Illinois Superintendents, Principals, Science Curriculum leaders, Teachers:

The following information serves as a resource providing awareness of the development and release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and important information about the public review and comment period that follows the release of the NGSS draft standards document.

Illinois has shown a strong commitment to the development of NGSS. Illinois is a part of the NGSS Lead State process. Twenty six states signed on to participate as lead states providing guidance to the writing of the standards as well as activities related to adoption and implementation of NGSS. In addition, the NGSS Writing Team includes three Illinois educators with expertise in K-12 science teaching and learning.A link to ISBE-NGSS Webpage is

Illinois Learning Standards - Science

Our current set of science standards, the Illinois Learning Standards (ILS) – Science remain in place and are the guiding document for instruction in Illinois classrooms. The Illinois Assessment Frameworks (IAF) also remains in place. The IAF, revised in 2004 and 2005, are designed to assist educators, test developers, policy makers and the public by clearly defining those elements of the ILS that are suitable for state testing. Prior to any change in standards, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) designs and conduct a comprehensive review process to review proposed standards documents. Additional information about ILS is available at

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

The development of NGSS is a state-led initiative managed by Achieve Inc. The NGSS are being developed collaboratively with states and other stakeholders in science, science education, higher education and industry. NGSS will be a set of standards that are rigorous, internationally benchmarked and will define content and practices to guide teaching and learning for all K-12 students. The standards have undergone review by state-level committees from each of the 26 lead states which includes Illinois. The first public draft of NGSS is expected in late April with a final version expected in December, 2012. NGSS will be based on the recently released Framework for K-12 Science Education Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (Framework) that offers a new vision for K–12 education in science and engineering and a significant shift in how these subjects are viewed and taught.Additional resources including archived webinars, report briefs are available at released, the draft NGSS will be available at this site.

Framework for K-12 Science Education Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (Framework)

Since its release in July of 2011,framework has been widely disseminated among the science and engineering education communities across the United States. This important document was created by the National Research Council (NRC) which brought together a committee of 18 experts in the fields of science and education. The purpose of the Framework document is to guide the writers of the Next Generation Science Standards as well as to provide a vision for all stakeholders what quality K-12 science instruction should look like in order for all students to be successful in understanding science. The link below provides access to the entire Framework document online. In order to download the Framework document as a PDF, you will need to submit a free registration to the NRC Site. Other resources such as a Report Brief are also available at this site.

The Vision of the Framework

The vision of the Framework includes the following important components leading to a deep understanding of the core ideas in physical sciences, life sciences, earth and space sciences, and engineering and technology:all students by end of grade 12 will have sufficient knowledge and engineering to engage in public discussions on science-related issues;core ideas are learned over multiple years of school;all students will be actively engaged in science and engineering practices; and crosscutting concepts are applied to all core ideas to deepen understanding. The Framework represents the first comprehensive document in over 16 years that addresses the needs of science and engineering education and will serve as the basis for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

The Framework organizes science education around three dimensions:

Scientific and Engineering Practices

Crosscutting Concepts

Disciplinary Core Ideas

These three dimensions are not intended to be taught separately from one another. Rather, they should be integrated in standards, assessment, curricula and instruction. For example, students should use the practices – such as conducting investigations and then analyzing and interpreting the data – to learn more about the core ideas.

Additional presentations about the Framework as well as NGSS will be available soon on theISBE-NGSS Webpage

Release of the draft NGSS

Following the release of the draft NGSS and a three-week review/comment period the NGSS Writing Committee will meet to consider suggestions for revision of NGSS. This is an incredibly important opportunity for educators, parents, business people, scientists, engineers to review and comment on the standards document. The Illinois science and engineering education community and other interested entities have an opportunity to shape the standards that will guide how students will learn science for years to come.

What You Can do to Prepare for the Review

The Framework represents the first step in a process that should inform state-level decisions and provide a research basis for improving science teaching and learning. Effective review of the draft NGSSmust begin with an understanding of the Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts and Core Ideas.

For further information concerning the NGSS review process or the Lead State Initiative, please contact Pam Stanko, Illinois State Board of Education, r Gil Downey, Illinois State Board of Education, .

ISBE has partnered with the Illinois Science Teachers Association (ISTA) to host a series of educator workshops to provide awareness of the Framework and NGSS.Along with ISBE consultants named above, leadership has been provided by Carol Baker, Curriculum Director for Science for CHSD 218, (), the current president of ISTA in planning and conducting the workshops. Carol also serves as one of the members of the NGSS Writing Team. The writing team is composed of 41 members from 26 states. Along with Carol, Chris Mohr, high school science teacher from Olympia High School and Rita Januszyk, a 4th grade teacher, Gower District 62 represented Illinois on the NGSS writing team.

One result from this important collaboration is the planning and conducting a series of meetings throughout the state to share information about the Frameworks and NGSS. The first meeting is scheduled for May 15, 2012 at the Illinois State Libraryin Springfield. A link to registration is available at

Additional information about NGSS Meetingswith locations and dates of other NGSS meetings taking place around the state will be announced on the ISBE and ISTA Websites. A link to the ISTA website is