NSF Award
1316691
This is a three-day conference designed to support the development and use of K-12 formative and summative assessments aligned with the Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2012). The focal point of the conference is to build a shared understanding of the instructional and assessment shifts required by this framework, the types of student classroom and assessment work that yields evidence of student competence, and the key considerations in the development of engaging, responsive, and broadly accessible resources. <br/><br/>The conference hosts two integrated events: (1) an Invitational Research Symposium on Science Assessment with assessment and science education specilaists to analyze challenging constructs within the new science education framework from a measurement perspective; and (2) a State Collaboratives on Assessment and Student Standards working session with states' representatives to develop deep understanding of the most challenging and cutting-edge learning goals embedded in the framework. To achieve its purpose, Educational Testing Service joins efforts with the Council of Chief State School Officers, the Council of State Science Supervisors, and the Alliance for Excellent Education. <br/><br/>The conference outcomes are (1) a set of newly conceptualized science tasks (from state science specialists) aligned with the vision of the new science education framework for science proficiency; and (2) a set of templates, tools, and processes that state teams can use in their jurisdictions (a) to conduct capacity-building sessions, and (b) to ensure that resources address the hard-to-measure constructs articulated in the new science education framework.
