Curious about AI but not sure where to start? This session is for you! Discover how artificial intelligence is transforming science classrooms and helping do the heavy lifting of teaching. This session will empower you to use AI to personalize learning, boost engagement, and streamline NGSS-aligned lesson planning and assessment—without replacing the essential role of the teacher. Participants will explore examples of how AI can help teachers adapt high-quality instructional materials to local contexts, effectively manage assessment and feedback, and differentiate learning activities to support student sensemaking. The session also will include strategies for how to critically evaluate AI tools to ensure technology integration promotes equitable access to rigorous and meaningful science instruction. Whether new to AI or ready to go deeper, educators will be equipped to integrate AI into their teaching practices responsibly, ensuring alignment with student needs and educational goals.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will be equipped with practical strategies and tools to use AI responsibly in middle level science classrooms. They will be able to use AI to adapt NGSS-aligned science learning activities to personalize student learning and streamline lesson planning, assessment, and feedback.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Forsythe

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has been developing grades 3-8 science performance assessments to provide open-source examples of high-quality science assessments for educators to use in the classroom. These are designed to meet the expectations of the NGSS and be coherent with high-quality instructional materials.  During the presentation, DESE staff will provide an overview of the performance assessment system design, opportunities to explore the open-source classroom science performance assessments, and resources for implementing the assessments and analyzing student work.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore open source, NGSS-aligned performance assessments and engage in a protocol to analyze student work.

SPEAKERS:
Corrine Steever, Sonia Neuburger, Michele Snyder

Do you ever feel exhausted by the end of the day AND wonder if the students gained understanding? Do you have students who demonstrate excellent thinking on lab days but not on daily, written tasks? Do you wonder how to best group students of different abilities for success? This session will help you meet all students where they are and engage them in sensemaking all while energizing yourself as a teacher through applying ideas from Peter Liljedahl's "Building a Thinking Classroom in Mathematics" in your science classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will leave with a set of easy-to-implement strategies that will engage your students in thoughtful participation and sense making, allow you to interact with students in meaningful and fulfilling ways, and help build a community of thoughtful, independent learners in your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Sharon Churchwell

Support your students in demonstrating their three dimensional learning! Many high-quality curricula use transfer tasks, phenomenon-based assessments where students demonstrate their three dimensional understanding while exploring novel phenomena. In this session, educators will be introduced to the research that led to this kind of assessment and how these assessments are designed. They will work through an example of a transfer task, analyzing the alignment to the three dimensions of the NGSS. Then, they will work through an activity structure that apprentices students into this new assessment practice, by breaking it down into smaller pieces, discussing in small groups, and participating in peer review. Finally, they will review scoring and feedback guidance to support student learning. Educators will leave knowing how and why to use transfer tasks in their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Many high-quality curricula use transfer tasks, phenomenon-based assessments where students demonstrate their three dimensional understanding while exploring a novel scenario. In this session, educators will work through an example of a transfer task and an activity structure that helps students lea

SPEAKERS:
Kate Henson

Sponsoring Company: InnerOrbit

We'll dive into how NGSS assessments can drive sensemaking and 3D performance in the classroom. We’ll explore practical strategies for using these assessments to support students’ growth and engagement in science.

SPEAKERS:
Brendan Finch

Amid a groundswell of exciting instructional materials and meaningful professional learning that reflects A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards, our assessments are still a black box. Science assessments remain confusing, and often disappointing: most science assessments, and guidance for assessment practices, that are currently available fail to achieve that precise balance between reflective of our teaching and learning priorities, practical for classroom implementation, and useful to both students and teachers for guiding learning. In this interactive session, we focus on four practical and distinctive priorities for science assessment: things that really distinguish meaningful, future-focused assessments from all the noise. Participants will engage with each of the priorities, inventorying their existing assessments, and planning for ways they can incorporate these strategies—and sample tasks—into their practice immediately and over time.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this interactive session, we focus on four practical and distinctive priorities for future-focused science assessment: the things that really distinguish meaningful assessments designed to prioritize learning for our rapidly changing world from all the noise.

SPEAKERS:
Aneesha Badrinarayan

How do we truly know what a student understands? In this interactive workshop, participants will engage from a student’s perspective as they experience a set of creative science questions that move beyond rote recall. These questions are crafted to deepen understanding, spark curiosity, and promote critical thinking. Participants will analyze question types—such as productive struggle prompts, error analysis, counterfactuals, and curiosity-builders—and learn how to embed them into any science lesson. This session is ideal for educators seeking ways to enhance formative assessment, differentiate instruction, and elevate student voice. Walk away with a toolkit of versatile question stems and strategies that help reveal what students really know.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to craft and use powerful science questions that deepen learning, promote critical thinking, and reveal student understanding.

SPEAKERS:
Jonte' Lee

Sponsoring Company: Activate Learning

A shift to three-dimensional assessments provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their use of science practices, application of crosscutting concepts, and understanding of science content. Participants will learn about the elements of three-dimensional assessments, analyze assessments with student work, and become familiar with the OSE Assessment System and OSE Grading Planning Tool.

SPEAKERS:
Brian Klaft, Michelle Tindall

Sponsoring Company: InnerOrbit

Join us as we dig into real district case studies showing how performance on summative assessments can predict and support readiness for state science tests. We’ll explore key findings, insights, and practical takeaways to help you align your assessments and boost student success.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Miller

This session focuses on designing, building, and using three-dimensional formative assessment tasks. The session will feature ways to use assessment within scientific investigation to inform teachers and students of learning three-dimensional science learning progress. The role of crosscutting concepts in focusing performance tasks will be modeled in the sessions. The session will feature discussions about the effective alignment of assessment tasks to three-dimensional science standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will take away lessons that include formative assessment tasks and how to use formative assessment to enhance classroom instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Brett Moulding

Scientifically speaking, how brains process information is tied to the kinds of tasks we need to perform. We examine the science of learning: how the brain learns, recalls information and how different tasks activate different brain processes. For example, spelling the word "yellow" involves different parts of the brain than understanding the concept of the color. Knowing these differences helps us understand and formulate relevant assessments. Once we understand the processes we can manage/avoid cognitive overload that occurs when learning new concepts. We will learn to use brain science to help long term retention of knowledge. By embedding neuroscience-informed strategies into curriculum design, educators can help students learn naturally. We develop our own personal intelligence! Participants are encouraged to bring their instructional material to create a template takeaway. Participants will take away 3 assessment and 3 instructional strategies grounded in brain research.

TAKEAWAYS:
We will learn how the human brain processes information. Use brain science to understand long term retention of knowledge. Participants will take away 2-3 assessment and instructional strategies grounded in brain research.

SPEAKERS:
Manisha Sharan

Equitable grading isn’t a one-size-fits-all journey. In this how-to session, two science educators share lessons from 12 years of working with public, private, and charter schools, navigating the shift from standards alignment to equitable grading. Learn how to address resistance, support uneven adoption, and overcome both real and perceived barriers while bridging the gap between early adopters and hesitant stakeholders. Whether your school uses standards-based grading or traditional gradebooks, this session offers practical strategies to shift mindsets, align assessment practices, and move grading systems forward.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain actionable tools to support teachers in moving from unpacking standards to selecting aligned assessments and implementing equitable, standards-based grading, tailored to meet educators at different stages of change.

SPEAKERS:
Kathleen Kaywood, Melinda Campbell

Ever wonder how to connect science and engineering? This session provides insight into a group of Wyoming elementary teachers’ classrooms through sharing a STEM task that brought science and engineering to life for students. Beginning with a familiar natural phenomena and allowing students opportunities to create solutions to a real world issue stemming from that phenomena, student ideas are foregrounded through engineering design practices and locally relevant instruction that welcomes all students an access point. Then, we introduce two phenomenon-driven assessment tasks with evidence on how students performed. The first, Creating a Park, presents the real-world issue of a city council proposal for a park that would thrive in a very dry climate while still promoting wildlife. The second, Air Pollution in LA, asks students to recommend to city leaders ways to reduce air pollution based on source data. We end with a list of wonderful free STEM resources and time for questions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants see examples of supporting 3-5th grade students in phenomenon-driven, engineering connected lessons and performance assessment tasks. They see how these resources were used in multiple contexts to promote student sensemaking by applying science ideas/data to solve real world problems.

SPEAKERS:
Brianna Sawyer, Brenda Leonhardt, Kristan Trujillo, Martha Inouye, Ryan Summers, Chad Lemley

Teachers are essential in supporting students as they engage in experimentation, scientific research, and engineering design. The overarching aim is to help students communicate the knowledge they gain with the broader community. This session will highlight best practices for organizing science fairs ranging from small school-based events to larger regional competitions. We will also explore the distinct goals of science fairs compared to symposia and various formats will be presented. Learn how to empower students to confidently present their STEM research or projects through either platform.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will leave with best practices for successfully planning and executing a science fair or symposium in which all students are encouraged to confidently share their STEM experiment or research findings.

SPEAKERS:
Dianna Gobler, Dana Schaefer, Mary Kroll

Generative AI is everywhere—but whether it can be useful or not in designing meaningful science curriculum and assessment has been much less clear. In this interactive workshop, participants will learn about genAI and what it is designed to do—and what that means for science curriculum and assessment. Participants will then use a custom-designed AI collaborator—designed specifically to support meaningful science assessment--to support assessment development of an assessment they can use in their unique classroom contexts. Participants will leave with a practical framework for AI use in science teaching and learning as well as a series of custom-designed AI tools they can use in their own practice.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn the specific ways genAI can support better science assessment, using a custom-designed AI collaborator—designed specifically to support meaningful science assessment--to co-create an assessment they can use in their unique classroom contexts.

SPEAKERS:
Aneesha Badrinarayan

The NSTA Atlas of the Three Dimensions maps out learning progressions based on the Framework for K–12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The 62 maps in the Atlas organize all of the elements from standards on a particular topic (e.g., modeling, patterns, or definitions of energy) on a single page. The elements from grades K–2 are at the bottom of the page, and those from grades 9–12 are at the top. Arrows connect elements to indicate how ideas in a particular topic build on each other and how elements in different topics connect to one another. Studying the maps in the Atlas and the additional resources in the appendixes can provide educators with new insights about the standards. This session will provide an overview of how to read a map, the other features of the Atlas, and how educators can use this powerful navigational tool to develop and implement curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to read the maps and use other tools in the Atlas to understand and interpret standards and plan instructional sequences as part of their work in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard

Come along as we explore extreme weather and avalanches. We know avalanches are inevitable, but how can we limit their impact on forests and people? This session is built around an NGSS-designed lesson sequence targeting 3-LS3-2, with an emphasis on student modeling, explanation, and collaboration. Attendees will create and test their model to immerse themselves in a performance assessment. Discussion of other possible formative assessment strategies, rubrics, and how to support student explanations using evidence.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be engaged in an immersive Next Generation Science experience where attendees will step into the learner’s shoes in a high-quality, hands-on, inquisitive experience. Attendees will also participate in a performance based assessment. One real-world strategy used to mitigate avalanche.

SPEAKERS:
Greer Clark, Teresa Merager

Writing effective assessments in science can be challenging for any teacher, especially to meet the needs of diverse students in the modern classroom. Come explore the criteria for high-quality 3D science assessment items and learn strategies for writing them. Your session leader is a widely-published writer of science assessments and curriculum, and he has a wealth of experience to share.

TAKEAWAYS:
By applying the proper criteria, you can write assessments that reinforce science learning and develop critical thinking.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Berman

In this workshop, teachers will explore comprehensive Next Generation Science Standards aligned formative assessment tasks designed to capture first grade students’ understanding of science in flexible and meaningful ways. These tasks move beyond traditional paper-and-pencil formats, allowing young learners to express their thinking through drawing, discussion, and writing and other developmentally appropriate modes for early elementary. Participants will work in small groups to try out the tasks with each other, review their structure, and provide feedback on clarity, accessibility, and alignment to science learning goals. Together, we will reflect on how these assessments can support all first graders in science. All reviewed tasks will be made available for classroom use, offering teachers ready-to-implement resources that promote creativity and deeper insight into student thinking.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave the session with insights into how to use student-centered formative assessment science tasks that allow young learners to show understanding in ways that suit their developmental stage and communication strengths. Formative assessments will be available to participants.

SPEAKERS:
Marta Mielicki, Kim Benton, Nonye Alozie

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

Discover over 20 powerful strategies guaranteed to transform student collaboration, connection, and comprehension in the science classroom! Participate in lively, hands-on activities designed to immediately boost classroom interaction and deepen learning. Take home your own set of Stile Enhancing Engagement Toolkit cards, complete with QR code links to videos showing each strategy in action in real science classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Erika James

"Unleashing the Scientist Within" refers to tapping into and maximizing one's natural scientific curiosity and potential for learning and problem-solving. It encourages educators to implement teaching methods that foster inquiry, critical thinking, and emphasizing the importance of embracing scientific thinking and innovation in students. The goal is to empower students to explore the world around them. As we embark on the journey of hands-on assessments and 3D learning, prepare to get your hands dirty, use your thinking skills, and learn ways of summative assessments that can also have a formal part to it.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn how to take an assessment given and raise it to the next level, change it to something more interesting, design it to be curiosity driven, and/or take some assessments with them already tried and proven.

SPEAKERS:
Melanie Hansel

How can we begin to understand the Next Generation Science Standards, and design instructional and assessment materials aligned to three-dimensional learning? In this workshop we will use the framework of "learning progressions" to simultaneously unpack NGSS standards for the teacher, and create a sequence of learning toward mastery for the student. A learning progression is a standard broken down into steps; it communicates a path from a simple to a more complex understanding of a particular standard. In this workshop, participants will design a learning progression for an NGSS performance expectation of their choice in the form of "I can" statements. Throughout the design process they will consider how mastery of their standard is distinct from simpler levels of understanding. Furthermore, participants will brainstorm ways that learning progressions can facilitate metacognitive thinking, assessment design, differentiation, and targeted support.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use "learning progressions" as a device to assist in their understanding of an NGSS standard, and as road map for supporting their design of lessons and assessments.

SPEAKERS:
Ronnie Almonte

Sponsoring Company: Teachers' Curriculum Institute (TCI)

Join our session to learn how to harness the power of three-dimensional Performance Assessments! Beyond evaluating learning, these assessments offer students a meaningful context to demonstrate understanding. Explore the role of performance assessments in teaching core science concepts effectively.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Kumar

Although concerns about navigating a commitment to high-quality science teaching and learning for every student amidst increasingly polarized rhetoric are acute right now, they are not new. In this session, participants will discuss why assessment practices that account for students backgrounds and experiences are necessary for achieving our vision for science education, and how to pursue this goal in the face of increasingly difficult and systemic pushback. We will discuss the neuroscience of equitable learning and assessment, frameworks for culturally relevant assessment that intentionally navigate around political pushback, and engage in scenario-based practice for participants to consider how they might respond to specific situations with grace, savvy, and a commitment to meaningful assessment for all.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, participants will engage with ideas about science assessment for every learner that intentionally balances an equity- and justice-orientation with navigating current political realities.

SPEAKERS:
Aneesha Badrinarayan

One of the first special education teachers I ever worked with said something to me that will stick forever; “ You modify assessments, not children.” Modifying assessments in a way that changes how students communicate rather than what they learn has become an essential part of my classroom. By taking a 3D approach to assessment, it's much easier to be responsive to student needs without diluting the content you expect them to know. I've successfully integrated several 3D assessments into my classrooms and would love to share my process, tips, and initial pitfalls (to help you avoid them).

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, you will learn several techniques and strategies for writing and modifying assessments that adjust how students communicate their knowledge rather than lowering expectations for student learning.

SPEAKERS:
Anneliese Johnson

This workshop presents an instructional tool developed through ongoing research on scientific modeling resources. It aims to elicit students' initial conceptions of phenomena via visual and written modalities, facilitating science engagement across diverse learners. Participants engage in a two-part modeling activity that employs model-based inquiry principles. Part one involves documenting direct observations through written descriptions and drawings. Part two centers on articulating inferred explanations for the phenomenon's cause or process, utilizing writing and drawing to represent underlying mechanisms. This structured approach helps learners differentiate between observation and interpretation, providing educators with valuable insights into student cognition. The session highlights practical techniques, exemplified by this tool, for encouraging participation and surfacing student ideas.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will practice using the Observation and Inference Tool to model phenomena and learn to analyze the resulting student visual and written work to gain insights into their initial scientific ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Jaclyn Murray

This session aims to deepen educators' expertise in selecting, modifying, and implementing high-quality assessment materials aligned with NGSS and state-specific standards. The focus will be on integrating the 3-dimensions of science into common formative assessments (CFA), ensuring equitable access for all students and teachers. Through guided practice and collaboration using a developed CFA and state-provided item specifications, educators will explore connections with standards, SEPs, CCCs, stimulus materials, and item types, ensuring seamless incorporation of the 3-dimensions of science. Participants will engage in hands-on activities to synthesize their knowledge, collaborating on exemplar responses and instructional strategies. By applying these skills, educators can develop and refine aligned assessments that foster a deeper understanding of content knowledge and enhance assessment accessibility, providing opportunities for student engagement with aligned materials.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will gain the skills to create and refine high-quality, aligned assessments that seamlessly incorporate the three dimensions of science, ensuring equitable access and deeper understanding for all students.

SPEAKERS:
Alicia Doty, Haley Smith

Engaging All Learners Through Gameplay and Engineering in Science Come explore how we've infused gameplay and hands-on engineering design challenges into 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade science units to engage and support all learners. Discover how we've created or adapted activities to provide real-world learning experiences directly aligned with NGSS grade-level standards. You'll leave with ready-to-use resources and fresh ideas to bring into your own classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in hands-on, experiential learning using games and design challenge examples from our classrooms, and will leave with practical resources they can use immediately.

SPEAKERS:
Lisa Nathaus, Laura Strejc, Jill Burns

It can be hard to know what to do with relevance in assessment. What counts as “relevant enough”? Is it a must-have, or a nice-to-have? How can we make a single assessment relevant to a whole class—or school, or district, or state—worth of students without personalizing every test? Some topics or core ideas might simply not be interesting to some students—don’t they still need to develop and demonstrate proficiency? What is the difference between cultural and personal relevance? In this session, participants will examine the neuroscience of relevance to better understand exactly why, how, and when relevance matters in assessment. They will then explore evidence-based strategies for approaching relevance in appropriate, manageable, and meaningful ways such that every assessment has the opportunity to surface brilliance and learning edges from each learner.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will examine the neuroscience of relevance to better understand exactly why, how, and when relevance matters in assessment. We will explore strategies for approaching relevance in appropriate, manageable, and meaningful ways.

SPEAKERS:
Aneesha Badrinarayan

How can one rubric serve as a roadmap for sensemaking, assessment, and student feedback? In this session, explore how educators use NGSS-aligned, three-dimensional, standards-based rubrics to design instruction that supports phenomena-based learning and centers student thinking. Participants will learn how to create rubrics that integrate SEPs, CCCs, and DCIs using NGSS evidence statements and apply them across multiple grade levels. We’ll highlight student work, formative checkpoints, and summative tasks that show how these rubrics support equitable, transparent expectations for all learners. Classroom-tested examples will illustrate how 3D rubrics make student sensemaking visible and support lesson coherence. Participants will leave with adaptable templates, classroom samples, and strategies for using rubrics to design, assess, and advance student learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to design NGSS-aligned, 3D rubrics that center student sensemaking, clarify expectations, and guide assessment. Leave with templates, student work examples, and strategies to plan, assess, and give feedback that supports equitable and coherent science learning.

SPEAKERS:
Deborah McMullen, Vincent Fosco, Frankie Valenzia

One of the best ways to support student sensemaking in NGSS is to be very clear as teachers about what we want students to know and be able to do. Unpacking NGSS can be complex as you analyze progressions and evidence statements. Come learn how an elementary science team in California has been refining their previous work on learning targets, assessments, and rubrics by creating proficiency scales with learning gradations. This work has helped our group of over thirty science elementary specialists come to greater consensus on student proficiency, increasing equitable expectations across our district. We will have elementary samples to share, as well as protocols to help walk you and your colleagues through the process.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to create proficiency scales for NGSS that will more clearly and accurately identify what we want students to know and be able to do.

SPEAKERS:
Meg Vanek, Kim Cashin

We will share insights from a research project to test middle school formative assessments that reduce language barriers. One of the participating educators will discuss how the design of the tasks and specificity of the rubrics helped improve communication between the teacher and students. Incorporating the materials positively contributed to a classroom culture where assessments are understood to be FOR learning, not OF learning; and students at all levels developed and used a common language for learning based on the three dimensions of NGSS.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with 3D formative assessments and rubrics ready for their middle school classrooms, as well as research-based strategies for adapting their existing assessments to meet the needs of learners at all levels.

SPEAKERS:
Katrina Pommerening, Esther Brown, Sara Krauskopf

The session will focus on the shift from traditional instruction to three-dimensional, phenomenon-based teaching. Participants will explore how students learn better with phenomena that stimulate student questions and a storyline where each lesson builds on what students have learned in earlier lessons and sets the stage for learning in later lessons. Participants will review examples of anchor phenomena and review a storyline to see how investigative phenomena can be used to support student collection of evidence to answer their questions about the anchor phenomena. We will emphasize having students construct explanations and develop models of phenomena to gather insights into student thinking. Finally, participants will learn a process of developing a phenomenon-based storyline. Through this process, they can see how a coherent storyline can be developed to address all three dimensions, leading to greater student engagement, and fostering a more equitable learning environment.

TAKEAWAYS:
How having students make sense of phenomena leads to greater engagement and better understanding.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard

Generative AI is an emerging technology that has made its way into the classroom and cannot be ignored. I developed and will share a summative assessment for a Biodiversity class aimed at promoting proper usage of GenAI while developing technological and ecological literacy. Traditional assessments can inadvertently disadvantage students who excel in areas beyond rote memorization. Incorporating AI into an assessment can promote equitable classroom practices by offering multiple means of representation and expression. This proposal attempts to integrate all 3 dimensions of the NGSS: application of scientific and engineering practices, by using GenAI, disciplinary core ideas in ecology, and crosscutting concepts. The AI assessment supports NGSS’s overarching goal to develop scientifically literate citizens. I will discuss the rationale for the assessment, its development and implementation in the class, how students engaged in the activity, and will share examples of the students' work.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will experience one example of how we can integrate AI into the science curriculum, fostering curiosity and engagement with technology, while promoting proper use of AI. This type of assessment can be applied to a variety of science topics.

SPEAKERS:
Rita Margarida Quinones De Magalhaes

Building data skills in today’s learners can often feel very dry, but it’s arguably the most essential skill to succeed in the future workforce. And in a time where so many adults use data poorly to prove a point, why not use these “What not to do” stories to help teach these skills and build their digital literacy at the same time! In this session, we’ll describe multiple data misuses such as Cherry-Picking, Correlation vs Causation, and Sampling Bias to help learners see and interpret data through a more sophisticated lens. While highlighting the type of error, students also break down fundamental components of graphic organizers and how they should be decoded. Pulling from relevant and familiar examples of how data is misused in society to make arguments allows for a natural bridge to your 6 - 12 science classroom and builds confidence in analyzing the data you provide them!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will be provided with multiple student-friendly examples of how data misuses and biases lead to argument fallacies that span the societal spectrum. They will also see the learning opportunities found within each example and how they can be implemented immediately in any 6-12 classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Ramy Mahmoud

Assessment of NGSS performance expectations requires a multi-faceted assessment tool. Multiple-choice and one-word answer questions will not be sufficient to assess the science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and cross-cutting concepts that have been incorporated into the performance expectations. In this session, we will share how we employed the method of backwards design to develop classroom assessments based on NGSS performance expectations for our middle school students in all branches of science. The sample assessments that will be provided require students to engage in performance tasks, develop, incorporate, and analyze models, gather and analyze data, and use both models and data as evidence to support their statements. Along with the assessments, we will share a format that can be implemented by teachers to develop additional assessments for their own classrooms and explain how our teaching of the content changed once these assessments were written.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will examine sample assessments for 3 dimensional questioning and be given a chance to enhance a question on a topic relevant to their teaching.

SPEAKERS:
Nicole McRee

This session explores how formative assessment tasks can reveal students' 3D learning as well as students' ability to use language to express their scientific thinking. Come learn how well-designed tasks can be an asset for supporting science learning and literacy growth for all students! Participants will experience formative tasks, examine student responses, and practice identifying students’ language-in-use and 3D learning. Eliciting and recognizing evidence of science learning for elementary students has long presented challenges. All too often, the use of academic vocabulary serves as evidence of science knowledge. Language-in-use reframes how students use language in two ways: (1) as a tool for developing one's own scientific thinking, and (2) as a means of communication that aids with demonstrating one's science learning. This framing helps teachers more adeptly interpret what students know. Participants will leave with strategies for using this framing in their own classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with new knowledge about how 3D assessment tasks can elicit important information about students' 3D learning as well as students' ability to use language to demonstrate their learning. This knowledge is highly valuable for using assessment to support teaching and learning.

SPEAKERS:
Alison K Billman, Christopher Harris

How do you assess young elementary students in science? How do you measure progress in the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices? I have developed rubrics that allow me to chart the growth of my grades 1-4 students, using the SEP as my standards. I will share students' work samples from a variety of units and show how I use the rubrics to record and share their progress. My rubrics can be used with students to set goals, clarify expectations, and teach explicitly. They can also be used to share progress with parents, and they can support a standards based report card system. This session will allow participants to review the rubrics and discuss the pros and cons of using them in their own teaching practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will review grades 1-4 rubrics based upon the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices and be able to take them to use and adapt to their own teaching practice.

SPEAKERS:
Shelley Petzold

Science education is a powerful tool for fostering curiosity and critical thinking in young learners. However, students with disabilities and learning differences often face barriers that can hinder their full participation and success in science activities. UDL is a framework for teachers to create an accessible and engaging instructional plan for all learners (Israel et al., 2020). Grounded in three core principles—multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression—UDL helps educators design accessible learning goals, methods, materials, and assessments (CAST, n.d.). During this session, elementary and special education faculty will use a co-teaching model to share the three main principles of UDL and how these apply specifically to support science 3D teaching and learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
This presentation will equip educators with practical strategies and insights to create an inclusive science learning environment for all students. Through the activities, participants will leave this session with actionable strategies and tools to ensure all students have equitable access.

SPEAKERS:
GaKyung Jeong, Jennifer Watson, Keisha Pearson

This session focuses on the trilogy of NSTA Press books on the Three Dimensions and is led by NSTA’s former in-house expert on science standards who recruited the lead authors of all three books. Helping Students Make Sense of the World Using Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices provides a play-by-play understanding of the practices. Disciplinary Core Ideas: Reshaping Teaching and Learning provides an in depth perspective on the disciplinary core ideas. Crosscutting Concepts: Strengthening Science and Engineering Learning is designed to help educators grasp the foundational issues that undergird crosscutting concepts. These books are written in clear, nontechnical language. Many of the authors contributed to the development of the Framework and NGSS. The authors also share a wealth of real-world examples drawn from their own classroom experiences to show what’s different about three-dimensional teaching and learning at all grade levels.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn techniques to use these three books to help educators have a deep understanding of practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts to foster better student learning in their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard

This interactive workshop equips educators with the knowledge and tools to design and evaluate phenomena-based assessments aligned with 3D teaching and learning. Participants will explore what makes an assessment truly 3-dimensional, analyze existing assessment tasks, and engage with other educators in hands-on activities to revise or create tasks that support students in demonstrating understanding. This session supports educators in fostering deeper learning and meeting the expectations of Minnesota Science Standards.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore tools and resources to support development of high-quality 3D classroom assessments and collaborate with other educators on best assessment practices .

SPEAKERS:
Judi Iverson, Jim Wood, Haley Kalina, Angie Kolonich

In this session, we will focus on creating 3D assessment tasks that engage students in computational thinking. We’ll begin by starting with students, collecting and analyzing information about their interests and identities to ensure the assessments resonate with them. Next, we’ll get to know the standards by identifying your assessment target, conducting a grade band analysis, and unpacking the essential components of the standard. Finally, we’ll choose phenomena by evaluating their potential to engage student interest and identity, ensuring alignment with Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs), and identifying the necessary data or information for computational sensemaking. By the end of the session, you will have a clear plan for selecting a phenomenon or problem for your upcoming assessment of computational thinking that connects to your students' interests.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using tools from the 5D Assessment Project (inquiryHub and BSCS Science Learning collaboration), practice selecting phenomena and problems that align with standards, connect to students' interests, and develop computational thinking.

SPEAKERS:
Jeffrey Bush, Melissa Campanella

The NGSS and other standards based on the Framework of K-12 Education are quite complicated and often tricky to interpret. What teachers need is an easy-to-use reference guide to the standards, and since its’ release in 2014, the NSTA Quick-Reference Guide (aka The Purple Book) has become a perennial bestseller and an essential reference tool for many educators across the country. A new version of the Quick-Reference Guide was released in 2022, specifically designed to support not only NGSS, but all standards based on the Framework. This session will review the features of the Quick-Reference Guide and show how to use various tools in the guide to unpack the crosscutting concepts. Crosscutting concepts (CCCs) are ideas such as patterns, cause and effect, and systems that are not unique to any one discipline but that cut across several disciplines. By better understanding the CCCs, students are better prepared to make sense of the phenomena they see in the world about them.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to unpack the three dimensions using the tools and resources in the Quick-Reference Guide and will gain insights into the meaning of the crosscutting concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard

Experiential learning is a cornerstone of science education. Students learn by doing, engaging directly with materials, experiments, and real-world scenarios. But does “hands-on” always mean minds-on? Too often, experiential activities are mistaken for inquiry simply because they are interactive or engaging. In reality, students can perform tasks, follow procedures, and even have fun without ever engaging in true scientific thinking. This session will unpack the distinction between experiential and inquiry-based learning and explore how educators can design experiences that intentionally bridge the two. While experiential learning offers the context and sensory engagement, inquiry provides the cognitive structure—the purposeful questioning, analysis, and meaning-making that lead to deep understanding. When combined thoughtfully, the two approaches can create powerful opportunities for students to behave like scientists: not just doing science, but thinking scientifically.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using real classroom examples, we’ll show how to shift from procedural tasks to investigations that spark curiosity and deepen understanding. Participants will leave with practical strategies to embed inquiry into existing lessons, helping students think and act like scientists.

SPEAKERS:
Lindsey Onusko

Science teachers are comfortable with teaching and assessing the content of courses (DCIs), but struggle with the how to teach and assess the SEPs and CCCs. This presentation will offer a framework and strategy for instruction and assessment of the SEPs (what scientists do) and CCCs (how scientists think) across a unit or even a course. Using the mindsets of feedback and continuous improvement, allow student to grow over time in these important components to become a science-thinking student citizen.

TAKEAWAYS:
The SEPs (what scientists do) and CCCs (how scientists think) should be emphasized and assessed across time.

SPEAKERS:
Mark Peterson, Haley Kalina

Sponsoring Company: InnerOrbit

In this session, we’ll explore strategies and tools to dig deeper into your assessment data, identify gaps, and turn insights into action. Leave with practical ideas to better support your students and inform your instruction!

SPEAKERS:
Emily Miller, Brendan Finch

The NSTA Atlas of the Three Dimensions maps out learning progressions based on the Framework for K–12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The 62 maps in the Atlas organize all of the elements from standards on a particular topic (e.g., modeling, patterns, or definitions of energy) on a single page. The elements from grades K–2 are at the bottom of the page, and those from grades 9–12 are at the top. Arrows connect elements to indicate how ideas in a particular topic build on each other and how elements in different topics connect to one another. Studying the maps in the Atlas and the additional resources in the appendixes can provide educators with new insights about the standards. This session will provide an overview of how to read a map, the other features of the Atlas, and how educators can use this powerful navigational tool to develop and implement curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to read the maps and use other tools in the Atlas to understand and interpret standards and plan instructional sequences as part of their work in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard

This session will help secondary science educators design 3-dimensional transfer tasks for district summative assessments, like finals, that align with NGSS. Participants will explore what makes an assessment truly 3-dimensional and practice using a practical tool to unpack Performance Expectations (PEs), select focal Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) and Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs), and design tasks that require students to apply knowledge in new contexts. Examples based on OpenSciEd High School Assessment System will be shared, along with strategies for scaling this work across classrooms and districts. Attendees will leave with a clear framework and sample tools to start developing their own transfer tasks.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to design 3-dimensional transfer tasks, based on OpenSciEd Assessment System, that assess students' ability to apply science ideas in new contexts, using a practical tool to unpack PEs, SEPs, and CCCs—perfect for creating common district summative assessments aligned with NGSS.

SPEAKERS:
Jacob Noll

Come learn about assessments designed to assess 3D learning related to middle school life, earth, and physical science NGSS PEs. Key features of each assessment will be highlighted to help participants understand where each PE dimension is addressed, how to help students navigate the prompts, and how to use this information to work with assessments in your own curriculum, or to design your own. We will also examine a sample that integrates an engineering PE as an example of a “bundled” assessment. The items being used are summative, designed to function as a bridge between the formative classroom assessments embedded in specific curricula and large-scale state assessments. Participants will also explore addressing equity issues in using assessments, and will leave with knowledge about how to help your students navigate and respond to 3D assessments within and outside of the context of whatever curriculum you are using.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn about key features for summative, benchmark 3D assessments designed to be used in any NGSS-aligned middle school classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Maia Binding

Looking for strategies that support all learners in your science class? Join experienced co-teachers as they share how they’ve built an inclusive biology course for both traditional diploma students and those earning an alternate diploma, typically students with significant cognitive disabilities. Learn how teachers use state standards and modified content connectors to build assessment, class supports, and more to support the sensemaking of a wide range of students. Instructional strategies in this session can be used to enable students to make their own ideas about science and the world around them. While the focus is on co-teaching, many of these tools and approaches can be applied by teachers to better support students in all classroom settings.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, teachers will discover practical strategies, planning tools, and alternate assessments that support sensemaking for both traditional diploma students and students with significant cognitive disabilities in inclusive science classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Fabian Lopez, Michelle Miller, Zackary Lopez

Too often, science teachers are evaluated with generic observation rubrics that overlook the unique aspects of effective science instruction. In this immersive session, participants will step into the student role and engage in a brief 3D science activity. Then, from the perspective of administrators or teacher leaders, they will use a science-specific evaluation tool to assess the experience. We’ll explore how NGSS-aligned practices—like evidence-based reasoning, engineering design, and phenomenon-driven learning—can be recognized and supported in classroom observations. Participants will leave with a practical framework and conversation strategies for guiding administrators toward more meaningful science instruction evaluations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain a science-specific evaluation framework and tools to support more accurate, equitable, and constructive evaluations of science instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Jonte' Lee

Interest and identity are key for supporting meaningful science learning for students (NRC, 2012), yet traditional secondary science assessments do not invite students to bring their sensemaking repertoires and interests to assessment tasks. Participants will examine features of meaningful, phenomenon-driven assessments. Teachers will adapt a community survey tool designed by the 5D Assessment Project, a collaboration between BSCS Science Learning and Inquiry Hub, to elicit information about their students’ interests and identities. Teachers will learn about an approach to customizing (or designing from scratch) assessments to better engage their students interests and science-linked identities as knowers, doers, and users of science. Teachers will explore adaptations developed by Minnesota teachers to meet the needs of their students. This session is open to all science teachers, but may be most appropriate for secondary teachers

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will adapt tools to elicit and use information about their students to customize meaningful, phenomenon-driven assessment opportunities to better engage their students’ interests and science linked identities.

SPEAKERS:
Abraham Lo

Join fellow IB Biology educators for a collaborative roundtable discussion on the new 2025 curriculum for both Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL). This session will focus on navigating the thematic structure, integrating content across levels, aligning assessments with command terms, and making the most of internal assessment updates. Participants are encouraged to share strategies, questions, and resources as we explore how to build engaging, student-centered instruction within the new framework. Whether you’re just starting to plan or are already deep into implementation, this is a space to connect with others, reflect on challenges, and walk away with actionable ideas for your own classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore the 2025 IB Biology curriculum changes and leave with shared strategies, insights, and planning ideas for effectively teaching and assessing SL and HL content within the new thematic framework.

SPEAKERS:
Alison Peterson

This action research examines student engagement outcomes and personalized learning improvements created by AI tools in middle school science settings. The study took place during a 6-week period at Kennedy Middle School which serves English Language Learners and students requiring individualized education programs while following NGSS standards. ChatGPT drove student inquiry and reflections together with CER writing as AI simulations and assessments provided personalized learning support. The study findings reveal that AI technology strengthens scientific investigation processes while enabling personalized teaching methods and boosting student participation which provides essential insights about AI application in science education.

TAKEAWAYS:
Middle school science classrooms gain advantages from AI integration through tools like ChatGPT and virtual simulations which result in higher student engagement and improved learning outcomes while providing support to diverse students including ELLs and those with IEPs.

SPEAKERS:
Princess Margaret Paz

This session presents the Highlight and Reflect strategy as a quick and equitable tool for teaching climate science in South Carolina 8th grade classrooms. After a 3D-aligned quick check, students use the strategy to indicate their confidence, giving teachers real-time insight into understanding. This data is used to form small groups for differentiated instruction. While this session highlights South Carolina-specific examples and standards, the Highlight and Reflect strategy and accompanying resources are adaptable for use in classrooms across all states. Participants will explore how this approach fosters metacognition, identifies climate misconceptions, and connects students to local environmental issues. Equity is built in by amplifying student voice and supporting culturally responsive grouping.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with ready-to-use templates, activity ideas, and examples of how this strategy enhances climate literacy and sustainability instruction through meaningful, student-centered learning.

SPEAKERS:
Mikaela Schaller

This is one PLC's story of inventing the wheel as we wrote our chemistry curriculum from scratch incorporating NGSS and the MN State Science Standards (2019). Focus centers around using the Science and Engineering Practices to drive Assessments and Daily Lessons. Attendees will leave with a complete Unit including assessments. Please bring a Unit and/or assessment you want to improve.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn a process of writing chemistry curriculum focusing on the Science and Engineering Practices. Attendees will also be provided a complete Unit as an example and are free to use in their own classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Dustin Ludwikowski, Mary Sande

Developing strong scientific reasoning skills is essential for students to understand and apply core scientific concepts, evaluate evidence, and engage in scientific inquiry. This session will focus on practical, research-based strategies for assessing and improving scientific reasoning skills in both high school and postsecondary science courses. The presenter will examine how students develop these skills over time, identify common misconceptions, and explore instructional techniques that foster critical thinking, logical analysis, and evidence-based argumentation. Additionally, the session will highlight ways to scaffold complex reasoning skills, differentiate instruction, and use assessment data to inform teaching. This session will be valuable for science educators seeking to deepen student understanding and equip them with transferable thinking skills that extend beyond the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave this session equipped with a deeper understanding of how scientific reasoning develops in students and why it is essential for success in science education and beyond.

SPEAKERS:
Cheryl Robertson

Cross-Cutting Concepts are like the roots of a tree—essential for growth but often hidden from view. Explore how CCCs enhance sensemaking in science classrooms by aligning with the brain’s natural methods for organizing and retaining information. This interactive workshop offers hands-on activities, collaborative discussions, and practical classroom applications. Participants will learn how CCCs connect big ideas across disciplines, fostering critical thinking and deeper understanding. The session will highlight how CCCs leverage the brain’s tendency to form interconnected knowledge networks, making learning more accessible and transferable. Attendees will gain strategies to help students organize and retrieve complex concepts effectively, strengthening their ability to understand and explain scientific phenomena. This workshop is ideal for educators looking to enhance their teaching practices and empower students to build connections and think critically in science.

TAKEAWAYS:
Access resources and examples to apply CCCs effectively in the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Elizabeth Mayenschein, Chad Janowski, Kim Lemberger

Discover the equitable assessment system applied in the OpenSciEd Thermodynamics in Earth’s Systems unit. Examine assessment practices that value and elicit diverse ways of knowing, supporting all students in demonstrating their understanding.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will explore how formative and summative assessments are designed to be inclusive and culturally responsive, providing students with multiple opportunities to engage with, reflect on, and communicate their learning.

SPEAKERS:
Kristin Rademaker

Experience how leveraging genetic and environmental risk for complex disease as authentic phenomena supports student understanding through 3D teaching, learning, and assessment. Learn how the BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning (AIL) instructional model develops student agency that leads to individual and community action. The NGSS calls for learning grounded in real world phenomena to ensure science learning is relevant to all students. The BSCS AIL instructional model succeeds the 5Es and utilizes culturally relevant societal challenges to anchor cycles of inquiry and sensemaking, culminating with student explanations. In this session, participants will 1) consider their ideas about teaching complex societal challenges, 2) experience 3D learning, sensemaking strategies, and science concepts required to evaluate genetic and environmental risks for complex disease, and 3) consider how societal issues as assessment tasks can motivate students and develop agency in addressing complex issues.

TAKEAWAYS:
The research-based BSCS Anchored Inquiry Learning instructional model succeeds the 5Es and leverages complex societal issues as anchoring phenomena/problems, culminating tasks, and performance assessments in 3D units of instruction to motivate students and develop agency in addressing these issues.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Gay

In this interactive session, OpenSciEd is proud to introduce eleven new assessment tasks (OATs)—designed to bring the science of agriculture and nutrition into high school classrooms. Rooted in real-world phenomena, these tasks were developed with the National Dairy Council and expert teachers. Each OAT is a "transfer task" that helps students apply what they’ve learned in an OpenSciEd unit to agricultural contexts, supporting deeper sensemaking and understanding of how science and engineering shape food systems. Aligned with OpenSciEd’s commitment to Framework-based standards like the NGSS, the tasks provide high-quality examples of how teachers can customize units to reinforce the curriculum’s student-centered approach.

TAKEAWAYS:
In this session, teachers will explore how the new OpenSciEd Agriculture Tasks (OATs) support 3D sensemaking and how the development process, which includes identifying unit gaps, student interests, and community connections, can guide thoughtful curriculum customization.

SPEAKERS:
Katie Van Horne, Calvin Atkins

This interactive session explores how digital storytelling can help students make sense of science concepts through creative, standards-based communication. Participants will engage in a gradual release model (“I do, we do, you do”) to experience how videos, presentations, and infographics can be used to demonstrate understanding of energy flow in ecosystems. Anchored in the three dimensions of science learning, this workshop emphasizes how to support student thinking through visual and narrative expression. Attendees will examine student examples, collaborate to co-design a sample product, and begin drafting their classroom activity using a provided template. The session aligns with middle school standards related to energy pyramids and ecosystem sustainability and offers practical strategies for engaging students with diverse language and learning needs. All resources will be open-access and ready for immediate classroom use.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to guide students in creating videos, presentations, and infographics that demonstrate science understanding through modeling, explanation, and evidence—aligning with the NSTA 3D framework and encouraging creativity in showing what they know.

SPEAKERS:
Gwinn North, Ricardo Lumbreras

We will share a multi-faceted instructional model for assessing climate literacy through stories and science that disarm defenses, challenge assumptions, and motivate change. Innovative and research-based, the model can be adapted for use as a curriculum-embedded interim or formative assessment or a performance-based learning evaluation to enhance student engagement with critical topics related to climate change and to assess their understanding of them. An assessment template will be shared, explaining ways to teach climate science through the lens of fictional narrative. Templates follow a seven-part approach that includes the following focus areas: Part One: Narrative Contexts Part Two: Data Connections Part Three: Self-Reflection/Perspective Part Four: Literary Focus Part Five: Exploring Predictive Data Part Six: Investigating and Evaluating Solutions Part Seven: Performance-based Culminating Task

TAKEAWAYS:
Sharing an interdisciplinary approach for fostering climate literacy, we consider the important role of storytelling in educating young people about scientific phenomena related to climate change. Participants will be invited to pilot an adaptable resource.

SPEAKERS:
Mary-Alice Corliss, Mary Kate Clauson, Rebecca Young

Bringing three dimensional science learning to life demands aligned 3D instructional practices, high-quality materials, and assessments. Even with high quality instructional materials, educators still face the challenges with implementation. Particularly challenging is ensuring that assessments authentically integrate Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs), Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs), and Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs). Join us to explore practical strategies to develop assessment tools that help elicit evidence of deep scientific understanding and student engagement. We will share our straightforward process to update or create assessments and rubrics to ensure 3D alignment. Real classroom examples will showcase how intentional design choices promote high quality, phenomena-driven, formative assessment for learning. Attendees will leave with ideas and strategies to evaluate and design rigorous 3D assessment materials that are both feasible and instructionally powerful.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will analyze assessments to determine alignment to multidimensional science standards, learn how to measure student progress through standards using 3D-aligned rubrics and other assessment tools, and hear practical classroom application with examples.

SPEAKERS:
Erin Gehring, Erin Baillargeon

In this session, teachers will learn about a research-driven approach to assessment customization that supports teachers in using information about their students and 3D standards to brainstorm alternative phenomena contexts to elicit students’ use of disciplinary core ideas, practices, and crosscutting concepts to make sense of phenomena and problems that matter to them. This approach was designed and tested by the 5D Assessment Project, a collaboration between BSCS Science Learning and Inquiry Hub. Teachers will work in content area groups to analyze an existing high-quality assessment and consider ways to customize it to better engage their students’ interests and identities as knowers, doers, and users of science. Lessons learned from this work can be applied to elementary, middle, and high school teachers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will leave with strategies for identifying alternative phenomena contexts to frame phenomena-driven assessment opportunities that engage their students interests and science-linked identities.

SPEAKERS:
Abraham Lo

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

Dive into an exhilarating, hands-on escape room experience blending science, teamwork, and problem-solving! Compete against the clock to tackle exciting, interactive science puzzles. Leave fully prepared with your own comprehensive Escape Room Kit – packed with everything you need to engage your students in thrilling scientific discovery.

SPEAKERS:
Jacky Rooney

Educators often face the challenge of adapting OER materials to their local context and student needs while preserving the intentional design of NGSS-driven curricula. Educative features embedded within HQIM support teacher agency by strengthening understanding of the NGSS, facilitating effective implementation, and guiding decision-making to ensure productive adaptations that maintain curricular integrity. The New Visions high school Earth and Space Science (ESS) course leverages tools such as targeted callout boxes to highlight NGSS elements, differentiation strategies, and formative assessment opportunities. In this interactive session, participants will explore these educative features through an immersive experience, demonstrating how they support teacher learning, decision-making, and sustainable curriculum adaptations to meet the specific needs of their students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Through an immersive experience, attendees will have the opportunity to consider educative features of OER science materials, including targeted callout boxes, that are designed to support enactment of the curriculum and localized adaptations to the materials that maintain the vision of the NGSS.

SPEAKERS:
Jonathan Tam

Assessment and grading are an integral part of science instruction in the classroom, but they don't have to be scary or daunting. Working together, the science curriculum team and the assessment team have developed a process for creating a transfer task with a new phenomenon to gather information and assess student understanding of their application of the standards from a unit. This process asks students to apply learning in a new way, rather than fill in the blanks with key vocabulary or recite certain facts from DCIs. These types of tasks peek student curiosity and promote a feeling of calm rather than anxiety because they don't look like a "test".

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will walk through the process that we use to create a transfer task for a unit of instruction. The process includes reviewing the standards, instruction from the unit, identifying a new phenomenon that the students can connect with, and designing the task.

SPEAKERS:
Tish Rezac, Miranda Orellana

In today’s diverse classrooms, traditional one-size-fits-all instruction often leaves some students behind while others are left unchallenged. This workshop introduces self-paced mastery learning, a flexible, student-centered approach grounded in differentiation, formative assessment, and creative strategies like visual note-taking, cooperative learning, and student voice and choice. Drawing from my experience designing interdisciplinary projects on topics like electricity and magnetism, water pollution, cell biology, and atomic theory, you will explore how connecting content across disciplines and using real-world applications can spark engagement, deepen understanding, and promote equity. Participants will leave with tools and strategies to build a classroom where students learn at their own pace, show meaningful evidence of understanding, and make lasting cross-curricular connections that go beyond the textbook.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to implement self-paced mastery learning in their classrooms by using differentiation, formative assessment, and creative strategies like visual note-taking and cooperative learning. Participants will leave with tools to create a student-centered, interdisciplinary learning.

SPEAKERS:
Kingsley Ogbonna

For learners to feel safe taking risks in an increasingly hostile classroom setting, it’s our responsibility to build a foam pit for them; a low-risk environment where they can challenge themselves without the fear of long-term consequences. Attendees will learn why multiple factors have caused a deep slide for many learners into a discomfort with or inability to take risks, collaborate and be challenged. The focus will then be on multiple strategies to rebuild their confidence in risk-taking, including reassessing assessments by changing grading policies, reframing the way teachers praise learners, and gamifying classrooms by implementing the qualities in games that lower the stress and fear for the player. This conversation will be grounded in educational psychology (Dweck, Maslow, Vygotsky), include opportunities for small and whole group discussion, and give specific examples of formative and summative assessments when discussing how to build a foam pit for our learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will receive ready-to-go activities, posters and strategies to help all learners feel safe taking academic risks, while also gaining a clear understanding of three types of challenging learners: Low Performers, Apathetic Underachievers, and High-Achieving Perfectionists.

SPEAKERS:
Ramy Mahmoud