NGSS in California
For a timeline of events and milestones to come, click here.
Milestones Achieved: The Road to New Science Standards
for California:
- May 9, 2018: CSTA presents a letter signed by more than 300 organizations in support of a placeholder for science on the Fall 2018 California School Dashboard to the California State Board of Education.
- April 16 - 20, 2018: CDE trains Instructional Materials Reviewers.
- Spring 2018: 5th Grade, 8th Grade, and 12th Grade students participate in CAST Field Test or CAA-Alternate Year 2 Pilot.
- March 2018 - June 2018: K-12 Alliance/WestEd, California Science Project, California Science Teachers Association, Curriculum and Instruction Steering Committee, and the California Department of Education host multiple Accelerating into NGSS Statewide Rollout professional learning events.
- December 2017: CDE releases the Fall 2017 California School Dashboard which includes reporting on NGSS implementation at the LEA-level in the Local Indicators Section: Implementation of Academic Standards.
- April 21, 2017 - July 21, 2017: CDE Recruited reviewers for K-8 Instructional Materials Adoption for science.
- April 2017 - December 2017: K-12 Alliance/WestEd, California Science Project, California Science Teachers Association, Curriculum and Instruction Steering Committee, and the California Department of Education host multiple Next Generation Science Standards State Rollout Symposium #4 professional learning events.
- March 20, 2017 - June 2017: LEAs administered CAST and CAAS pilot assessment to all students in grades five, eight, and assigned grades in high school.
- March 8, 2017: CDE released the pre-publication version of the new California Science Curriculum Framework
- February 7, 2017: CDE released practice items for the California Science Test (CAST) Pilot Assessment
- November 3, 2016: SBE approved the Science Curriculum Framework with the edits as recommended by the IQC.
- October 14, 2016: IQC met to review edits to the integrated middle school chapter (Chapter 5) of the draft framework.
- September 22, 2016: IQC met to consider comments (134 in total) from the second 60-public review period.
- June 28 – August 29, 2016: Second 60-day public review period of Science Curriculum Framework.
- May 19 - 20, 2016: IQC analyzed results of public review, revises draft, and approved second draft of Science Curriculum Framework for public review.
- April 2016 - December 2016: K-12 Alliance/WestEd, California Science Project, California Science Teachers Association, Curriculum and Instruction Steering Committee, and the California Department of Education host multiple Next Generation Science Standards State Rollout Symposium #3 professional learning events.
- March 9-10, 2016: State Board of Education to take action on CDE design plan for the California Next Generation Science Standards General Summative Assessment Plan to the State Board of Education for approval. http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/ag/ag/yr16/documents/mar16item02 (doc)
- March 1, 2016, SSPI to submmited plan for science assessments not required by the Federal government: http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/ag/ag/yr16/documents/mar16item01 (doc)
- February 26, 2016, CDE submitted design plan for the California Next Generation Science Standards General Summative Assessment Plan to the State Board of Education for approval. http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/ag/ag/yr16/documents/mar16item02 (doc)
- February 19, 2016, IQC Science SMC reviewed results of public review of Science Curriculum Framework and made edit recommendations.
- January 13-14, 2016, Presentation of Guiding Principles for Assessment were presented to and approved by the SBE.
- November 17, 2015 - January 19, 2016, First 60-day public review period of Science Curriculum Framework.
- September 24-25, 2015, Draft Science Curriculum Framework approved by IQC for public review.
- August 28, 2015: IQC Science Subject Matter Committee (SMC) reviewed draft Science Curriculum Framework.
- September, 2014 – May, 2015, Framework committee worked on revision of the Science Curriculum Framework. Meeting Dates were: September 9-10; October 9-10; November 5-6; January 22-23 and March 26-27; and May 20-21.
- April 2015 - December 2015, K-12 Alliance/WestEd, California Science Project, California Science Teachers Association, Curriculum and Instruction Steering Committee, and the California Department of Education host multiple Next Generation Science Standards State Rollout Symposium #2 professional learning events.
- On January 14, 2015 the California State Board of Education appointed two science teachers to the Instructional Quality Commission .
- On November 13, 2014 CDE presented a proposed timeline for implementing new science assessments as part of the statewide assessment system.
- On November 13, 2014 the California State Board of Education adopted the NGSS Systems Implementation Plan for California .
- On July 25, 2014 CDE issued a call for public comment on the draft of the state's Next Generation Science Standards Systems Implementation Plan for California .
- On July 15 - 18, 2014 the California Department of Education and ETS hosted science stakeholder meetings to inform the revision of the statewide assessment system (CAASPP) to support the new state science standards. The initial report from those meetings is available here .
- On July 10, 2014 the California State Board of Education approved the members of the Science Curriculum Framework and Evaluation Criteria Committee (CFCC) and the Science Curriculum Framework Guidelines.
- On May 15-16, 2014 the IQC Science SMC and IQC reviewed, modified, and approved the Science Curriculum Framework Guidelines and reviewed the applications for and selected for recommendation to the SBE the members and co-chairs of the CFCC.
- April 2014 - June 2015, K-12 Alliance/WestEd, California Science Project, California Science Teachers Association, Curriculum and Instruction Steering Committee, and the California Department of Education hosted multiple Next Generation Science Standards State Rollout Symposium #1 professional learning events.
- On April 18, 2014, the application period for CFCC membership closed. The State Board of Education will appoint CFCC members during their July 10-11, 2014 meeting .
- On April 16, 2014, CDE posted the alternative discipline specific model for middle grades science instruction.
- In January and February 2014, CDE hosted five regional Focus Group meetings to begin the process of revising the science framework.
- On January 16, 2014 CDE began accepting applications for the Curriculum Framework and Evaluation Criteria Committee (CFCC)
- On November 6, 2013, the California State Board of Education adopted the proposed integrated model as the preferred model for middle grades science instruction. In addition the SBE requested the CDE to reconvene the Science Expert Panel to develop as an alternative model a discipline specific model based upon the domain specific model that is outlined by Achieve in the NGSS Appendix K.
- The California State Board of Education adopted the Next Generation Science Standards for California and Appendices A-M on September 4, 2013.
- California released its proposed Next Generation Science Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten through Grade 12 on June 28, 2013.
- The first public draft of the NGSS was available for review May 14 - June 1, 2012. The second and final public draft was available for review January 8 - 29, 2013. The final version of the NGSS were released by Achieve in April 2013 .
- SB 1200 (Hancock) extended the timeline for the adoption of new science standards in California to later in 2013. The bill moved the deadlines of March 30, 2013 and July 30, 2013 outlined in SB 300 (see below) to July 31, 2013 and November 30, 2013, respectively.
- SB 300 (Hancock) was signed by Governor Brown in October, 2011. This bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to present to the State Board of Education recommended science content standards by March 30, 2013. The drafting of these recommended standards are to utilize the Next Generation Science Standards as the basis for deliberations and recommendations to the state board. The State Board must then adopt, reject, or modify the presented standards by July 30, 2013.
- California participated as a lead state partner in the development and review process of the Next Generation Science Standards, whose drafting was coordinated by Achieve. Part of the commitment of being a lead state partner is to "give serious consideration to adopting the resulting Next Generation Science Standards as presented."
- The drafting of the Next Generation Science Standards was guided by A K-12 Framework for Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas , authored by the National Academy of Sciences. The Framework is available for free download. A thorough understanding of this document will facilitate your understanding of the Next Generation Science Standards.