Join us for an engaging session exploring several sense-making lessons, aligned with the NGSS. Discover amazing assessment tools used to inform your teaching and focus on increased student learning/excitement. Come investigate assessment strategies while engaging in sense-making lessons.

TAKEAWAYS:
The participants will take away a deeper understanding of innovative assessments (prior, formative and summative) that will inform them using sense-making lessons. We will specifically focus on what the results of the assessments mean and how that will change their teaching and student learning.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Dey, Judith McDonald

The session focuses on designing, building, and using 3-dimensional performance science assessment tasks. Analogous phenomena are used to develop novel K-12 tasks requiring the application of DCIs and CCCs to make sense of phenomena. A pool of items aligned to NGSS and STEELS standards is shared.

TAKEAWAYS:
The session will provide participants the strategies and insights into how analogous phenomena are used to develop summative assessment tasks for writing performance tasks for each of the NGSS standards.

SPEAKERS:
Juan-Carlos Aguilar, Brett Moulding

Teachers spend about 7-12 hours per week searching for & creating instructional materials. In this session we’ll hear from teachers about how using vetted, high quality materials as a starting point opened up new possibilities and helped them to be the teacher they always wanted to be.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how using high-quality instructional materials in your classroom can shift your role as teacher from "creator" to "innovator" and allow more time for supporting students and improving outcomes.

SPEAKERS:
Erika Palys

This interactive workshop will help teachers develop assessment question clusters that align with NGSS and include all 3 dimensions of the framework, ensuring a holistic evaluation of student knowledge and skills.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave this session not only with strategies and a framework for designing 3-dimensional assessment question clusters, but also with an assessment they create during the session.

SPEAKERS:
Libbie Haller

Move beyond passively visiting a museum to connect with curators & have your students take on the role of a teacher at a community event sponsored by the museum. Learn how to connect with local institutions, see samples of student work and leave with access to the full PBL project plan and more!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to organize, integrate and evaluate a long term PBL assessment into your curriculum. Leave with rubrics, a project plan and research template.

SPEAKERS:
Ilana Saxe

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 learn.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leave with an understanding of what transfer tasks are and an activity structure to use with students learning how to engage in this assessment practice.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Henson, William Penuel, Melissa Campanella

This session will explore using Success Criteria as steps toward mastery in math and science assessments to enhance student understanding and engagement. Participants will learn to create quality open educational resources (OER) that align with standards for effective assessment practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will leave with practical strategies for integrating Success Criteria into assessments, promoting student ownership of learning and improving instructional practices in math and science.

SPEAKERS:
Laura - Ashley Hayes

This presentation will share results of my research with a middle school science class on how the online program Classbank boosts student motivation for reassessment in mastery-based learning. It examines how game-like rewards impact students' willingness to improve performance and perceive learning

TAKEAWAYS:
A key takeaway is how Classbank's gamification enhances middle school students' motivation to engage in reassessment, driving improvement in performance.

SPEAKERS:
Alma Fernandez, Cecilia Duenas

Looking to design well-scaffolded, standards-based, clustered assessments but not sure where to begin? Learn about available tools and resources to help kickstart your 2D and 3D assessment design. Develop a system for constructing performance assessments that are relative and meaningful for all learners.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will evaluate existing 2D & 3D assessments, gain access to assessment design checklists, learn how to develop questions, distinguish between scenario and data-based prompts and begin to construct their own scaffolded performance-based assessment.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Burns, Jessica Mintz

Assessing student sensemaking can be time-consuming, and applying standards-based grading can seem overly vague. In this session we’ll analyze 3D assessment scenarios to uncover their scaffolded structure, and use that structure to develop leveling rubrics that quickly convert to traditional grades.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with samples of high-quality, scaffolded three-dimensional assessment scenarios, and strategies to make standards-based grading quick and consistent.

SPEAKERS:
Barbara McIntyre, Chris Geerer

It is powerful to connect science instruction to local phenomena and community priorities—but it is challenging work! Join us to explore benefits and cautions of adapting OpenSciEd instructional materials to local contexts and to learn multiple strategies for localization of resources.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leave with practical strategies and resources to adapt OpenSciEd effectively, making science education more culturally relevant, engaging, and impactful for their students.

SPEAKERS:
William Penuel, Melissa Campanella

Discover how to design and use rubrics that help create assessments that build and practice science skills. Learn how cognitive demand theory can elevate assessments and engage students in deeper learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Using universal backwards design and rubrics can help to create assessments that not only assess content knowledge but also promote critical thinking, skill mastery, and deeper learning by integrating cognitive demand principles into science skill building.

SPEAKERS:
Rachel Stindt

Many schools have common planning time or PLCs but sometimes they can feel more like a chore than a benefit. Why can’t you just have more personal prep time? In this session, we will share resources for CPT or PLCs that make them feel worthwhile, productive, and even enjoyable.

TAKEAWAYS:
Common planning time or PLCs are more effective when teachers are working with strong curricular materials. Well-designed and ready to use tools and structures for CPT/PLCs can support teachers to deepen their understanding of the materials and effectively prepare for future lessons they will teach.

SPEAKERS:
Benjamin Lowell, Renee Affolter

What approach can science educators use to create assessment tasks that support instructional practice and students’ three-dimensional learning? Participants will experience designing 3-dimensional tasks for classroom use that will help their students build toward the NGSS performance expectations.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to construct 3-dimensional assessment tasks that they can use in their classroom to promote student learning of the NGSS performance expectations.

SPEAKERS:
Christopher Harris, Joseph Krajcik

Explore how to design authentic assessments that align with NGSS and utilize standards-based grading. Learn practical strategies for unpacking rubrics to guide student learning and provide clear, actionable feedback that drives improvement.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to create NGSS-aligned assessments and develop rubrics that students can easily understand and use for self-assessment, promoting deeper learning and growth.

SPEAKERS:
Parwaneh Rezai Sepasi

Explore how NSTA's formative assessment probes from the popular Uncovering Student Ideas series are used in an instructional sequence to understand the ideas your K-5 students bring to their learning, inform next steps for responsive instruction, and build a powerful thinking classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
A key takeaway is how to use formative assessment probes to uncover and understand the prior knowledge that K-5 students bring to their learning in order to tailor next steps where student thinking is valued, misconceptions are addressed, and deeper conceptual understanding is cultivated.

SPEAKERS:
Page Keeley

Implentation of spectroscopic evidence in an elective high school chemistry course to identify various unknown organic structures.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will be provided with resources and assessments to identify an unknown organic compound given its % composition. The spectroscopic methods used are Infrared Spectrometry, Mass Spectrometry, and proton NMR Spectroscopy.

SPEAKERS:
Jeromy Bentley

Using a probe from the popular “Uncovering Student Misconceptions” series, the co-author will share student responses to address this foundational concept for teaching climate change. You will also gain a deeper understanding of the power of formative assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Understanding student misconceptions in this foundational component of climate change is critical prior to teaching the subject. Discover how engaging, open-ended probes provide insight into student ideas and misconceptions while learning ways to support them in understanding the concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Tucker

Want to create 3D assessment tasks that students enjoy completing and leave wanting to learn more? Join us for this session where we will explore three different approaches to choosing phenomena and problems for assessments that align to standards and connect to students’ interests and identities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will leave with a plan for learning about your students’ interests and the priorities of their communities pertaining to a 3D standard you are teaching and assessing next semester.

SPEAKERS:
William Penuel, Abraham Lo

This session focuses on designing, building, and, using three-dimensional performance tasks to assess learning of science. The session will feature ways to find analogous phenomena to use in assessment three-dimensional science learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain an understanding of effective three-dimensional science assessment practices for grades 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12 and a pool of three-dimensional assessment tasks for each of the NGSS standards.

SPEAKERS:
Brett Moulding, Juan-Carlos Aguilar

Explore the range of needs of urban science educators. Interactive rotating discussions and networking will focus on instructional strategies, professional development opportunities, school environment challenges, technology integration, equity and inclusion issues, and collaborative partnerships.

TAKEAWAYS:
Urban science educators gain a deeper understanding of their specific needs and develop practical strategies to enhance their teaching practices, access resources, address equity and inclusion challenges, and build partnerships within their urban school environments.

SPEAKERS:
Selene Verhofstad, Elizabeth Spike

This session explores how integrating executive functioning strategies and gamification in science promotes student autonomy, engagement, and resilience. Learn how leveled assessments provide differentiated challenges, empowering students to choose their learning path and showcase their strengths.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to incorporate executive functioning strategies and gamification into science instruction, using leveled assessments to provide differentiated challenges.

SPEAKERS:
Casey Kleiman, Kris Tidball

A discussion of philosophy and experiences of reshaping teaching and learning of conceptual physics at a small technical college. The presentation will detail the use of a portfolio assessment approach instead of traditional high-stakes exams, and the effects on student performance and attitudes.

TAKEAWAYS:
The use of a portfolio assessment strategy allows students the chance to learn and apply physics through doing, rather than memorizing and applying formulas. A draft based approach encourages students to continually revise and improve their understanding of difficult concepts over the semester.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Romanovich

In the age of project and lab based learning, how can we include ways to assess students on the laboratory skills that they practice? Learn strategies for including lab-based assessments that target lab skills without simply labeling diagrams. Linking lab skills to careers in STEM.

TAKEAWAYS:
Practical ways to implement assessments of lab skills in biology and biotechnology classes.

SPEAKERS:
Marissa Hamilton

Explore how NSTA's formative assessment probes from the popular Uncovering Student Ideas series are used in an instructional sequence to understand the ideas your Grades 6-12 students bring to their learning, inform next steps for responsive instruction, and build a powerful thinking classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
A key takeaway is how to use formative assessment probes to uncover and understand the prior knowledge that grades 6-12 students bring to their learning in order to tailor next steps where student thinking is valued, misconceptions are addressed, and deeper conceptual understanding is cultivated.

SPEAKERS:
Page Keeley

Grading that supports student sensemaking doesn't have to keep you at school all night. Learn approaches to grading that prioritize 3D sensemaking and utilize technology, collaboration, and existing resources so you have can your evenings back.

TAKEAWAYS:
The process of giving feedback and assigning grades is easier when there are strong materials and assessments to build from and technology can help make it faster without decreasing effectiveness for students.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Delaney

This session will focus on helping all physics students communicate their knowledge. AP Physics Course Leads will share strategies for incorporating Science Practices into all physics classrooms, with a focus on preparing students to communicate their understanding on the new AP Physics FRQ types.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will walk away with an understanding of the skills assessed on each of the four free response questions and strategies for how they can prepare students for success on the AP Physics Exams. Time will be reserved for questions and discussion.

SPEAKERS:
Dee Dee Messer

This presentation will explore the implementation of Standards-Based Grading (SBG) within an integrated math and science 9th grade course, highlighting its benefits, challenges, and practical strategies for effective assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore Integration of Math and Science: Present the pedagogical rationale for integrating math and science in the freshman curriculum. Share examples of interdisciplinary lessons and assessments that utilize SBG principles.

SPEAKERS:
Andrew Vogl, Zhanna Glazenburg

The iDrone Online Camp engages middle and high school students in STEM through hands-on drone technology experiences. Participants engage in project-based learning, competitions, and FAA Part 107 discussions, enhancing critical thinking, teamwork, and self-efficacy in STEM.

TAKEAWAYS:
The session will highlight the positive impact of experiential learning on students' STEM interests and career aspirations.

SPEAKERS:
Jiyoon Yoon

NSTA's Science Scope columnist and NSTA Press’s Creative Writing in Science author Katie Coppens will provide strategies to integrate reading and writing in science with an emphasis on differentiation. Models and rubrics will be provided. Everyone will leave with ideas for implementation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Integrating science and literacy engages students while enhancing their scientific knowledge and improving their writing skills! Each activity gives students voice and choice to strengthen their interest in various areas of science. Student models are provided to show strategies in action.

SPEAKERS:
Katie Coppens

Retakes have been a hot topic in allowing students to demonstrate learning mastery. This has been supported by many including the work of Dr. Joe Feldman, author of Grading for Equity, but how does this work in practice in a science setting? Join to hear from someone who has tried this out.

TAKEAWAYS:
An honest reflection on the application of offering retakes to students in written assessments to help you make an informed decision on your own grading practices.

SPEAKERS:
Will Leech

This presentation will share results of my research with a middle school science class on how the online program Classbank boosts student motivation for reassessment in mastery-based learning. It examines how game-like rewards impact students' willingness to improve performance and perceive learning

TAKEAWAYS:
A key takeaway is how Classbank's gamification enhances middle school students' motivation to engage in reassessment, driving improvement in performance.

SPEAKERS:
Alma Fernandez, Cecilia Duenas

This session looks at the research behind play-based learning and ways of and criteria for assessing science play in the P-2 group. Participant will actively assess several play scenarios

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave with experience assessing some science play scenarios, assessment guidelines, and research citations supporting play-based learning to use and share in their own contexts

SPEAKERS:
Anne Lowry

The field of science education has made great strides in implementing the Next Generation Science Standards in order to fulfill the vision for science education established in A Framework for K-12 Science Education. Progress has been made developing high quality instructional materials with embedded

TAKEAWAYS:
Deepen your understanding of 3D feedback and grading while also developing practical strategies for making impactful changes in your classroom.

SPEAKERS:
William Penuel, Melissa Campanella

Figuring out what to grade for 3-dimensional teaching and learning is a challenge. Come see how we use OpenSciEd's assessment guidance to create unit-long learning progression rubrics that support assessing students in mastering intentionally developed SEPs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Our method of deriving Newton's 2nd Law in OpenSciEd Physics Unit 3: Collisions and Momentum is motivated by student ideas. Students are wondering how much time it takes to stop a car. They design an experiment with a unique "force cart" apparatus, then construct an algebraic model from their data.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Kremer, Dr. Patty McGinnis

Electronic Exit Tickets check for understanding of lesson-level PEs, make connections between content and students’ lives, elicit information about their experiences, and help students reflect on their own use of SEPs and CCCs. They can help reduce grading time and provide actionable information abo

TAKEAWAYS:
Reduce grading time and get the data you need when you need it with 3D Electronic Exit Tickets.

SPEAKERS:
Kate Henson

Educators learn to create digital formative assessments utilizing Earth science simulations from Concord Consortium and Infiniscope’s Simple Authoring tool. Educators will learn how to embed these simulations, hear from peers, and gain strategies to enhance digital learning outcomes.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will discover how to leverage Earth science simulations from Concord Consortium to create interactive, formative assessments using Infiniscope’s Simple Author. By integrating these tools, they can enhance student engagement and improve learning outcomes in digital learning environments.

SPEAKERS:
Jessica Kreter, Christine Girtain, Melanie Narish, Stephanie Harmon

Explore how NSTA's popular Uncovering Student Ideas series, including the newly published Volume 2 life science formative assessment probes, are used in an instructional sequence to understand the key ideas about life science concepts your grades 3-12 students bring to their learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
How to use the life science formative assessment probes to uncover and understand the prior knowledge that grades 3-12 students bring to their learning in order to tailor next steps where student thinking is valued, misconceptions are addressed, and deeper conceptual understanding is supported.

SPEAKERS:
Page Keeley

Assessments where students use understanding of disciplinary core ideas, science & engineering practices & crosscutting concepts rather than only assessing scientific ideas, is challenging. I share 5-min to 1-hour tasks, & explanations & models that develop over time or as culminating assessments.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave with several shorter and longer 3-D water quality assessment tasks that require students to use their understandings. These assessments inform students & teachers of where students are in their learning so teachers can adjust instruction to best serve all students.

SPEAKERS:
Ann Novak

How I implemented a new curriculum, Lab-Aids, and how I implemented Equitable Grading (Mastery Grading) in Middle School Science. I leaned heavily on CERs and the rubrics from Lab-Aids. My district also has a work habit grade which I utilized for a grade based on the student's spiral notebook.

TAKEAWAYS:
Equitable grading and mastery grading works well for all middle school students.

SPEAKERS:
Donald Selway

Discover strategies to boost your students' skills in explaining and evaluating scientific knowledge in real-world contexts. This presentation offers insights from using science discovery narratives and a science literacy tool to enhancing literacy in urban high schools.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to systematically assess students' application of scientific knowledge to solve socio-scientific issues via written communication skills.

SPEAKERS:
Eual Phillips

This session will explore using Success Criteria as steps toward mastery in math and science assessments to enhance student understanding and engagement. Participants will learn to create quality open educational resources (OER) that align with standards for effective assessment practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will leave with practical strategies for integrating Success Criteria into assessments, promoting student ownership of learning and improving instructional practices in math and science.

SPEAKERS:
Laura - Ashley Hayes

Take That For Data walks participants through data trackers that allow teachers and scholars to be able to easily track their data and success rate on different standards and assignments. Teachers can quickly check progress as students will be able to be accountable for their own data.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will be able to implement student data trackers to help students be accountable for their growth. Teachers will have an easy to use tracker to measure student progress at a glance.

SPEAKERS:
Kari Walters

Explore effective assessment strategies for measuring student understanding in science. We will cover formative and summative assessments, rubrics, and methods for providing meaningful feedback to students.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will walk away ideas to enhance student learning through the strategic use of both formative and summative assessments, supported by clear rubrics and constructive feedback.

SPEAKERS:
Richard Warren Jr

Assessment as a transformative practice focused on how to elicit evidence to support student learning.  Science educators must plan the instructional activities with assessments to improve in-class learning outcomes. What is learned from multiple choice, essays, and diagrams is examined.

TAKEAWAYS:
Conceptual understanding, rather than memorization, is a more useful measurement of student learning and how three assessment strategies: objective-based questions, drawing of a model, and learner-generated constructed response can be used to gauged achievement.

SPEAKERS:
Stephen Farenga, Salvatore Garofalo

Join us to explore how we’ve made dissection purposeful, NGSS aligned, assessment based and FUN! We’ll look closely at an 8th grade Evolution and Adaptation Unit that focuses on sharks as the phenomena to drive this unforgettable learning experience.

TAKEAWAYS:
A hands-on dissection is a worthwhile and rigorous way to motivate middle school students to learn about adaptations. Participants will learn how to contextualize a dissection within a unit focused on evolution and how to prepare students to achieve maximum impact and then demonstrate learning.

SPEAKERS:
Megan Janke

Foster sense-making and creativity among your students with the integration of One Pagers into your assessment repertoire. In this session, participants will learn how this open-ended assessment prompt can help your learners take ownership of the knowledge they have gained in science and beyond.

TAKEAWAYS:
One Pagers offer a flexible assessment tool for any classroom and learning level. Teachers will gain insights for implementing One Pagers, explore real examples, and discuss qualitative data collection. This method empowers students to creatively visualize and summarize their learning

SPEAKERS:
Lori Anderson, Lindsay Head, Dru Humphrey

What’s in a good assessment? Learn what to look for (or include) in an effective assessment that tracks students’ 3D learning related to middle school PEs.

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

Participants will learn how to identify priority and supporting standards. This session will illustrate the utilization of priority standards in assessment writing; intentionally aligning standards, instruction and assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants at this conference will explore the importance of identifying priority standards and how to align them intentionally with instruction to enhance student achievement. The workshop will focus on building a foundation for common assessments to improve learning outcomes.

SPEAKERS:
Lynn DiAndrea, Dr. Kristen Cummings

Transform your assessment tool into a powerful instrument for enhancing learning. Designed for educators from K-16, with an aim to streamline the grading process, make rubrics strengths-based, differentiable across all levels, and centered on developing transferable skills. Bring your own rubric!

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with their own revised rubric that not only simplifies grading but also fosters student engagement and achievement. They will discover ways to provide constructive, actionable feedback that drives improvement and facilitates student growth.

SPEAKERS:
Elise Naramore

Learn how to identify, document, and address student learning deficiencies and implementing RTI in the Science Classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn concrete ways to identify students who need RTI, creating spreadsheets to track student data, and developing a intervention plan to address student needs.

SPEAKERS:
Kyla Glasser

Simplify and streamline your workday with Schoology! Strategies used by a regular classroom teacher will be shared to aid in PLC collaboration, assignment and assessment differentiation, and transparent communication with parents.

TAKEAWAYS:
Strategies will promote streamlining assignments, ensuring inclusion of all students, simplifying PLC practices, and sharing course information with parents. Necessary set-ups will be shared so that attendees can immediately incorporate them into their own in-person or digital classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Andrea Starks

We are re-imagining assessment for elementary students that elevates three-dimensions. Join us to learn more about how we develop more aligned and holistic assessment opportunities.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn to evaluate the assessments they are currently using and elevate them to support student sense making.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Starr

Participants will learn engaging, hands-on science activities to help Emergent Bilingual students at nationally recognized language levels. You'll explore ways to teach and reinforce key science ideas like force, motion, and energy while checking how well students learn new vocabulary and concepts!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn how to engage and assess Emergent Bilingual students using hands-on science strategies for force, motion, and energy aligned with national language and content standards while building formative tools to support language growth and more profound understanding in your science classroom!

SPEAKERS:
Gwinn North, Ricardo Lumbreras

Are you a new or tenured chemistry teacher looking for some short, fun hands-on laboratory activities that reinforce the NGSS and increase students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills? Then, this is a session you will not want to miss.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will perform a handful of laboratory experiment procedures to learn first hand what their students will experience in class as summative assessments that are not memorize and forget. This will help these teachers to better understand where common mistakes and misconceptions may be made.

SPEAKERS:
Paula Irwin

The session shares the development of an observation instrument structured to capture science teacher's linguistic adaptations and racial equity practices. The instrument is qualitative (ethnographic notes) and quantitative (rubric scores) with opportunities to inform science teaching practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Understand language practices that support multilingual learners in the science classroom and types of racial equity practices that support sense of belonging in the science classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Cocas, Won Jung Kim, Linda Soto, Marco Bravo, Ruby Gutierrez