States are in
varying stages of developing their NCLB science assessments. Typically, states
contract with assessment companies which have a history of producing
standardized, norm referenced tests, e.g., the Iowa Test of Basic Skills
(ITBS), the Tera Nova, the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT-9, SAT-10).
These new NCLB
science tests must include either criterion-referenced assessments or augmented
norm-referenced assessments, or both. The world of the standardized,
multiple-choice, norm referenced test is disappearing as standards-aligned,
criterion-referenced tests emerge.
Because many states'
science standards include science inquiry and science process skills that are
difficult to assess with conventional multiple-choice questions, more and more
science assessments are taking on a different format and look. To assess a
student's skills, students must "perform".
Hands-on performance
assessment is moving us "beyond the bubble" of Scantron forms. When
students are asked to perform, they are better able to utilize their unique
learning styles (kinesthetic, visual, aural, etc.) as they tap into their own
content knowledge of science. Student work from hands-on performance
assessments better informs the teacher (and student) of what the student
understands versus what bubble he may have guessed to be right.
Hands-on performance
assessment in science requires students to perform various science skills
(observation, data collection, organizing data, data analysis, drawing
conclusions, etc.) as they manipulate equipment. Science equipment, typically
organized in classroom sets, is delivered as science kits.
As the need for
criterion-referenced science assessment of inquiry skills takes hold, the
demand for science kits will continue to increase. States, districts, and
schools are realizing that to assess science inquiry adequately, kits are a
necessary, essential part of the assessment program. Educators also realize
that if they are to meet the NCLB requirements for science assessment, i.e., to
use up-to-date measures to assess mastery of science standards, and the states'
science content standards include science inquiry, then the tests themselves
need to include student hands-on performance tasks. And since "what gets
tested gets taught," we will see an increasing number of science inquiry
learning activities in classroom curriculum throughout the school year.
The National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NAEP) program has been using science kits (HOTs) as
part of its science program since the 1990’s. These science tests are
administered every four years to a small sample of students across the nation.
Although this national assessment program advocates the use of performance
assessment requiring hands-on manipulation of science equipment, it is limited
in scope. The more powerful influences that are changing science assessment
nationally stem from the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.
In a recent report,
NAEP discusses the value of hands-on tasks.
Science education is
not just about learning facts in a classroom – it’s about doing activities
where students put their understanding of science principles into action. Tasks
were designed to assess how well students can perform scientific
investigations, draw valid conclusions, and explain their results. In 2009, in
addition to the paper-and-pencil questions, fourth-, eighth-, and
twelfth-graders also completed a new generation of hands-on tasks during which
students worked with lab materials and other equipment to perform experiments.
These tasks help us understand not only what students know, but how well they
are able to reason through complex problems and apply science to real-life
situations. While performing the…, hands-on tasks, students manipulate objects
and perform actual experiments, offering us richer data on how students respond
to scientific challenges.1
The Next Generation
Science Standards (NGSS) are written as performance expectations that are
composed of all three components of the Framework for K-12 Science
Education: Practices, crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas.2
Core ideas, practices, and crosscutting concepts are elements of each performance
expectation. These expectations are written to address one goal of the Framework,
i.e., a more seamless blending of practices with core ideas and crosscutting
concepts. Hands-on performance assessment tasks can be used to effectively
assess science practices and core ideas simultaneously.
1The Nation’s Report
Card: Science in Action: Hands-On and Interactive Computer Tasks From the 2009
Science Assessment (NCES 2012-468).
2A Framework for K-12
Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas, National
Research Council, 2012.
