Still have some basic questions about the Next Generation Science Standards? You’re not alone. Many teachers and schools around the country are still trying to figure out what the new standards are all about and how they’ll change teaching and learning.
And with some states, including Illinois, planning to roll out tests aligned to the new standards as soon as this spring, understanding them is now more critical than ever.
Our EdWeek Video team recently sat down with David Evans, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, and asked him some questions about how the standards were developed, what makes them different from previous standards, and whether teachers are ready for the changes ahead.
“Adopting new standards is not like putting on a fresh shirt,” he says at one point. “This is a real process and it’s going to take a while to do it. It’s going to take a while for instruction and it’s going to take a while for assessment.”
(View the story in the video below, and then click on each of the nine questions to hear Evans’ explanations.)
The interview was part of a larger reporting project the EdWeek Video team did about Wyoming schools that are already implementing the Next Generation standards (even though the state has not yet adopted them). That piece was featured last month on the PBS NewsHour and is worth a watch as well.
Related stories:
- Next Generation Science Standards: What Do Lessons Look Like?
- Districts Out Ahead of States in Adopting Science Standards