Building an Assessment Argument to Design and Use Next Generation Science Assessments in Efficacy Studies of Curriculum Interventions

Evaluators must employ research designs that generate compelling evidence related to the worth or value of programs, of which assessment data often play a critical role. This article focuses on assessment design in the context of evaluation. It describes the process of using the Framework for K-12 Science Education and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to design assessments to evaluate the efficacy of a curricular intervention. The new science standards present a significant challenge to assessment designers and evaluators because these standards emphasize the integration of disciplinary core ideas, practices, and crosscutting concepts. This article presents the structure of a validity argument for such uses with an evidence-centered design perspective and unpacks the design decisions in developing and implementing these assessments in an efficacy study of a project-based science curriculum. Implications for designing NGSS-aligned assessments for program evaluation purposes are discussed.