​This article is the second of 2023 that continues to offer information about the NYS Science Investigations.  If you missed the first article, head back to the February archive and search for “NYS REQUIRED SCIENCE INVESTIGATIONS GOT YOU STUMPED?” or click here.
 
Teachers and coordinators have been experiencing the NYS Science Investigations firsthand in several workshops that have been offered this spring.  Participants in these workshops are encouraged to ask any and all questions and are assured their questions will be answered before they leave for the day.  They participate in a vocabulary activity where all vocab words are identified in an Investigation and then they are given ideas for how to start incorporating these words more into their curriculum.  The participants split up to experience an activity that is relevant to them - they set up the Investigation as they would as a teacher, and then they work through the Investigation as a student would, identifying obstacles and points where they could scaffold or modify the Investigation for students they think may struggle on that part.  Finally, everyone is brought back together as we comb through the list of questions, being sure none are left unanswered.  Resources that are used during the workshop as well as other items related to the NYS Science Investigations can be found in this Wakelet collection.
If you would like to take part in one of these NYS Science Investigations workshops, there will be a workshop this summer, July 12 (register now!) and another on October 10 (registration for fall workshops will be open soon). Principals are encouraged to attend with their teacher teams. Certainly, newly-hired teachers in Grades 3-8 should attend.
 
Materials Kits
Kits filled with materials for the NYS Science Investigations are available to order from resources.caboces.org.  Each kit contains enough materials for 30 students.  Some kits contain reusable items, and so a teacher with multiple classes would only need one kit.  Some kits have consumable items, and in that case a teacher with multiple classes would want to order enough kits for the number of students they have, ie. If a 5th grade teacher has three classes of 20 students throughout the day, they would have a total of 60 students, and should order 2 kits. 
We are in the process of receiving all of the materials we ordered and continuing to fill kits.  We will ultimately have a stock of 35 kits for borrowing, hopefully by September.
 
Record-Keeping
With the printshop, we have created a booklet that contains all of the documents that should follow a student through three years, being passed on to each teacher as the student moves on.  The spiral-bound booklets contain the record-keeping sheet, all of the student answer packets, and the rubric for each investigation.  Districts can order these booklets using this sheet.  You can order any of the NYS Science Investigations print materials from this form, but the booklets are located at the bottom of each page.  Directions for where to send this are found on the third page.

The answer booklets are a fantastic tool for assessing student progress through the new science standards.  Teachers in 4th grade can now see student answers and how they were scored on the rubric in 3rd grade and use that information for scaffolds and support in their science lessons.  Even though the grades are banded 3-5 and 6-8, 6th grade teachers will likely want to see the answer booklets from 3-5 to inform their lesson design.  Likewise, as a former 9th grade teacher, I would love the information in the 6-8 answer booklets to make it to me in preparation for those students entering my Earth Science course.
In addition to keeping these booklets, PowerSchool, eSchool, and School Tool all have integrated a column for tracking the NYS Science Investigations from year-to-year.  The checkbox is important to confirm the student is eligible to take the 5th grade and 8th grade state science exams.
If a student transfers, please send the answer booklet to the next school.  There is a place for teacher and principal signatures in the front of the answer booklet, that is necessary to confirm what the student has completed.
 
When can a student be marked as “Successfully Completed”?
This is a local decision.  All teachers should have the goal of helping all students meet Proficiency in all categories as they guide their students to the state assessments.  In reality, not all students will meet Proficiency.  Teachers should mark students appropriately on the rubric and make notes where applicable as information for further remediation or for information for a student’s future teachers.  The rubric is not a report card, it is part of the tool that will help inform instruction for our students to help them better learn science.
 
To learn more about the NYS P-12 Science Learning Standards, administrators and teachers are welcome to attend the Intro to NYSSLS workshop on November 16 (registration will become available soon).
 
Please contact me (kelli_grabowski@caboces.org or 716-376-8285) for work with Teacher-Administrator teams to come up with the best solution for NYS Science Investigations implementation at your district.

By: Kelli Grabowski, CA BOCES Learning Resources

NYSED recently released Frequently Asked Questions Related to Investigations for the Elementary- and Intermediate-level Science Tests (nysed.gov). Feel free to read through this document at your convenience.

As we learn more from NYSED, experience these Investigations, and encounter new questions, feedback, and ideas from local teachers and administrators, our understanding may shift slightly, causing tweaks* to our recommendations. I assure you that our recommendations come from the most professional judgement and serious considerations - and seem to be very much in congruence with NYSED's objectives.

The remainder of this article will be notes on the NYSED FAQs based on questions I’ve received, conversations I’ve had with both teachers and school leaders, and based on specifics for the C-A region. Links are provided to CA BOCES-made documents*. Upcoming workshops, directly related to the Required Investigations are listed at the end.
 
*CA BOCES Grade Level Alignment
The Elementary Investigation, "Cloud in a Bottle", is aligned with Grade 3 standards. However, it may be found that this Investigation will be too complex, and the reading level too high, for Grade 3 students. Within the Grade 5 Advancing STEM kit, "Models of the Earth", students do an activity exploring cloud formation, as they model how Earth's spheres interact (hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere). Following this unit would be a great opportunity to administer the "Cloud in a Bottle" Investigation to Grade 5 students, instead of in Grade 3.
 
*Record-keeping
In addition to the CA BOCES Record-Keeping document, it is important to keep the Student Answer Packets and Rubric for each Investigation for each student. Although none of these items will be sent to NYSED (they will all be kept within the school building), these documents would be a good formative assessment artifact for any teacher that will be working with that student as they progress towards their summative NYS Science Assessment. These documents should all be sent with a student that may transfer out of the school district as evidence of completion, but also to assist any future teachers and districts in identifying student proficiency and/or remediation needs. These documents may be kept electronically.

Districts may put all of the Student Answer Packets into one booklet to follow the student for 3 years. It would be wise to also add the Record sheet at the front or back of this booklet. By next fall, CA BOCES print shop should have a form that streamlines the ordering process for these booklets.
 
Purpose of the Investigations
The purpose of the NYS Required Science Investigations is to provide another mode of formative assessment in science. In the past teachers have not had a built-in opportunity to identify areas of weakness in science until the NYS summative assessments (such as the Grade 4 or Grade 8 Science Assessments). The Required Investigations now give teachers an opportunity to determine if their students are meeting some of the NYS Science Learning Standards that are not as easy to assess on a written exam. Differently than the old standards, the new science standards ask students to use the skills that scientists use. A skills-based activity is the best way to assess this, as opposed to a written exam. Even so, the logistics of standardizing such a task are complicated across a very diverse state, and so the culminating, summative assessment for science is still a written exam, that will include questions that lean into assessing the students' understanding of such science skills. In addition to providing teachers with vital information to student growth in science, the Required Investigations also provide us with an opportunity to better prepare our students for the summative assessment:  We know that 15% of the NYS Grade 5 and Grade 8 Science Exams will be related to these Investigations. Within our locus of control is the knowledge to prepare our students for a portion of that exam. 

NYSED continues to recommend that these Investigations are administered as a classroom activity by their teacher as the students are learning the related content. The Required Investigations are not a test, but a set of activities to assure student hands-on experience in science and allow formative assessment of science skills at multiple grade levels. Please make sure that students (and teachers and you!) do not take on undue angst over these activities!  They should be fun as students get to be active in their learning and figuring out their own understanding of our natural world.
 
Modifying NYSED Investigations Documents
A common question from local teachers has been about modifying student documents:  Modifications can definitely be made to benefit the student as long as the integrity of the question is not lost. If modifications are to be made to the Student Directions or Student Answer Packets, teachers may do this prior to printing these materials for students. Some examples of modifying the documents:

• Cutting up the procedural steps and putting them on a ring of index cards
• Reformatting a table in the Student Answer Packet so it is clearer to your students where they write their answer or what that space should include (See data table in Cloud in a Bottle, Observations box)
• Placing numbers in a table space to indicate how many answers they need to put in the box (See data table in Light it Up)
• Rewording a question (I don’t think #7 in Answer Packet 2 of Cloud in a Bottle fits the intended objective of the Investigation and would reword it to meet the rubric dimension)

 
Scaffolding and Accommodations for Students
Another common question is how much scaffolding, assistance, and support can be provided during these Investigations:  Teacher assistance is encouraged, welcomed, and totally allowed. If it is something that a teacher would normally do as they taught a typical science lesson, they are welcome to do so during the Investigations. Teachers must keep in mind that although it may appear the vocabulary used in these Investigations is above their students, the wording comes from the NYS Science Learning Standards and could appear on the Grade 5 Science Assessment. Teachers can define or replace words in the student documents but will want to make sure their students are learning those words for the long-term. Other assistance that has been mentioned and is allowed, as long as the students are still authentically doing the science themselves, and fulfilling the objectives of the Investigation (teachers should regularly refer to the Rubric to decide this):

• Reading the questions or steps aloud
• Checking off steps for a student as they go through so they don't lose their place
• Writing the definition of a tough word on the board (remember students may see this word on the Grade 5 Assessment)
• Modeling how to do certain parts of the experiment (but then also having the students do it)
• Re-doing a part of the activity if something goes haywire

 
Accelerated Middle School Students
NYSED notes that all middle school students, including accelerated science students, are expected to complete all four Intermediate Required Investigations. This note reinforces the importance that Intermediate students should be exposed to all of the Grades 6-8 NYS Science Learning Standards at some point during their middle school years. Districts have often struggled with how to provide the opportunity for students to accelerate in science.
​
Please contact me (kelli_grabowski@caboces.org or 716-376-8285) if you would like to discuss the best way for your district to do this. As food for thought, my professional opinion would be to wait until the students are in 9th or 10th grade to double-up on their Regents science courses. If these are students that plan to take AP science courses in the future, two Regents courses will be good training to prepare them for that workload, and they will still have the full foundation of the middle school science program to support them.
 
Resources and Time for Science
Finally, NYSED fully supports more resources being put towards science instruction. These Investigations must be allotted appropriate time for the students to fully engage in the science skills being assessed, in addition to science instruction beyond these Investigations to support good science learning. Supplies and equipment, including some consumable materials, are also necessary to complete these Investigations. Thank you for investing in the initial construction of CA BOCES kits for this purpose. A notification will be sent as soon as the kits are complete. If teachers want to administer an Investigation before this time, please use the attached "Teachers Materials Lists" to identify items you may need to borrow before our kits are released. 
 
News about HS Science Assessments from NYSED

• For science, the new learning standards are not as strongly aligned to the prior standards as other subjects. As a result, there will be an overlap period of the old and new NYS Science Regents Exams for two years. See the NYSED New Regents Implementation Schedule.
• The new Earth Science Regents Exam will not include a Performance Component (Part D) as it has in the past, and the current Regents Living Environment mandated labs will become obsolete. For all Science Regents courses, NYSED is working on developing a system of formative assessments, such as the Required Investigations for Grades 3-5 and 6-8.

Free Summer STEM Opportunities for Students

Appalachian STEM Academy at Oak Ridge is a residential, hands-on learning experience for 7th-9th grade students, as well as high school teachers in STEM-related fields. In an indoor/outdoor research environment, students will engage in creative problem solving as they design models and conduct short-term research projects alongside internationally recognized scientists. The application deadline is February 10th.