Credit: Alison Yin for EdSource Today

Credit: Alison Yin for EdSource Today

Two years subsequently it adopted a new set of science standards, the California Land Lath of Education is trying to let plenty fourth dimension to all-time phase them in so it avoids some of the pitfalls information technology faced in implementing the Common Core State Standards in math and English language arts.

The Next Generation Science Standards have in many ways been overshadowed past the Common Core , which the land adopted  in 2010 and is at present being implemented in school districts beyond California. Past contrast, the science standards, adopted in 2013, are being introduced more slowly beyond the state.

At its November meeting in Sacramento, the State Lath of Education voted to extend the timeline for finalizing a new science curriculum "framework" from its original projected appointment of Jan 2022 to September or November 2016.

A framework is substantially a blueprint for creating a curriculum based on the new standards that tin be implemented in the classroom. The board is now inviting public comment on the draftscientific discipline framework through January. 19.

Tom Adams, currently the deputy superintendent of the Instruction and Learning Support co-operative ofthe California Section of Education, told the board the complicated process for producing the draft framework took far longer than predictable. The draft at present upwardly for review  is 1,900 pages long, and getting it to this point was a years' long process involving  multiple committees, including the  Science Curriculum Framework and Evaluation Criteria Committee, focus groups and public meetings.

Merely by pushing dorsum the timeline for adopting the framework, the board may now face a dilemma as to whether it should similarly extend the timeline for the adjacent two major phases of implementing the science standards: adopting a list of curriculum materials aligned with the new standards, and developing and administering a science assessment or test to measure how well students are understandingthe new standards. So far, the board has not voted to slow down the timeframe for either of these 2 phases.

Still, at the board's last meeting in Nov, Patricia Rucker, a board member who is a onetime teacher and now a legislative lobbyist for the California Teachers Clan, expressed business that California started testing students on the Common Core math and English language language arts standards concluding leap before many teachers had fully implemented a new Mutual Core-aligned curriculum or received acceptable training in it.  "The angst we are feeling about those test scores ," she said, "is related to the fact that we didn't practise this in the right order."

Rucker cautioned against making the same mistake every bit the state implements the new scientific discipline standards.

State board fellow member Aida Molina, who is an assistant superintendent in the Bakersfield City School District, said teachers are "overwhelmed" and need clear expectations, likewise every bit fourth dimension to adapt to the new science standards. "We make errors when we rush and practice non get the very best materials we demand," she said.

She agreed with delaying adoption of the framework. Yet, she encouraged teachers to begin implementing the new standards before the board completes its work.

A twelvemonth agone, the state lath approved an NGSS Implementation Plan  calling for it to prefer a listing of recommended K-eight science instructional materials in 2017.  Simultaneously, the state volition exist developing a science assessment. The current goal is to administer a "field test" of new science assessments to students in the spring of 2018, and the actual test in the spring of 2019.

Just at its last board coming together, Keric Ashley, deputy superintendent for the District, School and Innovation Branch of the California Department of Education, said board members shouldn't feel "tied" to this timeline regarding the new science assessments. "We do want to make certain that materials and instruction are in place," Ashley said. "We practise have a lot to discuss in terms of the type of cess it'due south going to be … It would be better to practise it right. If that means taking a footling longer, so that's what we ought to practise."

Teachers who are trying to get a "caput start" on the new scientific discipline standards may demand more fourth dimension to implement them well, said Bruce Holaday, another fellow member of the country board. "I have been in classrooms recently with an NGSS­-aligned curricular unit," he said. "And teachers are struggling."

Board member Trish Williams, who is i of two board liaisons for implementation of the science standards, said she agreed with the need to delay the completion of the curriculum framework, but she hoped "it doesn't negatively impact" the timeline for instructional materials and testing. "There'due south this balancing act that we demand to notice," she said.

State Board of Education President Michael Kirst also worried virtually pushing back the borderline for administering new science assessments beyond 2019. He quipped that could mean it would be "the adjacent generation" before students would learn science guided past the new standards.

Casting some uncertainty on the implementation schedule is the Every Educatee Succeeds Act signed Th past President Barack Obama. The new law replaces the No Child Left Behind Act, known equally NCLB.

NCLB required the state to administer a scientific discipline exam or assessment to students once in elementary, eye and high school. The new constabulary, which goes into effect in the 2017-18 school yr, has the same requirement.

In the absence of a newscientific discipline assessment, California has continued to administrate its old California Standards Tests for science to students in the v th , viii th and 10 th grades. Those tests are aligned with the 2004science standards rather than the new ones, creating confusion amidst some teachers as to what or how to teach their students to best prepare them for the tests.

The Educational Testing Service, or ETS, is under contract with the land to continue administering the current California Standards Tests until a new science assessment is developed.

"More than flexibility could be provided through the new Every Student Succeeds Act now under consideration," Kirst said in an email to EdSource earlier the new law was corroborate by Congress. "And equally we learn more, nosotros can determine our side by side steps in the transition from the quondam scientific discipline test to a new Next Generation Scientific discipline Standards-aligned assessment."

In the meantime, he encouraged local districts "to begin implementation now" of the standards and urged teachers to use the draft scien ce framew ork releas ed Nov. 17 as a resource. "We recognize the time required to build capacity among teachers and students for these new science standards," he said.

Williams likewise pointed out at the land board meeting that districts "accept the option to find materials without waiting for the states" to adopt a recommended list of texts.

"I know that we're all anxious," said board member Molina, who was just selected to exist one of 2 teaching directors for the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, a new state agency formed in office to help support struggling schools.  "But we have not stopped teaching and learning because there are no materials."

The State Board expects to talk over testing in more detail in March.

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