High School Report Overview

The instructional materials reviewed for High School do not meet expectations for Gateway 1: Designed for NGSS. Chapter-level phenomena are present in seven chapters, with one activity-level problem in Chapter 8. When phenomena and problems are present, they consistently require use of grade-band DCIs but are oftentimes not presented as directly as possible and do not leverage students' prior knowledge and experiences. Across the program, phenomena and problems do not drive learning and are only referenced at the beginning and end of the chapter, when present.   

The program consists of 14 chapters, each focused on a DCI component, with the exception of Chapter 1, which focuses on practical skills such as how to analyze data and draw graphs. Each chapter starts with an activity that presents a scenario. Students read text, view images or photos, answer questions, make predictions, and/or compose an initial model. Students then progress through a series of 5-34 activities, each framed by a Key Question that is often topic-focused. In the activities, students read text, view images or diagrams, and answer questions. Some activities also include investigations and case studies. At the end of the chapter, in the second to last activity, students are reminded of the initial scenario and, in most cases, read text and answer questions related to the scenario.

Across the materials, some learning sequences integrate the three dimensions within learning opportunities, however sensemaking is not consistently present. Learning objectives are provided at the beginning of the chapter, incorporate the three dimensions, and are associated with activities or activity groupings. The learning objectives contain references to components of the three dimensions rather than specific elements. Due to the component-level nature of the learning objectives, a majority of elements contained within the objectives are not addressed in the connected learning opportunities. In most cases, formative and summative assessments also do not address the majority of the elements contained within the chapter-level learning objectives and often present below grade-band SEPs and CCCs. Performance tasks occur inconsistently across the summative assessments.  

Information about learning objectives is provided at the beginning of each chapter. One to two learning objectives are present for each activity or activity grouping and contain component-level references to the three dimensions and in some cases, performance expectations. At the bottom of each activity, icons and abbreviations also indicate which component of the three-dimensions is intended to be addressed. The assessment system mainly consists of the first and second to last activity as formative assessments and the final activity as the summative assessment. In most cases, the summative assessment involves students reading text, analyzing a graph, answering questions, and/or composing a model.

The instructional materials also contain a Resource Hub with additional videos and online simulations, as connected to specific activities. An optional Test Bank also exists to provide students with access to DCI-focused test-prep questions.