This study focuses on how two school districts managed and changed the "instructional core"--student learning goals, instructional resources and strategies, and assessments--in their required high school biology course as they responded to new state science standards based on the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS).…

Despite the potential of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to positively impact science education, educators require time and support to learn the standards and their implications for science teaching and learning in the classroom. The Hawai'i Department of Education adopted the NGSS in 2016. While schools received professional…

What contributes to science skepticism? Virtually every U.S. high-school student is required to study biology, at minimum, to earn a diploma. But the exact content of the course varies from state to state. This article investigates the role of state standards for high-school science content in shaping knowledge and attitudes about…

Although 20 states have adopted Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), 24 other states have developed their own K-12 science standards based on the same National Research Council (NRC) Framework. Understanding what influences content standards developers, realizing the supports and impediments to implementation they foresee, and knowing their…

Student' achievement in science can be affected by teacher subject matter knowledge, ineffective instructional methods, and lack of student engagement. Although all schools provide professional development opportunities, not all teachers choose to engage in a program that provides teaching and learning through experiential techniques for the…

Science is a great time to focus on language development in the elementary classroom. Participation in science requires that students use language to present claims, engage in argumentation, and partake in science and engineering process skills. Over the years, the authors have noted the importance of vocabulary in students' ability to participate…

Decades of federal and state education legislation enacted to increase student academic achievement and enhance school quality have pronounced impacts on teachers and their instructional practice. That impact is captured in the term intensification. Intensification is multifaceted and manifests as additional tasks accomplished simultaneously, with…

At any point during the school year, a teacher may find out the gap between what students know and need to learn is not large at all. In fact, formative assessment data may show a handful of students already have mastered the content for a specific unit of study. While some learners will achieve grade-level standards at the pace outline by a…

The world is confronted with wicked environmental problems that cannot be well understood or acted upon without addressing their ethical dimensions. Research shows that official science curricula on environmental science and ecology topics are shaped by the scientific discourse and environmental discourses of "ecological modernization"…

Scholars in science education have reported an in increase in scientific literacy due to socioscientific issues (SSI)-based instruction. While several SSI are related to agriculture, such as climate change, whether to eat organic food, land use issues, and the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), literature that connects agricultural…

Since 2013, a majority of states have been working to implement new standards for K-12 science education that are based on the National Research Council's framework for science education and the Next Generation Science Standards. The new science standards emphasize deeper understanding of content in relation to practices and a three-dimensional…

Recent reforms in science education advocate for a vision of learning where students "figure out" science ideas through engagement in science practices. Consequently, there have been significant efforts to engage K-12 students in the science practices. However, less research attention has been given to understand how this…

The study addressed the gap in fifth-grade science proficiency between English language learners (ELLs) enrolled in two different science programs in a large school district in the Southeast United States. The Inspire program was implemented in 125 schools, while a combination of Inspire and Promoting Science among English Language Learners…

Five standards-based science institutes (SI) were conducted between 2005 and 2016 to support improved content knowledge, pedagogy, and pedagogical content knowledge of in-service middle and high school science teachers in the area of biology. The SI were conducted for 90 hours during the summer and academic year. Content covered was related to…

The NGSS Early Implementers Initiative was created to help eight California school districts and two charter management organizations, supported by WestEd's K-12 Alliance, implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Many educational initiatives are funded for only a couple of years. This unique initiative spanned an extraordinary six…