Science and Engineering Practices
Assessment Task Models
for High School Science

Introduction

Participating in scientific practices helps students grasp how scientific knowledge is created and appreciate the various methods used to study and explain the natural world. Similarly, engaging in engineering practices helps students understand what engineers do and the connection between engineering and science. This involvement also aids in comprehending key concepts and ideas in both fields, making their knowledge more significant and integrated into their perspective. Actively doing science or engineering can spark curiosity, maintain interest, and encourage further study, while also revealing the creative nature of these fields and their profound impact on the world.

This toolkit serves as a guide for how to use the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Science and Engineering practices for project based learning and/or performance assessments. The Science and Engineering Practices (SEP) are helpful to measure student learning and can be used across all science disciplines. In the toolkit, you will find descriptions of each practice, observable indicators and CRSE elements. If you are an educator looking to focus on priority standards or skills to better measure students progress- this could be a great place to start. All of the practices are interwoven into all science disciplines and can be done from grade 9 to graduation. 

“A focus on practices (in the plural) avoids the mistaken impression that there is one distinctive approach common to all science—a single “scientific method (Framework).” 

All of the information contained in this toolkit come from these main sources:

1. M-Plans

2. Next Gen Science

3. National Academies' Framework for K12 Science Education

How To Use This Tool

As you are developing your curriculum, a unit or an assessment this tool can be used to plan for skill development. Practicing each of the science and engineering practices is essential to developing young scientific minds. In selecting standards for a unit or assessment, use this tool to plan out how and when to assess each of these skills. For each disciplinary content area that is selected for a unit or assessment, science and engineering practices (SEPs) can be measured as well. 

For each of the Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) you will find:

• A description of the practice

• Learning Targets by Graduation

• Strategies to incorporate CRSE

• Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI) that can connect

  • Observable features of this practice (success criteria)

In practice, once you have selected the power standards for your school year/course and mapped them out, teachers should plan to collect a body of evidence for each of the SEPs. For example, in order to know that a student is proficient in any of the practices, they must show understanding in a number of ways and contexts. So in a given course, students may be assessed on each of these SEPs 1-3 times. 

Once the mapping of standards is complete, you can attach each of the SEPs to the units (even several at a time). This way you can collect evidence of student learning for each of the practices throughout the duration of the course. Once those have been incorporated, this tool can be used to create rubrics or ascertain proficiency by utilizing the observable features below. Lastly, when planning instruction, there are suggestions for making each of the SEPs more equitably taught by promoting the five motivation design principles (MDP). This will help make a more culturally responsive classroom.

“The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have introduced multiple new demands on science teachers, centered on the idea of involving students in rigorous and authentic scientific problem solving and sense-making. The Motivation - Planning Lessons to Activate eNgagement in Science (M-PLANS) project aims to help science teachers support students’ motivation and engagement in NGSS-based instruction to foster robust and meaningful science learning. As students develop positive motivational beliefs about science, they may be more likely to develop a sense of identification and belonging with science, leading to long-term interest and empowerment in science learning and careers.” (https://m-plans.org/toolkit) 

The contents of this resource were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.  However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.