Empowering Teachers to See and Support Student Use of Crosscutting Concepts in the Life Sciences

In this project, we are developing strengths-based formative assessment tools to support students’ use of the crosscutting concepts (CCCs) in phenomenon-based science learning. We have used the practice of Developing and Using Models as a window into student use of the CCCs, co-developing instructional supports with participating teachers. We are now connecting these supports to aspects of the formative assessment process (e.g., visualizing success, eliciting evidence of student thinking, providing feedback, and cultivating student self-assessment).