1. Start with the Science & Technology Standards (2002, 2008?)
Standards establish broad categories of what all students should know and be able to accomplish at Grades 4, 7, 10, 12.
Standards provide insight into what we value in our programs in Pennsylvania.
They focus not only on the content that students must know, but also specify what student should be able to do as a consequence of our educational program.
Standards must be clear to all stakeholders in the Commonwealth: students, teachers, administrators, School Board members, parents and community members.
All stakeholders must understand the standards that have been set for all of our students as they grow through the K-12 experience in school.
Clear Standards are an essential ingredient in the development of partnerships between the home and school that prove most beneficial to the achievement of our students.
Pennsylvania Standards in RWSL, Math, Social Studies, and Science are being revised, not rewritten.
Reflective Questions to Ask about this Component in our school:
Are all teachers in our school/district aware of and teaching to the standards?
What standards are covered in my content area?
What are assessment anchors and eligible content? What function do they serve?
Is my curriculum aligned to the standards?
Do our teachers “just” teach the assessment anchors? If so, what can we do to transition instruction tied to standards instead of anchors?

2. Consider Fair Assessments: The Science PSSA
PA Science Assessment Anchors (2008) are aligned to PA Standards and focus on super essential content for grades 4, 8, 11.
Assessments set the targets of our efforts
Assessments provide the vision of what we expect of our students and provide a vehicle for us to determine whether we are on a correct course of action to achieve our goals with our students.
At one time, assessment was only about evaluation and establishing grades. Today, we understand that assessment has many formats each with a separate purpose and providing important but different information about student learning.
The Fair Assessment Component will contain critical resources in each of the four assessment categories listed on the slide and will provide assistance to teachers on how best to use assessment to inform curricular and instructional decision making.
Summative Assessment: seeks to make an overall judgment of progress made at the end of a defined period of instruction. They occur at the end of a school level, grade, or coursed, or are administered at certain grades for purposes of state or local accountability. These are considered high-stakes assessments and the results are often used in conjunction with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). They are designed to produce clear data on the student’s accomplishments at key points in his or her academic career. The PSSA is a summative assessment. PVAAS is an analysis of summative assessment data.
Formative Assessment: in Pennsylvania we are defining formative assessment as classroom based assessment that allows teachers to monitor and adjust their instructional practice in order to meet the individual needs of their students. Formative assessment can consist of formal instruments or informal observations.
Diagnostic Assessments: the purpose of diagnostic assessment is to ascertain, prior to instruction, each student’s strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, and skills. Establishing these permits the instructor to remediate students and adjust the curriculum to meet each pupil’s unique needs.
Examples of diagnostic assessments are: DRA’s, Running Records, GRADE, GMADE
Benchmark Assessments: are designed to provide feedback to both the teacher and the student about how the student is progressing towards demonstrating proficiency on grade level standards.
Examples of benchmark assessments are: 4Sight, Riverside 9-12, DIBELS
Reflective Questions to Ask about this Component in our school:
Do our teachers know the similarities and differences between formative and summative assessments?
How do our teachers use diagnostic assessments in the classroom?
To what extent does our district have a system to collect, analyze and disseminate data efficiently for use by school leaders/teams/teachers?
How does our district use data from formative assessments to diagnose the effectiveness of instruction and to define professional development?
What role does Getting Results play in our school improvement/enhancement plan?

3. Science Standards and Anchors are Aligned
Science Standards: Grades 4, 7, 10, 12
(Instruction) ↕ ↕ ↕
Science Anchors: Grades 4, 8, 11
(Assessment)
For Grades 8 and 11, the Science PSSA assesses the preceding year’s Standards.

4. Developing The SAS Science Curriculum Framework
Four Guiding Principles:
Use the current research base
Interconnect strands of scientific proficiency
Organize conceptual knowledge around big ideas
Recognize multiple sequences and web-like growth
Assessments set the targets of our efforts
Assessments provide the vision of what we expect of our students and provide a vehicle for us to determine whether we are on a correct course of action to achieve our goals with our students.
At one time, assessment was only about evaluation and establishing grades. Today, we understand that assessment has many formats each with a separate purpose and providing important but different information about student learning.
The Fair Assessment Component will contain critical resources in each of the four assessment categories listed on the slide and will provide assistance to teachers on how best to use assessment to inform curricular and instructional decision making.
Summative Assessment: seeks to make an overall judgment of progress made at the end of a defined period of instruction. They occur at the end of a school level, grade, or coursed, or are administered at certain grades for purposes of state or local accountability. These are considered high-stakes assessments and the results are often used in conjunction with No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). They are designed to produce clear data on the student’s accomplishments at key points in his or her academic career. The PSSA is a summative assessment. PVAAS is an analysis of summative assessment data.
Formative Assessment: in Pennsylvania we are defining formative assessment as classroom based assessment that allows teachers to monitor and adjust their instructional practice in order to meet the individual needs of their students. Formative assessment can consist of formal instruments or informal observations.
Diagnostic Assessments: the purpose of diagnostic assessment is to ascertain, prior to instruction, each student’s strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, and skills. Establishing these permits the instructor to remediate students and adjust the curriculum to meet each pupil’s unique needs.
Examples of diagnostic assessments are: DRA’s, Running Records, GRADE, GMADE
Benchmark Assessments: are designed to provide feedback to both the teacher and the student about how the student is progressing towards demonstrating proficiency on grade level standards.
Examples of benchmark assessments are: 4Sight, Riverside 9-12, DIBELS
Reflective Questions to Ask about this Component in our school:
Do our teachers know the similarities and differences between formative and summative assessments?
How do our teachers use diagnostic assessments in the classroom?
To what extent does our district have a system to collect, analyze and disseminate data efficiently for use by school leaders/teams/teachers?
How does our district use data from formative assessments to diagnose the effectiveness of instruction and to define professional development?
What role does Getting Results play in our school improvement/enhancement plan?

5. Science Standards Aligned Systems
Science Curriculum Framework using 4 principles has developed Big Ideas, Concepts, and Competencies to provide an overarching focus for schools and teachers.
Know = Concepts
Understand = Big Ideas
Do = Competencies
SAS is designed to give focus to school districts as they design curriculum and instruction.