In this session, Tom Keller from the National Research Council will update participants on the process and progress of the science conceptual framework and the plan for development of next-generation science education standards. How this effort is similar to and different from the Common Core State Standards initiative in Mathematics and English Language Arts will be made clear. Timelines for each phase of this undertaking will be described, and there will be opportunity for questions and answers.

One thread of the CADRE Algebra SIG discussion has focused on obstacles to student success in elementary algebra. For example, proficiency in numerical calculations with integers and rational numbers is often raised as a prerequisite for success in algebra; yet many students who have these skills still find algebra difficult. The panel will discuss other potential ingredients to success in high school algebra that are often short-changed in school mathematics and school culture.

A group of NSF grantees, all of whom have conducted research or development in partnership with schools and school districts, worked together during 2010 to share and capture their experiences. In this session, members of the working group on Partnerships with Schools and School Districts for Knowledge Use will discuss benefits, challenges, and strategies associated with partnerships between STEM education R&D projects and schools and districts.

The topic of this session will be the exploration of alternative approaches to designing diagnostic assessments in STEM learning. The discussion will concentrate on the full range of methodological decisions involved in drawing on current knowledge of student thinking on key ideas and transforming it into assessment strategies based on underlying models of how knowledge develops over time.

How should science curriculum developers respond to the changing technological landscape in school and out?

This session will showcase and solicit feedback on a prototype online learning community designed to facilitate collaboration between teachers and scientists. A team of scientists and education researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute developed the learning community as part of the Investigations in Cyber-enabled Education (ICE) Program, a DR K–12 program. The unique learning community is the central component of an online course for secondary teachers.

How can tools for teachers foster high-leverage classroom discourse and assessment practices?

This session will critically examine conjectured Early Algebra Learning Progressions for grades 3–8 for coherence, alignment, and completeness.

The presenters of this session seek feedback on the design and feasibility of an interactive, Web-based  curriculum environment that aims to support responsive teaching and elementary students' science inquiry. Session participants will explore and discuss a beta version of an interactive, Web-based,  curriculum environment designed to facilitate responsive teaching and students’ science inquiry.