KnowAtom's Blog

New Findings: Teachers & Students Transformed by Next Generation Science Standards with Curriculum Designed by KnowAtom

Jun 8, 2021 by Samantha Ozgood

New research from Northeastern University researcher Dr. Tracy L. Waters identifies the changes middle and elementary school teachers made to their instructional practices when implementing KnowAtom’s Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS)-based curriculum. She describes the KnowAtom curriculum as “built on an innovative approach to teaching science based on the NGSS, where teachers become facilitators of learning rather than givers of information.” Her research shows just how much “teaching practice was transformed through curriculum implementation when teachers began to release responsibility to students…”.

Continue reading

Topics: Next Generation Science Standards, Policy, Professional Development, Implementing New Science Standards, Next Generation Leadership

How to Avoid the Public Backlash with NGSS that Happened With Common Core

Feb 3, 2016 by Francis Vigeant

There has been a lot of negativity surrounding the Common Core State Standards, I would argue much of which results from the ways in which communities learned about them, rather than their actual worth. 

Continue reading

Topics: Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core Standards, Policy, School Climate and Culture

Massachusetts Adopts Next Generation of Science, Technology, and Engineering Standards for K-12

Jan 30, 2016 by Nicole Lanoue

On January 26th, 2016, while most educators were hard at work in their classrooms, the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education met at Roxbury Community College to vote on a resolution to adopt a new set of K-12 science standards. The proposed standards, a very close reflection of the Next Generation Science Standards, are taking the place of the 2006 Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for Science, Technology, and Engineering.

Continue reading

Topics: STEM, Policy