Literary Review

Proficiency in Science: Assessment Challenges and Opportunities by James W.

Pellegrino

Published in Science Magazine on April 19, 2013

Meghan Rotkosky

National University

TED 690: Masters Capstone

 Abstract

Authors: James W. Pellegrino

Title: Proficiency in Science: Assessment Challenges and Opportunities

Publisher: Science Magazine, Volume 340, 320-323

Year: 2013

Reviewed By: Meghan Rotkosky, National University, TED 690

This peer-reviewed article, published in 2013, details the struggles with current

science content standards and the opportunities created through the new content standards

in NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards). Pellegrino details the ways in which

proficiency in science should be defined and gives examples of assessments that meet the

criteria for establishing content comprehension while still adhering to the nature of

science education: one of student-led inquiry and discovery.

 Literary Review

I really enjoyed reading this article. Pellegrino argues that assessments for science

content are at a disadvantage because science curriculum and planning is an inquiry-

based and assessments in science do not align with the ways in which instruction is

planned. After reading this article, it makes sense to me that more assessments should

begin to be driven by more inquiry, hands-on, and activity metrics than simple exams or

end of unit tests, especially with the new NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards).

These new standards combine separate dimensions of learning science:

crosscutting concepts, science and engineering practices, and disciplinary core ideas.

These separate dimensions provide more opportunities for students to learn through

hands-on experience, scientifically based inquiry, and apply their knowledge to real

world situations and experiences. These dimensions and the knowledge that students

learn from these content standards fall flat when students are only given lectures, reading

through the textbook, and taking end of unit multiple-choice exams. Pellegrino reasons

that the assessments should mirror the content and how it is delivered.

A disjuncture exists between students knowledge of science facts and

procedures, as assessed by typical achievement tests, and their understanding of how that

knowledge can be applied through the practices of scientific reasoning, argumentation,

and inquiry, (Pellegrino, p. 320). Pellegrino believes that proficiency in science is

defined as the collective knowledge of concepts, not as separate elements but as

intertwined aspects of knowledge and understanding, (p. 320). By looking at science

education in this way, proficiency is more than recitation of memorized materials in order
to do well on a test, but the ability to utilize the information from the content lessons and

apply it to later materials and concepts.

So much of the concepts of science build upon each other. You cannot learn about

mitosis until you learn about the cell. You cannot comprehend velocity until you

understand what speed is defined as. It is difficult to understand the effects of specific

situations on our natural environment unless you understand that ecosystem and the

weaknesses inherent within. These are all concepts that build upon each other and

comprehension must be developed in prior lessons to be achieved in future lessons.

With the emergence of NGSS content standards, teachers will have the

opportunity to create better assessments that gage understanding and the achievement of

learning objectives. The issue remains that NGSS has not been fully adopted in most

places. This article was written in 2013 and even now, in 2017, the state of California is

not required to adopt NGSS standards until 2018. In my district alone, textbooks are still

being decided upon and bids from publication houses are still coming in. This leaves

teachers in a limbo situation, wanting to provide students with the most up-to-date

content standards while having little to no support or resources. In the district that I

student taught in, teachers were able to choose from textbooks that were more than 15

years old or making their own materials to incorporate NGSS content standards into their

curriculum. Many teachers opted for making their own materials but worried that they

fell short without proper resources to provide guidance.

In the end, I thought this article was really informative and interesting. It provided

information on ways that the new standards have been applied to classrooms and pushed

for assessments to be aligned with the new standards and direction that science education
is heading in. The outlook of the article was positive and you can tell that Pellegrino is

excited about all of the new changes coming in science education. I, too, am looking

forward to the new roll out of these science standards and after reading this article I think

I will try and plan my assessments to better align with the methods of learning that I use

in my classroom as opposed to rating students content proficiency using exams and unit

tests.
Reference:

Pellegrino, J.W. (2013). Proficiency in Science: Assessment Challenges and

Opportunities. Science Magazine, vol. 340, 320-323.

Next Generation Science Standards. https://www.nextgenscience.org