TiffanyGram, 8/14/14August 15th, 2014 BobGreetings Science Educators!
I hope the start of your school year is going well! I enjoyed seeing and meeting so many of you this summer at the Vision 2020 Conference, the Vision for K-12 Science Education Workshop, the Elementary and Secondary Summer Convenings, and at some of the Math/Science Partnership Summer Workshops. Your commitment to this profession is inspiring!
Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science Update:
I am receiving several questions regarding science standards in the state so I hope to clear up some of the confusion with the following information.
New Standards and Old Assessments:
The Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science (download here) were adopted unanimously by the Oklahoma State Board of Education in March of 2014 and signed into rule by Governor Fallin in June of 2014. However, the state science assessments will not be aligned to these standards until 2016-2017. This will give districts and teachers three years to transition to the new standards.
The state science assessments given at grades 5, 8, and in Biology 1 will continue to be aligned to the PASS standards (download here) in the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years.
The non-state tested grade levels can move forward with transitioning as they choose. Keep in mind there are three years to do so; please don’t think this has to be accomplished before school starts or even by the end of this year. It will take time to make some of these shifts.
The state tested grade levels will need to ensure that students are prepared to take their exams aligned to the PASS (2011) standards in school years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. However, efforts towards transitioning to the new standards can begin at these grade levels.
Getting Familiar with the New Standards:
At the Vision 2020 Conference this summer I shared a few simple steps to help districts and teachers get started with the new Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science. I’ve tried to provide a version of that presentation here for you if you were unable to attend. See pages 6-7 of the OAS-Science for guidance on the structure of the standards and link to the video that provides further explanation.
As you walk through the following steps you may want to print the attached document and pull up a copy of the OAS-Science for the grade level or course that you teach.
1. Begin by getting comfortable with the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science and the 3 Dimensions integrated into the standards
• Keep in mind there is one standard/performance expectation on each of the standards document pages in the OAS-Science. It is in the far right column.
• Consider the performance expectation/standard to be the end goal representing what students should be able to do to demonstrate their understanding of a Disciplinary Core Idea through a science or engineering practice and a crosscutting concept.
• However, the instruction to get students to meet that goal is up to the teacher or district.
• Assisting students in meeting the performance expectation, which includes a science and engineering practice, crosscutting concept, and disciplinary core idea means having students:
★ Explore the component core ideas (outlined in the green column in the standards document) by
★ Engaging in the science and engineering practices (outlined in blue column in the standards document) and by
★ Experiencing the crosscutting concepts (outlined in the orange row in the standards document)
• Learn more about the 3 Dimensions in A K-12 Framework for Science Education (free download). While the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science do not include all aspects of the recommendations provided in the frameworks document, they do include the science and engineering practice, crosscutting concepts, and several of the disciplinary core ideas)
2. Determine which Disciplinary Core Ideas are similar or different from the science content outlined in PASS at the grade level or course you teach.
• The Disciplinary Core Ideas represent the broad categories of science content incorporated into the K-12 OAS-Science. (See attached document for an overview of the Disciplinary Core Ideas)
• Each Disciplinary Core Idea is further broken down into a component core idea (bolded headings in the green column of the standards document) and then concepts (bulleted statements in the green column of the standards document).
3. Begin to align or redesign your curriculum to align to the new Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science.
• Start small by looking at one lesson or unit of study. It may be easiest to begin with a lesson or unit of study that has students exploring a Disciplinary Core Idea from OAS-Science that also aligns to a content standard from PASS (as determined from step 2 above).
• As you analyze the lesson or unit of study ask yourself the following questions:
★ Does the lesson or unit of study help students gain all of the bulleted concepts in the green column in the standards document?
• If the lesson or unit of study doesn’t cover all of the bulleted concepts, is there another lesson or unit of study that would help students engage in learning the remaining bullets?
★ Does the lesson or unit of study have students engaging in any of the 8 science and engineering practices or the 7 crosscutting concepts?
• If the lesson or unit of study doesn’t engage students in the practices or the crosscutting concepts, how could you modify the lesson or unit of study to engage students in the practices or the crosscutting concepts?
Hopefully, these three steps allow you to begin becoming acquainted with the new Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science. To provide districts and teachers with transition support throughout the school year the State Department of Education will be conducting Science Standards Workshops around the state and develop a series of PD on Your Plan Modules that districts and teachers can utilize at their convenience.
I hope the start of your school year is going well! I enjoyed seeing and meeting so many of you this summer at the Vision 2020 Conference, the Vision for K-12 Science Education Workshop, the Elementary and Secondary Summer Convenings, and at some of the Math/Science Partnership Summer Workshops. Your commitment to this profession is inspiring!
Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science Update:
I am receiving several questions regarding science standards in the state so I hope to clear up some of the confusion with the following information.
New Standards and Old Assessments:
The Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science (download here) were adopted unanimously by the Oklahoma State Board of Education in March of 2014 and signed into rule by Governor Fallin in June of 2014. However, the state science assessments will not be aligned to these standards until 2016-2017. This will give districts and teachers three years to transition to the new standards.
The state science assessments given at grades 5, 8, and in Biology 1 will continue to be aligned to the PASS standards (download here) in the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years.
The non-state tested grade levels can move forward with transitioning as they choose. Keep in mind there are three years to do so; please don’t think this has to be accomplished before school starts or even by the end of this year. It will take time to make some of these shifts.
The state tested grade levels will need to ensure that students are prepared to take their exams aligned to the PASS (2011) standards in school years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. However, efforts towards transitioning to the new standards can begin at these grade levels.
Getting Familiar with the New Standards:
At the Vision 2020 Conference this summer I shared a few simple steps to help districts and teachers get started with the new Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science. I’ve tried to provide a version of that presentation here for you if you were unable to attend. See pages 6-7 of the OAS-Science for guidance on the structure of the standards and link to the video that provides further explanation.
As you walk through the following steps you may want to print the attached document and pull up a copy of the OAS-Science for the grade level or course that you teach.
1. Begin by getting comfortable with the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science and the 3 Dimensions integrated into the standards
- Dimension 1: Science and Engineering Practices
- Dimension 2: Crosscutting Concepts
- Dimension 3: Disciplinary Core Ideas
• Keep in mind there is one standard/performance expectation on each of the standards document pages in the OAS-Science. It is in the far right column.
• Consider the performance expectation/standard to be the end goal representing what students should be able to do to demonstrate their understanding of a Disciplinary Core Idea through a science or engineering practice and a crosscutting concept.
• However, the instruction to get students to meet that goal is up to the teacher or district.
• Assisting students in meeting the performance expectation, which includes a science and engineering practice, crosscutting concept, and disciplinary core idea means having students:
★ Explore the component core ideas (outlined in the green column in the standards document) by
★ Engaging in the science and engineering practices (outlined in blue column in the standards document) and by
★ Experiencing the crosscutting concepts (outlined in the orange row in the standards document)
• Learn more about the 3 Dimensions in A K-12 Framework for Science Education (free download). While the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science do not include all aspects of the recommendations provided in the frameworks document, they do include the science and engineering practice, crosscutting concepts, and several of the disciplinary core ideas)
2. Determine which Disciplinary Core Ideas are similar or different from the science content outlined in PASS at the grade level or course you teach.
• The Disciplinary Core Ideas represent the broad categories of science content incorporated into the K-12 OAS-Science. (See attached document for an overview of the Disciplinary Core Ideas)
• Each Disciplinary Core Idea is further broken down into a component core idea (bolded headings in the green column of the standards document) and then concepts (bulleted statements in the green column of the standards document).
3. Begin to align or redesign your curriculum to align to the new Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science.
• Start small by looking at one lesson or unit of study. It may be easiest to begin with a lesson or unit of study that has students exploring a Disciplinary Core Idea from OAS-Science that also aligns to a content standard from PASS (as determined from step 2 above).
• As you analyze the lesson or unit of study ask yourself the following questions:
★ Does the lesson or unit of study help students gain all of the bulleted concepts in the green column in the standards document?
• If the lesson or unit of study doesn’t cover all of the bulleted concepts, is there another lesson or unit of study that would help students engage in learning the remaining bullets?
★ Does the lesson or unit of study have students engaging in any of the 8 science and engineering practices or the 7 crosscutting concepts?
• If the lesson or unit of study doesn’t engage students in the practices or the crosscutting concepts, how could you modify the lesson or unit of study to engage students in the practices or the crosscutting concepts?
Hopefully, these three steps allow you to begin becoming acquainted with the new Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science. To provide districts and teachers with transition support throughout the school year the State Department of Education will be conducting Science Standards Workshops around the state and develop a series of PD on Your Plan Modules that districts and teachers can utilize at their convenience.