Instructional Materials Designed for A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards: An Introduction to the Special Issue

At the time we are writing this editorial in the late summer of 2021, there is a consensus in the field of science education in terms of its vision of science education. Since the release of A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council [NRC], 2012; shortened to the Framework hereafter) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS; Next Generation Science Standards Lead States [NGSS], 2013a), the field of science education has developed a consensus among research (e.g., the Framework based on a series of NRC consensus reports), policy (NGSS based on the Framework), and practice (implementation). Evidence of this consensus can be seen as 20 states and DC adopted the NGSS and an additional 24 states developed their standards based on the Framework (https://ngss.nsta.org/About.aspx). This national movement across states represents a departure from more independent state-level efforts around standards documents prior to the Framework and the NGSS. The challenge involves implementation of the vision of science education. Based on the consensus around the Framework and the NGSS, teachers need resources (e.g., curriculum, professional development) to support implementation. The science education community has been undertaking the development of high-quality instructional materials to support classroom instruction, while guidelines for developing NGSS-designed instructional materials only recently emerged (Achieve Inc, 2016a, 2016b; Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, 2019; Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2017; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine [NASEM], 2018; see also OpenSciEd: https://www.openscied.org/). The need for high-quality instructional materials is even more urgent given the growing recognition that instructional materials must attend to student diversity and equity while also supporting teacher professional learning. Because the vision of science education articulated in the Framework and the NGSS is rigorous and informed by a wide range of stakeholders (e.g., scientists, science educators, policymakers), the science education community needs to examine how research-based instructional materials can be enacted in the classroom and how teacher professional learning can be promoted so that all students benefit from classroom instruction. This special issue addresses research-based instructional materials designed for the Framework and the NGSS with a focus on student diversity and equity and teacher professional learning. As a result of learning beside and with the authors and peer reviewers