What Are Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)? And Why Are They Important?

This blog post was written by Savvas author Michael E. Wysession, a geophysics professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. Wysession also chaired the National Science Foundation’s Earth Science Literacy Initiative and authored the Earth and Space Science section for both the National Research Council’s Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards.

We are in the midst of an amazing if somewhat quiet revolution in the United States: K-12 schools across the country are revising their science programs to teach science in a new way that is substantial, quantitative, based on research in learning progressions, focused on the practices of science and engineering, available to all students, designed around engaging phenomenon-based storylines, and — most importantly — fun!

How are science teachers making these moves toward more engaging instruction? They are aligning their lessons with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the results have already been positive. But the revolution is still underway.

The path to aligning science education with standards that help us teach science in an effective way that is exciting and lasting for students has been a difficult one, and the U.S. has been wrestling with this for centuries. The transition is challenging due to many external factors that include the limited financial resources for teacher professional development, educational materials, and classroom equipment.

Nonetheless, nearly all U.S. states have adopted the NGSS (NRC, 2013) verbatim or have integrated them into their own state standards, which is a remarkable achievement that bodes very well for the future of science in America.

The History of Science Standards in the United States

The Next Generation Science Standards are K-12 science education standards that set expectations for what students should be able to do in the areas of science. The standards were designed to enhance science education for all students in every state. Establishing science standards in the U.S., however, was not an easy or straightforward path.

There are two key elements to understand when discussing the evolution of the U.S. K-12 science education standards.

First, educators in this country have been struggling with establishing standards for a very long time and the struggling primarily has occurred at state and not federal levels. Historically, science education standards aren't just designed to teach scientific facts; they also aim to address broader societal needs.

Perhaps the first documented case of secondary education science standards goes as far back as Horace Mann, who adapted the standards of Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia, for the state standards of Massachusetts in 1853.

Since then various models for science education standards have been developed, driven by a diverse range of reasons including the need for individuals to develop personally and professionally, concerns about national security, the desire for a stable society, and the ongoing pursuit of new scientific knowledge.

Second, it is illegal in the U.S. to have a national science curriculum, or national curriculum for any subject. This was codified in the 1965 Primary and Secondary Education Act when President Lyndon B. Johnson got funding for his War on Poverty, a series of programs and policies to help end poverty by providing access to education, health care, and nutrition assistance. Congress provided the funding for these programs in return for the assurance that the federal government would not tell the states what to teach.

This context makes any sweeping educational changes such as the attempt to broadly improve science education across the whole country very challenging.

Creating the NGSS: A Behind-the-Scenes Look

In spite of these historical challenges, a new and exciting way of teaching science is now being implemented in 45 U.S. states. Twenty states and Washington, D.C., have adopted the NGSS verbatim and 25 states have adapted them into their state standards, including regionally focused standards, which is testament to the result of very careful planning carried out at multiple levels and can be traced back to several important factors.

National Research Council (NRC) Framework

The NGSS began with a comprehensive Framework for K-12 Science Education, released in 2011 by the National Research Council, which is the operational arm of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NRC, 2012). This framework established the foundation for the 3-Dimensional learning of the NGSS, a teaching approach that integrates three elements of learning: science and engineering practices (SEP), crosscutting concepts (CCC), and disciplinary core ideas (DCI).

Big Ideas of Science

In writing the NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education, the goal was to reduce the total volume of science content by at least 10 percent from previous standards to allow teachers and students more time to delve deeply into a smaller number of investigations.

This reduction aimed to end the “mile wide and inch deep” approach to teaching science, where students had a brief exposure to many different scientific topics. To do this, we focused on a smaller number of scientific “Big Ideas” with high relevance to students. For example, physical science now includes a new focus on digital technologies because of the way that cell phones have changed students’ lives; life science included greater emphasis on environmental systems; and Earth and space science (ESS) included a large focus on human interactions with the earth through natural resources, natural hazards, human impacts, and global climate change.

Much of the scientific core content was taken from recent scientist-led frameworks such as the Earth Science Literacy Framework (75 key concepts that all Americans should know about the earth), which I had previously organized at the request of the National Science Foundation (ESLI, 2009).

Learning Progressions and Active Learning

In the decades leading up to the NGSS a great deal of exciting pedagogical research had been done on topics such as learning progressions, active learning methods, and the cognitive science of learning, and these were incorporated into the NRC Framework.

Phenomenon-Based Learning

In writing the Framework and ensuing NGSS, we looked at the leading models of science education from many other countries for inspiration. One very exciting model was Phenomenon Based Learning (PhBL), which had started in Finland and spread through Scandinavia. PhBL involves engaging students with interesting scientific phenomena, encouraging student questions about the phenomena, and then designing storylines of student-centered inquiry that allow students to learn the three dimensions through their efforts to answer their own questions to understand the phenomena.

Direct Connection Between the NRC Framework and NGSS

The momentum of the Framework for K-12 Science Education was continued by immediately starting work on the NGSS as soon as the framework was finished, with several key people from the framework continuing on with the NGSS. For example, the four chairs of the Design Teams for Physical, Life, Earth/Space, and Engineering for the framework chaired these same teams for the writing of the NGSS. I was honored to serve as the chair of Earth/Space for both initiatives.

The “N” Does Not Stand for National

The NGSS were intentionally written without any federal funding or incentives (remember, a national educational curriculum would be illegal). The Common Core (for math and English) had become controversial because of the federal “Race to the Top” incentives that required states to adopt the Common Core to be eligible for funding. The writing of the NGSS was supervised by Achieve, Inc., a non-profit states-led governors-created educational organization, so the NGSS were “by states” and “for states.” As was often said, “The ‘N’ in NGSS does not stand for ‘National.’”

The NGSS were written by a large team of experts that spanned all areas of education and represented most U.S. states. In addition, a call was put out for states to directly participate in the review and revision of the NGSS, which had bipartisan support among the 26 participating states that signed on.

Fostering STEM Curricula

To make sure that NGSS-designed curricula would be truly STEM-based, the design principles of engineering were included into all parts of the 3-Dimensional learning, and all standards were also explicitly aligned with the Common Core Mathematics standards, as well as the English Language Arts standards. As a result, American industry became a huge supporter and advocate for the NGSS because they saw this as the best means of ensuring a healthy pipeline of future STEM-literate employees.

All NGSS Standards Are for All Students

The NGSS aren’t a shopping list of optional standards. They aren’t just for honors or advanced students. They represent the science that all students should experience. They should provide the needed foundation for students who plan to go on to become scientists and engineers, and a sufficient science and engineering understanding for those who don’t but still need to function capably in a technology-driven world.

Similarly, the NGSS standards aren’t optional by subject. All students are required to meet performance expectations in all of the sciences at each grade band (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12), which has meant a scramble in many states to include roughly a year’s worth of Earth and space science in high school, from where it has traditionally been absent.

For a creative approach on how to integrate Earth and space science into high school biology, chemistry, and physics courses, I recommend the California Three-Course Integrated High School Science Program (California Department of Education, 2017), which follows the Modified Science Domains curricular model of Appendix K of the NGSS.

The result of creating the NGSS was that even without any incentives for states to adopt the standards or penalties if they didn’t (no carrots, no sticks), 45 states and D.C. are now in the process of transitioning to NGSS-aligned curricula, and the remaining states (Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Virginia) have incorporated many aspects of the NRC Framework, including 3-Dimensional learning, the eight science and engineering practices (SEPs), and phenomenon-based learning.

NGSS Leads to Accessible and Enjoyable Science Learning

By aligning our science education with the NGSS, we’re encouraging students to think critically, apply scientific reasoning, and develop problem-solving skills that are essential for living in the modern world.

As more schools transition to NGSS-aligned curricula, it is crucial to continue supporting educators with professional development, resources, and assessment tools that align with this innovative framework.

The success of the NGSS ultimately hinges on our ability to make science accessible and enjoyable for all students, and by inspiring them to explore and appreciate the world through a scientific lens. By fostering curiosity and a hands-on approach to learning, the NGSS ensure that students not only develop scientific knowledge but also a lifelong passion for discovery, which is essential for cultivating the next generation of scientists, engineers, and informed citizens.

You Might Also Be Interested In …

• BLOG: Phenomena-Driven Learning: Effectively Using Natural Phenomena in Science Instruction
• PODCASTS: Keepin’ Science Real Series
• FREE ACTIVITY: The Pencil Challenge

References

• California Department of Education (2016). 2016 Science Framework, Chapter 7: High school Three-Course Model. Retrieved from https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/sc/cf/cascienceframework2016.asp
• Earth Science Literacy Initiative (2009). Earth Science Literacy Principles: The Big Ideas and Supporting Concepts of Earth Science. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.earthscienceliteracy.org/
• National Research Council (2012). A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13165.
• National Research Council (2013), Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/18290