What does it take to prepare students to live in a world dominated by science and technology? How do we create the next generation of problem solvers that need both knowledge critical thinking skills to solve real world issues?  

These are not just issues about which only secondary science teachers need to worry. In fact, Iowa is one of 26 lead states that have worked to develop new standards for science for grades K-12. Working with Achieve, Inc. and a large group of national science organizations, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provide a framework to help students learn the content and practices of science and engineering.  

Since the standards were finalized this spring, five states - Maryland, Kansas, Kentucky, Rhode Island, and Vermont - have officially adopted the standards, and California has a recommendation pending.  

At this time, the NGSS are not officially adopted by Iowa, but intentions are to stick to the 2014 deadline. An NGSS Task Force has been initiated by the Iowa Department of Education.  Approximately twenty representatives from across the state will be meeting this fall to review the Next Generation Science Standards in order to make a recommendation to the State Board of Education yet this year.  

In addition to content changes, assessments will need to be modified. Teachers will have to generate assessments that fit the NGSS performance standards. Assessments cannot measure only memorization of facts. They should be assessing all levels of understanding including critical thinking. The NGSS include performance expectations and assessment suggestions for all content areas.  For example, middle school students will be expected to develop a model of an atom to assess their understanding of atoms and molecules.  High school students might be asked to evaluate data on climate change.  Both model making and data analysis are skills that are not assessed through the standard pencil-and-paper format.  Standardized tests that do not measure higher level thinking skills will not be adequate assessments of student learning. Policy makers looking for accountability measures of student learning will have to broaden their understanding of what it means to know science.

Some teachers will need to modify instructional techniques. What is critical to learning science under the NGSS is having student do the work of scientists. This does not mean that they learn the steps to the scientific method and repeat them on a test. Instead, they should take data, formulate hypotheses, test, make conclusions, and analyze sources of experimental error.  Instructional practices are suggested for every standard.  First-grade students learning about sound will need the opportunity to explore vibrating objects, plan investigations to determine transparency of objects, and build communication devices using waves, such as a "string telephone." While practices like these have always been critical to learning science, the NGSS put these expectations up front by combining content, instruction, and assessment into one package.  The National Science Teachers Association has useful guides and webinars to help teachers understand the Standards.  We must be cautious of publishers who claim to have the curriculum materials developed and ready to sell.  One publisher did state, "The baton has been passed to the teachers to determine how to achieve the new standards."  

Adoption of new standards will impact school districts in additional ways. Professional development needs will change as the Next Generation Science Standards are adopted or adapted.  

Teachers will need to familiarize themselves with the standards and will need time to adapt their current curriculum and instruction. This is no easy task since the standards are presented in tables with multiple color codes and more abbreviations than a person can absorb in one sitting.  

Support for the teachers' learning will need to be provided by the school districts with assistance from their AEAs. The state may want to consider the formation of peer support teams, which could be of great help in this effort. Networks linking teacher, administrators, engineers, and scientists would help with implementation. 

Resources needed for experimentation, construction, and modeling will need to be located. Here again, a statewide database would enable teachers to locate or share resources.  

Teacher evaluation will need to be modified, and evaluators trained so that best practices for science pedagogy are recognized.

Teachers and administrators that plan for these changes will ease transitional fears. Teachers already comfortable with their practices and their personally crafted curriculum maps will not necessarily welcome the change.  

To facilitate change, Achieve, Inc. has an implementation plan that can be used to make the transition when the time comes. Although this is designed for state-level planning, it is an excellent outline for districts to use also. Achieve, Inc. has also produced model course outlines for middle and high school as well as strategies to address the needs of diverse learners. 

There are still issues that need to be attended to by both Achieve, Inc. and the state. First and foremost is clarifying the timeline for adoption and implementation.

Secondly, while the emphasis on engineering paves the way for a producing a squadron of problem solvers, other emphases such as the connection of science to art, music, and history are ignored.  

In addition, important to most educators are the specifics,  For instance, how do you help a third grader "use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment?"

Achieve, Inc. expressly states that the NGSS are standards and not curriculum, but teachers will want more help with this regardless. While the standards purport to take students to deeper levels of understanding, the disciplinary core ideas are few and somewhat narrow and may be misconstrued by teachers as all they need to teach.  

Both administrators and teachers should read through the standards and start forming questions. As always, advocacy is the strongest way to make sure that policy reflects the best interest of the students. Contacting and collaborating with the AEAs, the Department of Education, legislators, and colleagues are essential as the NGSS are adapted for use by Iowa schools.   

The unprecedented pace of scientific research and innovation in technology in recent decades forces us to look at science education with new lenses. Students not only learn differently, they need to integrate and apply what they learn. The presence of crosscutting themes, content applications, and the processes of science along with core knowledge makes the standards different for teachers in Iowa. Although many effective science teachers are already doing this type of work, it will soon be the standard for curriculum, instruction, and assessment for grades K-12. We encourage all educators to read the Next Generation Science Standards and start thinking about the impact they will have on their school and students.

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