The National Research Council (NRC) has released a new report, Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards, that finds that implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) will require new types of assessments. The report states that to assess students’ mastery and integration, a variety of question formats are needed, including questions requiring students to supply an answer; also needed are formative assessments and monitoring assessments.
The report recommends external on-demand assessments as well as classroom-embedded assessments, both of which should be developed using a bottom-up approach. It suggests that states should use information from state-administered tests and classroom-based assessments in addition to information about students’ opportunity to learn in the ways laid out in the NGSS in order to monitor progress in meeting these standards.
The foundation for this report is A Framework for K–12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas, released by the National Research Council in 2011. Several members of the Committee on Developing Assessments of Science Proficiency in K–12, who make up the task force responsible for Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards, are AERA members.