Proficiency Goals

Student Proficiency Goals help you interpret standards derived from *A Framework for K-12 Science Education*.
*Browse by grade band and topic below.*

More About Proficiency Goals

Proficiency Goals (PGs) help you interpret three-dimensional performance expectations derived from A Framework for K-12 Science Education.

These standards describe what students should know and be able to do.
This includes both science knowledge and process components; the standards weave them together as content, practices, and concepts.
Each performance expectation is built from a Science and Engineering Practice (SEP), a Crosscutting Concept (CCC), and one or more Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI).

We developed PGs because it can be hard to see what three-dimensional performance expectations really ask of students.

We parse each NGSS performance expectation into specific student actions and content that describe a path to proficiency for that standard.
These are expectations for proficient students; they are not performance level descriptors. Contact us for help in developing descriptors or proficiency scales.
PGs involve the entire standard. They are broader than the alignment maps we include with library phenomena, which suggest student actions for individual classroom activities.
Contact us or sign up for a consultation meeting if you have questions about the PGs.

The NGSS omits SEP and CCC elements.

This matrix shows which standards include which SEP elements and elements that are not addressed.

This matrix shows which standards include which CCC elements and elements that are not addressed.

NOTE: Our PGs parse performance expectations of the Next Generation Science Standards. The words “Next Generation Science Standards” is a registered trademark of WestEd. Neither WestEd nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of the PGs, and do not endorse them.

PG Template

We offer a template and examples for writing your own goals for state-specific two or three-dimensional standards that depart significantly from the NGSS.