ACASE

07/31/2026

This new begins with a familiar —a lunch box—to make a challenging concept accessible for all . By starting with an everyday experience, can build understanding before applying their knowledge to the performance expectation.

It’s a great example of meeting students where they are while still providing a rigorous, phenomenon-based assessment.

Developed by Nick Zelkowitz, you can find this assessment on our website or at the following link: https://acase.org/ngssassessments/

07/25/2026

Check out this - created by Dan Bruton from Shaker High School - if you’re looking for a meaningful way to assess understanding of climate feedbacks. Positive and negative feedback can be two of the most challenging concepts for students to master. This assessment for high school earth science uses real-world examples to help students distinguish between the two while emphasizing systems thinking.

You can find the assessment on our website, or at this link: https://acase.org/ngssassessments/

07/18/2026

Are you a high school looking for an engaging way to assess engineering design? This new assessment, developed by Keith Weiss from Shaker High School, has students refine the design of an ammonia production system using an interactive simulation, making decisions based on multiple criteria and simulation feedback.

With a clear connection to the performance expectation and an authentic real-world context, it’s a great way to help students apply engineering practices while demonstrating their understanding of content.

You can find the on our website, or at this link: https://acase.org/ngssassessments/

07/03/2026

Working on beginning or fine-tuning a transition to the new standards? Plan and evaluate your lessons for alignment with NGSS and NYSSLS with ACASE PlanBook. Just in time for summer curriculum work.

Start a free trial at https://planbook.acase.org/, then use promo code LAUNCH26 for 50% off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9OggvTnRm8

NGSS Represents a revolution in Science Education that promises to ...

06/13/2026

What if could give students meaningful feedback and save time?

Our second blog post explores guided self-assessment - a process that helps students reflect on their own learning while giving teachers clear, timely, and actionable data to guide instruction.

Read it at: https://acase.org/2026/04/27/finding-efficiency-with-guided-self-assessment/

06/08/2026

What would happen if approached and more like a science?

ACASE has developed an approach to education called “Practical Educational Science”. Our first blog post introduces the concept of what this is - using discrete learning goals, intentional assessment, and evidence-based decision-making to better understand and support student learning.

Read it at: https://acase.org/2026/04/27/practical-educational-science-an-introduction/

06/05/2026

Bringing clarity to and instruction.

04/26/2026

Good assessments take time. The formatting shouldn’t.

We created a set of templates on Google Docs to make building assessments easier. We have templates optimized for elementary, middle, and high school classes.

They’re:
-simple to use
-easy to navigate
-designed with students in mind
-FREE

No extra software. No learning curve. Just a better starting point.

Find them here: https://acase.org/educator-resources/

04/10/2026

Demystifying the Language of NGSS:
What does “analyze,” “model,” or “construct an explanation” actually mean… in practice?

If you’ve ever paused on the wording of a standard and wondered how to interpret it consistently, you’re not alone.

The Next Generation Science Standards use a lot of terms that are critical. How those terms are interpreted can directly impact instruction, assessment, and student outcomes.

That’s why ACASE developed the Demystifying the Language of NGSS Glossary.

If you’re looking for more clarity and consistency in how you interpret , this is a great place to start. It can be found at https://acase.org/ngss-glossary/

04/07/2026

Need standards-aligned assessments… without spending hours building them?

We’ve got you.

ACASE offers free:

•NGSS- and NYSSLS-aligned assessments
•implementation guides
•complete answer keys

…for ALL grade levels.

They’re designed to match the intent of the standards - so you can use them confidently or adapt them as needed. Each assessment has been rigorously tested and iteratively revised to improve reliability, standard alignment, and consistency in rating. Each standard has also been broken down into more manageable PLGs that make it easier to assess what students truly have or have not attained.

Take them, tweak them, use them tomorrow.

All of our assessments can be found at www.acase.org/ngssassessments

[If you previously used our assessments from ngssrubrics.org, this is their new home.]