Assessment

This paper introduces an approach for designing NGSS-aligned assessments that measure young learners’ science progress while also attending to the scientific language and literacy practices that are integral parts of the NGSS Performance Expectations.

This paper introduces an approach for designing NGSS-aligned assessments that measure young learners’ science progress while also attending to the scientific language and literacy practices that are integral parts of the NGSS Performance Expectations.

This article presents a tool and discusses the rationale for the authors’ development of a tool designed to assess the alignment of culturally responsive schooling principles within schools serving predominantly U.S. Indigenous students. Schools that serve a majority of Indigenous students are generally located on or bordering Native Nations that are federally recognized as being sovereign Nations with a government-to-government relationship to the federal government, so the more generic diversity, equity, and inclusion tools that currently exist are insufficient for the unique contexts of schools in Indian Country. Thus, we offer a tool that can be used to identify and strengthen the integration of culturally responsive principles specifically for, with, and in Indigenous-serving schools.

Estimating and monitoring the construct-irrelevant variance (CIV) is of significant importance to validity, especially for constructed response assessments with rich contextualized information. To examine CIV in contextualized constructed response assessments, we developed a framework including a model accounting for CIV and a measurement that could differentiate the CIV.

Assessment tasks intended to support teaching and learning in classrooms that are enacting NGSS-aligned instruction, and to gain insights into grades 3-8 students’ progress in building proficiency with NGSS performance expectations (PEs). The tasks are designed to increase access and engagement for students with a range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, linguistic abilities, and learning differences.  The tasks include web-based tools to integrate computational models, which students can manipulate to explore phenomena, to generate data for a scientific argument, or to carry out an experiment. Teachers can select tasks to use with their students and assign them to be completed individually, in small groups, or during whole class instruction. As students complete the assessment tasks online, teachers can monitor student progress in real-time. The assessment portal links scoring rubrics to tasks to help teachers understand and evaluate which aspects of student work show progress toward mastery of the targeted 3-D integrated knowledge. Using these rubrics, teachers can provide online feedback to individual students.

Assessment tasks intended to support teaching and learning in classrooms that are enacting NGSS-aligned instruction, and to gain insights into grades 3-8 students’ progress in building proficiency with NGSS performance expectations (PEs). The tasks are designed to increase access and engagement for students with a range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, linguistic abilities, and learning differences.  The tasks include web-based tools to integrate computational models, which students can manipulate to explore phenomena, to generate data for a scientific argument, or to carry out an experiment. Teachers can select tasks to use with their students and assign them to be completed individually, in small groups, or during whole class instruction. As students complete the assessment tasks online, teachers can monitor student progress in real-time. The assessment portal links scoring rubrics to tasks to help teachers understand and evaluate which aspects of student work show progress toward mastery of the targeted 3-D integrated knowledge. Using these rubrics, teachers can provide online feedback to individual students.

Assessment tasks intended to support teaching and learning in classrooms that are enacting NGSS-aligned instruction, and to gain insights into grades 3-8 students’ progress in building proficiency with NGSS performance expectations (PEs). The tasks are designed to increase access and engagement for students with a range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, linguistic abilities, and learning differences.  The tasks include web-based tools to integrate computational models, which students can manipulate to explore phenomena, to generate data for a scientific argument, or to carry out an experiment. Teachers can select tasks to use with their students and assign them to be completed individually, in small groups, or during whole class instruction. As students complete the assessment tasks online, teachers can monitor student progress in real-time. The assessment portal links scoring rubrics to tasks to help teachers understand and evaluate which aspects of student work show progress toward mastery of the targeted 3-D integrated knowledge. Using these rubrics, teachers can provide online feedback to individual students.

DiALoG stands for Diagnosing the Argumentation Levels of Groups. It is designed for teachers to formatively assess the quality of evidence-based arguments and to guide the selection of instructional responses designed to Improve the quality of students’ arguments. DiALoG assesses two important aspects of group argumentation – how well students construct their own evidence-based arguments (the INTRApersonal) and how well students are able to reconcile differences with others to co-construct meaning (the INTERpersonal). The DiALoG system includes the DiALoG tool itself, along with the accompanying Responsive Mini Lessons (RMLs) and User Guides (UGs).

DiALoG stands for Diagnosing the Argumentation Levels of Groups. It is designed for teachers to formatively assess the quality of evidence-based arguments and to guide the selection of instructional responses designed to Improve the quality of students’ arguments. DiALoG assesses two important aspects of group argumentation – how well students construct their own evidence-based arguments (the INTRApersonal) and how well students are able to reconcile differences with others to co-construct meaning (the INTERpersonal). The DiALoG system includes the DiALoG tool itself, along with the accompanying Responsive Mini Lessons (RMLs) and User Guides (UGs).

This web-based portal offers free, technology-enhanced science assessment tasks for Grades 3-5. Designed for use by educators, researchers, and the public, the tasks are aligned to the NGSS performance expectations and have been developed with elementary teachers.