Presentation given by Elizabeth Spike of St. John's School at Gulf Coast Green 2016.

1. Gulf Coast Green 2016
Elizabeth Spike
Chemistry and Environmental Science Teacher
St. John’s School
Houston, TX

2. What are Next Generation Science
Standards (NGSS)?
 Goals and expectations for K-12 science education.
 Published in 2013.
 Based on National Research Council’s Framework for K-12 Science
Education.
 NGSS were developed by science educators and experts, 26 states, NRC,
AAAS, NSTA, and Achieve Inc.
 Internationally benchmarked.
 Three dimensions to NGSS.
 Greater focus on engineering and Climate Change.

3. Who developed these standards?
 NRC
 National Research Council of the National Academies of Science
and Engineering
 NSTA
 National Science Teachers Association
 AAAS
 American Association for the Advancement of Science
 Achieve
 From Achieve website at achieve.org: Achieve is an independent,
nonpartisan, nonprofit education reform organization dedicated to
working with states to raise academic standards and graduation
requirements, improve assessments, and strengthen accountability.
Created in 1996 by a bipartisan group of governors and business
leaders.

4. Framework for K-12 Science Education
emphasizes…
Less memorization of
science terms.
More experiences in
which science terms
learned as needed to
explain or solve problems
based on evidence.
Source: National Research Council. (2015). Guide to Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (pp. 8-9). Washington, DC:
National Academies Press. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18802/guide-to-implementing-the-next-generation-science-standards

5. Framework for K-12 Science Education
emphasizes…
Less teacher as the sole
provider of ideas,
information, and
knowledge.
More student-driven
investigations, experiments,
problem-solving under the
guidance or facilitation of
the teacher.
Source: National Research Council. (2015). Guide to Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (pp. 8-9). Washington, DC:
National Academies Press. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18802/guide-to-implementing-the-next-generation-science-standards

6. Framework for K-12 Science Education
emphasizes…
Less closed questions
to which there is only
one ‘right’ answer.
More open-ended
questions of which
evidence for a variety
of answers are
discussed.
Source: National Research Council. (2015). Guide to Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (pp. 8-9). Washington, DC:
National Academies Press. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18802/guide-to-implementing-the-next-generation-science-standards

7. Framework for K-12 Science Education
emphasizes…
Less book work to
acquire
information that is
later regurgitated.
More diverse
sources for
information that
are summarized.
Source: National Research Council. (2015). Guide to Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (pp. 8-9). Washington, DC:
National Academies Press. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18802/guide-to-implementing-the-next-generation-science-standards

8. Framework for K-12 Science Education
emphasizes…
Less ‘cookbook’ labs to
demonstrate a
phenomenon or
confirm the ‘right’
answer.
More student-
designed labs to
deepen the learning of
core science ideas.
Source: National Research Council. (2015). Guide to Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (pp. 8-9). Washington, DC:
National Academies Press. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18802/guide-to-implementing-the-next-generation-science-standards

9. Framework for K-12 Science Education
emphasizes…
Less worksheets to fill
in.
More posters, journals,
reports, media made
by students to explain
and argue.
Source: National Research Council. (2015). Guide to Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (pp. 8-9). Washington, DC:
National Academies Press. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18802/guide-to-implementing-the-next-generation-science-standards

10. Framework for K-12 Science Education
emphasizes…
Less dumbing down of
science activities for
kids who ‘can’t do’
science and
engineering.
More support for
sophisticated science
and engineering
activities for all
students.
Source: National Research Council. (2015). Guide to Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (pp. 8-9). Washington, DC:
National Academies Press. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18802/guide-to-implementing-the-next-generation-science-standards

11. Lead partner states that contributed to
NGSS development (in blue)
http://www.nextgenscience.org/lead-state-partners

12. Reaction to NGSS
 What did the former governor and TX BOE chair have to say about the
NGSS? Quoted in NY Times July 2012…
 ‘unwarranted federal intrusion into the classroom’ Rick Perry
 ‘zero percent chance’ ‘we write our own standards here in Texas’
Barbara Cargill, TX State Board of Education, chair 2011-2015

13. Reaction to NGSS
 Really? Which standards?
 Evolution “scientists have ignored and hidden evidence that
humans and dinosaurs walked the planet at the same time.” Mary
Lou Bruner (TX SBOE candidate running to replace
outgoing Thomas Ratliff) http://tfn.org/2016-elections-this-years-extremist-
candidate-for-the-texas-state-board-of-education/
 Climate Change “I’m not too concerned about a generation of
kids growing up and thinking that mankind has nothing to do
with climate change.” Thomas Ratliff TX SBOE
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/06/25/controversial-textbooks-texas
 American History
 Moses helped write the US Constitution
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/06/25/controversial-textbooks-texas
 Slaves as ‘workers’ in Pearland high school textbook
http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/10/23/450826208/why-calling-slaves-workers-is-
more-than-an-editing-error

14. Reaction to NGSS
 2014, about 12 states have adopted NGSS; Texas was not one of these
states. Education Week August 2014
 Per NSTA, as of February 2016, 18 states are on board with NGSS: AR,
CA, CT, DE, HI, IL, IA, KS, KY, MD, MI, NV, NJ, OR, RI, VT, WA, and
the District of Columbia.
 To date, no indication that TX will adopt NGSS.

15. 5 million school children left behind in
Texas?
 Regardless of if and when they’re adopted, Richard Hull, executive
director of the Text and Academic Authors Association, said he
welcomed the new guidelines and downplayed the potential impact of
politically-divisive topics like climate change and evolution.
 “The influence of political and religious views on evaluators and
adopters in state education departments should be minimized by these
new standards.,” Hull wrote FoxNews.com. “Students who are educated
in accordance with them will have a far better chance for success in
college courses and in competition on the employment market
than those steeped in creationism design, new earth theory, and other
alternative accounts.”

16. Motivation for the Development of NGSS
 Last update was in 1990’s National Science Education Standards.
 Per NSTA:
 Technology has changed since the 1990’s.
 Students are under-prepared for science and math in college.
 Under-representation of women and minority students in science
and math majors and workforce.
 We have a better grasp for how students learn science.

17. How are National Science Educational
Standards different from NGSS?
 Developed by AAAS and NRC in the 1990’s.
 Shift from ‘knowing’ and ‘understanding’ to ‘doing’.
 NSES gave us ‘hands-on, minds-on’ and inquiry science as ways to
deliver science instruction.

18. What is STEM and relationship to
NGSS?
 Science Technology Engineering and Math.
 Elements of STEM emerged in NSES, but NGSS devote a strong central
focus on STEM.
 STEM is developed as a response to A Nation at Risk, Project 2061,
TIMSS and PISA.

19. What is STEM and relationship to
NGSS?
 STEM is more than an acronym:
 Amalgam of subjects.
 Role of Projects.
 Inclusive, relevant and meaningful.
 Reduce ‘weed out’ approach.
 STEM and NGSS go hand in hand. STEM is the content in which NGSS
are met.

20. STEM, STEAM, SHTEAM, SHTREAM
 STEAM includes Art
 SHTEAM includes Humanities and Art
 SHTREAM includes Humanities, Reading or Robotics and Art
 Silly?

21. Environmental Science, NGSS and STEM
 Environmental Science is interdisciplinary: applies basic sciences as
well as ideas from Social Sciences (Geo-politics, History, Economics,
Sociology), Humanities (Literature, Philosophy, and Law) and Art
(Architecture, Design, Esthetics) to solve problems.
 Environmental science introduces students to the many problems
caused by human activities that, hopefully, can be remediated by
human activities.
 Climate change disruption, air, water, soil pollution, deforestation,
unsustainable cities, overpopulation, water shortages, persistent
organic pollutants, cradle to grave, etc.

22. Here is a sample of NGSS Performance
Expectations related to Environmental
Science:
 Engineering Design:
 Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it
down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved
through engineering.
 Evaluate a solution to a complex real-world problem based on
prioritized criteria and trade-offs that account for a range of
constraints, including cost, safety, reliability, and aesthetics as well
as possible social, cultural, and environmental impacts.
 Human Sustainability:
 Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of
human activities on natural systems.

23. Why should Architecture care about
science education reforms?
 Your potential employees may have gone to high schools (in other
states than TX) that adopted NGSS.
 Regardless of where your potential hires come from, STEM is
ubiquitous…high schools and colleges. Everyone is getting on board
with STEM.

24. Why should Architecture care about
science education reforms?
 Find out if AIA provides STEM opportunities for students (both high
school and college) to acquire necessary skills and knowledge to
succeed in Architecture.
 Be aware of a growing STEM populace with different spending and
investment priorities…with the help of courses like Environmental
Science consumers may invest in efficient ‘greener’ more sustainable
products, goods and services.

25. Thank you.