3D Energy Explanation Assessment (Herrmann-Abell & DeBoer, 2017)
Expert NotesStrengths:Integrates multiple dimensions of learning (science practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts) within coherent, phenomenon-based tasks, allowing students to demonstrate deeper, three-dimensional understanding rather than isolated knowledge.
Cautions:Requires more time to administer compared to traditional content assessments.
Topics: Student LearningThis assessment consists of a set of tasks designed to measure elementary students’ ability to explain energy-related phenomena using three-dimensional science learning. The tasks present real-world scenarios followed by a combination of constructed-response and multiple-choice items that require…Next Generation Science Assessment (NGSA) 3-5
Expert NotesStrengths:Explicitly designed as three-dimensional assessments that integrate disciplinary core ideas, science practices, and crosscutting concepts
Cautions:Often embedded within specific digital tasks and contexts, so student performance may reflect familiarity with the platform or task format rather than purely their underlying science understanding or practices.
Topics: Student LearningThe Next Generation Science Assessment elementary assessment tasks are a set of online, scenario-based performance assessments designed to measure students’ progress toward Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) performance expectations. These assessments are organized by grade band (3–5) and are…Progression of Understanding Matter (PUM)
Expert NotesStrengths:Cautions:Topics: Student LearningThe Progression of Understanding Matter (PUM) is an assessment instrument designed to measure students’ conceptual understanding of matter across elementary, middle, and high school grade levels. The instrument consists of three linked forms tailored to different grade bands (grades 3–6, 7–9, and…Tennessee District Science Network Task Library
Expert NotesStrengths:Explicitly aligned to NGSS three-dimensional expectations and include clear connections to specific performance expectations
Cautions:Require significant instructional time to administer and discuss.
Topics: Student LearningThe elementary assessments developed through the Tennessee District Science Network (TDSciN) are a set of performance-based science tasks designed to measure students’ three-dimensional learning aligned with current science standards. Each assessment is structured around a phenomenon- or problem…Computational Thinking Assessment (Gane et al., 2021)
Expert NotesStrengths:Explicitly grounded in learning trajectories, allowing items to target different levels of students’ computational thinking development and capture progression in their understanding rather than just isolated skills.
Cautions:Closely tied to specific learning trajectories and the associated instructional sequence, so its effectiveness may depend on students having had aligned learning experiences
Topics: Student LearningThe learning trajectory-based computational thinking (CT) assessments are a set of paper-and-pencil instruments designed to measure upper elementary students’ CT knowledge and skills within integrated instructional contexts. Developed by Gane and colleagues (2021), these assessments are aligned…Assessment to Measure Students' Argumentation
Expert NotesStrengths:Uses both argument construction and argument evaluation tasks, allowing it to measure not only students’ ability to generate scientific arguments but also their ability to critically analyze and apply epistemic criteria to others’ arguments
Cautions:Relies on tasks and rubrics (e.g., scoring causal claims, evidence use, and justification), which may introduce subjectivity in scoring and limit comparability across studies or contexts.
Topics: Student LearningThis assessment consists of two complementary tasks designed to measure elementary students’ ability to construct and evaluate scientific arguments based on key epistemic criteria. The instrument targets four core components of argumentation: causal claims, coherence of explanations, use of…Science Concepts Pre–Post Assessment (Williams et al., 2012)
Expert NotesStrengths:Uses pre- and post-lesson measures with aligned content questions, allowing for direct comparison of students’ conceptual understanding before and after the instructional intervention.
Cautions:Uses relatively simple scoring (e.g., binary correct/incorrect for content questions), which may not capture partial understanding or nuances in students’ reasoning.
Topics: Student LearningThis science assessment consists of pre- and post-lesson survey instruments designed to measure students’ understanding of science concepts following participation in LEGO Mindstorms-based activities. The assessments include both content and evaluation questions and are administered immediately…Inheritance Modeling Task Assessment (Cisterna et al., 2019)
Expert NotesStrengths:Elicits students’ understanding through model-based tasks, requiring them to create and explain visual representations of scientific processes, which helps reveal how students organize ideas about structure, function, and inheritance
Cautions:Students’ performance on the assessment depends heavily on their ability to construct and interpret models, so difficulties with drawing, labeling, or representing ideas may obscure their actual conceptual understanding of inheritance.
Topics: Student LearningThis assessment consists of student-generated modeling tasks designed to measure elementary students’ understanding of inheritance through visual and explanatory representations. Students are asked to create, use, and revise models that show how traits are passed from parent organisms to offspring…