Variations among Next Generation Science Standards and Other NRC Framework-Based Science Standards: Differences in Layout, Typography, and What Teachers Notice

Science standards across 44 states in the United States are often assumed to be equivalent because they are all based on the National Research Council’s (NRC) Framework for K-12 Science Education. Twenty of those states adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which is based on the NRC Framework, and the 24 other states developed their own NRC Framework-based science standards. In this article, two related studies are described that focused on assessing this homogeneity assumption. In the first study, a comparative document analysis categorized the variety of ways performance expectations are presented. Analysis also focused on relative placement of information related to performance expectations and components of three-dimensional learning. To assess how variations affect teacher noticing, in the second study nearly 300 elementary school teachers viewed, in random order, seemingly similar fourth-grade standards from three states. Comparisons focused on teachers’ noticing of student objectives, elements that stood out, and teachers’ rationales regarding their noticing. Though both studies underscored that all NRC Framework-based science standards do integrate NRC Framework tenets, findings counter the assumption that NRC Framework-based science standards are necessarily equivalent to each other or to NGSS.