NGSS IN MULTI-GRADE CLASSROOMS: EXPERIENCES FROM RURAL EASTERN OREGON

Multi-grade classroom teachers must simultaneously guide multiple students of varying age through NGSS-disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts. A particular challenge is scaffolding curriculum over as many as eight years so that each student experiences no gaps and minimal redundancy. Our University/School Partnerships project includes 22 rural school districts: ten K-8 districts have two-room schools and seven K-12 districts have multi-grade classrooms. Our project developed a four-year repeating framework for multi-grade classrooms to support the progression of scientific knowledge all students must master to be successful in high school. The overall approach is to present lesson sequences organized by disciplinary core ideas and highly differentiated by depth of the core idea and level of science and engineering practice. The framework integrates NSTA Quick-Reference Guides to the NGSS for Elementary and Middle School, Proficiency Scales for the New Science Standards by Marzano and Yanoski, and websites that support NGSS. Objectives were created for scope and sequence units for disciplinary core ideas and guidelines for implementing standards at grade levels with lesson planning and activities. Work has been completed for “year one” of the four-year framework and, particularly for two-room districts, work is progressing for years 2, 3 and 4. A workshop introduced teachers to the framework and provided opportunity to explore units and tailor the framework to various multi-grade configurations in partnership districts. Classroom implementation and development of assessment strategies are supported through the Oregon Science Project of the Oregon Department of Education and Eastern Oregon University.