Professional Learning Series: Formative Assessment for 3D Science Learning (NYSSLS/NGSS)

Join STANYS and WestEd for a one-day, classroom-focused professional learning experience (offered in three locations: July 27th SUNY New Paltz, July 28th OCM BOCES, July 29th SUNY Buffalo State) designed for science educators implementing phenomenon-driven, storyline-based instruction aligned to NYSLS/NGSS. This session centers on using daily, instruction-embedded formative assessment to make student thinking visible across the three dimensions of science learning—Science & Engineering Practices (SEPs), Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs), and Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs)—and to make timely, responsive instructional decisions.

Participants will learn what effective formative assessment looks like in classrooms, then engage in guided practice to design or refine tasks, interpret student evidence using analysis routines, and plan next steps that keep instruction moving—to meet the needs of all students. 

Key takeaways you can use right away

By the end of the day, educators will leave with:

• An understanding of how formative assessment supports real-time instructional decision-making in NYSLS/NGSS-aligned classrooms
• Strategies to elicit evidence of student learning during everyday instruction (not just at the end of a unit)
• Classroom-ready tools and routines, such as:
• • The qualities of lesson-sized learning goals and success criteria
  • Strategies to design tasks that elicit evidence of learning
  • Student work analysis protocols
  • Instructional decision-making tools
• At least one ready-to-use formative assessment routine/task plus a concrete plan to adapt and apply it to their own course, unit, or storyline context.