Science
Earth & Space Science Assessments
The assessment system for Earth and Space Science consists of formative and summative opportunities throughout the course, including novel scenarios in the forms of transfer tasks and interim assessments.
Formative Assessment
Across each unit, students have the opportunity to demonstrate progress towards each targeted element of the standard, both individually and as a class.
Classwide conversations are a regular feature of the curriculum. During Engage and Explore phases, these discussions serve to hear a wide range of thoughts and ideas. Key ideas to listen for are highlighted in “look and listen for” boxes, which help teachers determine if the class is ready to move to the next phase. In Explain phases, it is important that the class come together to reach understanding. Critical information is highlighted in “take time for these key points” boxes, which show if the class overall is reaching proficiency in the targeted elements of the standards.
Throughout each 5E, there are multiple opportunities for individual, written formative assessment. These formative moments are found in the Summary Tasks and other additional tasks throughout the phases.
Mid-unit formative tasks provide students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge of one targeted PE to a novel scenario before they are summatively assessed. These are positioned in the middle of units to provide teachers with assessment data with which to inform instruction for the remainder of the unit.
Summative Assessment
Summative assessment comes throughout and at the end of each unit through the Performance Task Organizer and end of unit Transfer Tasks. These assessments complement each other, and by using a combination of each, teachers will assess each PE covered by each unit. Interim Assessments can be used after every other unit to track progress across the course.
Each unit includes a performance task organizer, which provides summative assessments at the end of each 5E within a unit and at the end of the unit in the Final Performance Task. The performance task targets a subset of the PEs within the unit.
Units 3-6 include an assessment that asks students to apply their knowledge to a novel scenario. These transfer tasks target one or two PEs from the unit bundle, which are not summatively assessed by the unit’s Performance Task Organizer. By using both assessment types, students will be summatively assessed on all the PEs of the unit.
Transfer Tasks for Units 1 and 2 coming Fall 2026!
Interim assessments (IAs) are New York State Regents and NYSSLS curriculum aligned assessments that offer insight into how teachers may want to adjust instruction in order to better support students in advance of the end-of-year NYS Regents exam. These assessments are intended to be administered at the ends of Units 2, 4, and 6 in one class period, and are about ¼ of the length of a full Regents exam.
For non-New York State teachers, the IAs offer cumulative assessment across units as students build proficiency across the curriculum.
Assessment Readiness
Implementing the course as written is the best preparation for assessment. There are ways to reinforce and be explicit about supporting assessment through the curricular materials, as explained in the resources below.
Elaborate phases provide an opportunity for teachers to explicitly model and students to practice applying information and skills learned in one context to another.
It is important to support students in intentionally developing the skill of interpreting complex visuals throughout the year. Within our curriculum, three-level guides break down the steps students should take to analyze them. These resources showcase how to use three level guides, how to incorporate them into additional lessons, and how to remove the scaffold over time.