily added AP courses without investing in creating vertically-aligned curriculum that starts with rigorous Pre-AP materials in the middle grades. It is also likely that teachers have not received effective training on how to develop students’ conceptual understanding of materials.

Associated Press Education Reporter Justin Pope wrote in his nationally-distributed article this week  that districts will not reap the benefits of an AP program without first setting up a strong Pre-AP program and training teachers in shifting their teaching paradigms. Pope’s article also highlighted the difference between saying you offer an AP program and actually delivering college-level material.

No doubt AP students’ nerves are running high this week and next during AP testing, but students with LTF-trained teachers are well prepared.  Teachers who have used the vertically-aligned LTF materials and strategies have given their students the tools they need to solve any AP problem. As LTF Trainer and AP Biology Teacher Paul Gutierrez reminds his Pasadena ISD students, “There will be problems for which you have not rehearsed, but for which you are prepared.”

Good luck AP students!

The Brookings Institute was partially right when it released a report in February 2012 concluding the Common Core State Standards will have “little to no impact on student achievement.” Now a new report, also from Brookings, acknowledges the Common Core standards do have a chance of succeeding, but only if they are implemented well.

Even education reformers who normally disagree with the Brookings Institute agree the Brookings researchers have it right this time. Without considering anything else, standards alone will not generate student achievement. But rigorous standards coupled with strong instructional material linked to the standards and effective teachers will strengthen our overall educational system.

In other words, we aren’t done yet. The Common Core State Standards create a unified vision of what students need to learn at each grade level in order to be successful in college. But, creating and adopting the standards are just the first steps towards creating a stronger educational system. Implementing the standards with fidelity also depends on teachers participating in activities that enrich their understanding of how to teach rigorous material to a classroom of students with diverse abilities. And in order to know whether or not the Common Core movement is achieving its goals, we must also measure our progress with carefully designed, quality assessments.

The adoption of CCSS is a step towards creating access to college and career success for all students, but we cannot stop with adoption. Standards alone do not create student achievement. Standards that drive a rich, vertically aligned curriculum that allow teachers to go deeper into topics that really matter to future success are much more likely to succeed.

 

• Level Playing Field reports little progress has been made closing the achievement gap in California since their last report in 2010.  Particularly interesting is that low-income Asian students score higher than high-income African American and Latino students in fifth grade science.

• Standardized methods of calculating high school and postsecondary graduation rates are gradually being implemented. For some schools, like in D.C., the new method makes schools appear to be doing worse than previously thought.

• Common Core assessment consortia PARCC and SMARTER Balance are making conspicuous efforts to ensure assessments measure college readiness.

• Latino students make up more than half of Texas’ K-12 enrollment, but their college graduation rates lag behind their peers Exelencia in Education reports. There is no way to improve the state’s overall college graduation rate without making progress for Latino students.

• As most states are preparing for computer-based Common Core assessments, researchers at The University of Akron find automated essay-scoring software programs are just as reliable as a human scorer.

• Due to irreconcilable differences, the federal panel evaluating teacher education programs could not reach a consensus on how to handle teacher evaluations and the role they should play in determining financial aid eligibility. The ball is now in the U.S. Department of Education’s court. 

• The Texas State Board of Education meets April 18 through 20 to discuss and potentially approve updates to the state’s math standards. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the Texas Association of Business are skeptical of the proposed standards’ quality.

• Complete College America reports thirty percent of students who complete remedial courses do not even attempt credit-bearing entry-level courses.

• While it is common for schools to limit enrollment in AP courses to students who already appear to be headed for success, Mary Ann Rankin* points out that this practice excludes many capable students – particularly those who are underrepresented. Increasing access to AP classes along with appropriate teacher training and mentoring can expand opportunities for all students. *Mary Ann Rankin is the president and CEO of the National Math and Science Imitative, LTF’s parent company.

• Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, all students in Louisiana public schools will be required to take the ACT and the state will cover the test fee. The state also plans to increase the availability of Advanced Placement courses and increase funding to train AP teachers.

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