Academic Benchmarks Preparation for NGSS

• Over the last several months, Academic Benchmarks has collected early NGSS drafts and attended numerous webinars to learn about the standard's structure, rollout, and implementation plans.

• Academic Benchmarks attended the NSTA Conference in San Antonio, Texas days after the NGSS release to speak with and learn from experts, providers, and educators about their perspectives on the new standards.

• Since the April 9 release of the NGSS, members of the Academic Benchmarks Data Operations, Product Development, Client Services, and Client Support teams have coordinated the effective collection of these multi-faceted standards.

• Going forward, Academic Benchmarks intends to monitor and maintain the NGSS to enable our clients optimal usage of the standard within their products and for quality content alignment.  

Relationship between NGSS and Common Core

While sharing a similar goal to offer all states a single standard of high expectations for students in a core subject, the NGSS do not fall under the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) umbrella. The NGSS will follow its own state adoption process and implementation planning. From the roll out and accompanying materials, the NGSS organizers demonstrate a respect for the Common Core experiences and its impact over the past three years. In fact, a "Common Core Connections" section will be incorporated in an upcoming future NGSS update.

NGSS Document Structure

As currently presented, the NGSS consists of the following existing and planned sections:

• Performance Expectations

• Scientific and Engineering Practices

• Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI)

• Cross-Cutting Concepts

• Common Core Connections

Academic Benchmarks will continue to track all NGSS developments and anticipated future revisions. Release Notes describing how the various sections are represented will accompany the standards data provided by Academic Benchmarks. For other related NGSS information, please visit the dedicated NGSS section on the AB website.

Anticipated Academic Benchmarks Timeline for NGSS Deliverables

April 22 (Today) - NGSS "Performance Expectations" are ready for distribution to AB clients. In addition, the published NGSS "By Topic" and "By DCI" organizations are available to clients who license the standards data.

April 26 - DCI and Common Core Connections are scheduled to be published by Achieve. Academic Benchmarks begins the collection and mapping process.

Week of May 6 - Performance Expectations prepared for alignment within the AB Alignment System and by the AB Client Services teams.

Ongoing - AB continues to study NGSS and desired client uses to maximize flexibility and comparison across the standard's sections.

NGSS Data and Fees

Academic Benchmarks intends to provide our clients all parts of the NGSS as they are made available. Based on our experience with standards data and the breadth of needs from our diverse client base, our team anticipates a number of NGSS delivery combinations to emerge. Due to the staggered rollout and increased demands on the data structures, Academic Benchmarks will apply a $500 annual subscription fee to the NGSS data. This fee covers all updates which pertain to the named NGSS sections listed above and to the version intended for national use. While we are not aware of any plans by states or other entities to make updates, additions, modifications to the NGSS at this time, those changes would not be included as part of the annual fee.

How You Can Participate

Academic Benchmarks is looking for client input into the desired delivery and application of the NGSS. We want to hear from our clients about the various combinations they envision using the new science standards, what portions are likely to influence their product development, and how their own customers view the NGSS. If you are interested in joining an informal AB advisory group on the NGSS, please contact AB Client Support.

What's Next

• If you are interested in purchasing the NGSS standards in a flexible digital format for convenient use within your systems and products, please contact AB Client Support.
• Track standards-related news and information - Follow Academic Benchmarks on Twitter @acadbenchmarks or @commoncorner.
• Stay tuned for additional updates on the NGSS and the Common Core from Academic Benchmarks coming soon.