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AAPT 4
Editor’s Introduction
In 2012, Achieve, Inc. and the Lead States released the first draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013), commonly known
as the NGSS, for public comment. These standards were meant to provide a coherent set of internationally-benchmarked guidelines for K-12 science
teachers across the nation. In response, the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), the American Physical Society, the American Chemical
Society, the American Institute of Physics, the American Society for Engineering Education, and the Department of Energy compiled feedback on the
first draft of the standards. A summary of the group’s May 29, 2012 response can be found in the 1st Draft Summary Response:
Upon release of a revised version of the NGSS, the AAPT created an additional focus group comprised of persons involved in high school physics
education. The AAPT responded again in their 2nd Draft Summary Response: This response, from February 1, 2013, described
both their support for standards based upon the National Research Council and National Academy of Science’s Framework for K-12 Science Education:
Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas, while also identifying some weaknesses and omissions in the standards with recommendations for
improvement.
The AAPT supports the spirit and purpose of NGSS as implemented in the context of the Framework, but does not endorse any set of standards. Please
refer to the AAPT’s physics focus group’s final response to Achieve about the NGSS for details:
It is my hope that this document will help K-12 teachers of physics to better understand how their classroom practice is aligned with the NGSS or how it
can be effectively aligned if your state or your school adopt the NGSS.
~ Rebecca E. Vieyra, K-12 Program Manager, AAPT
Approved by the AAPT Board of Directors, 9 January 2016
Acknowledgement
Gratitude is expressed to Patrick Mangan, AAPT/Society of Physics Students summer 2015 intern, for his work in organizing the outline of the physics-
related standards for this document. Additional reviewers included Robert Hilborn, Caroline Hall, and Jon Gaffney, in addition to the AAPT Board of
Directors.
•.......................................................NGSS is
a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither
Achieve nor the lead states and partners
that developed the Next Generation Science
Standards was involved in the production of,
and does not endorse, this document.