How can digital platforms help students gain clarity on the learning objectives and success criteria in middle school science?

We don't need to fight technology, we need to embrace it.  It could be the path to student clarity.

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Gaining Clarity Using Technology to access the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

Studies have shown the links that science literacy have to economic growth and to solving complex social and environmental problems.  Therefore, educators need to ensure all students, not just future scientist and engineers, have the knowledge to solve science-related problems. The NGSS were modeled after this philosophy.

There is a need for educators to continue to improve student achievement.  On the 2016 California State Test (CST) for science only 53% of 8th grade students in Napa Valley Unified School District scored proficient or higher.  With the district going to an integrated model implementing the NGSS, not only are the standards new, the content is about 70% different in each of the grade levels. The curriculum to support the new standards hasn't been adopted by the district so we are designing our own curriculum and lessons.
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​"Teacher Clarity has a Desired Effect of .75" Hattie

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Professor John Hattie is a researcher in education. His research interests include performance indicators, models of measurement and evaluation of teaching and learning.

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Click on the Video for a quick introduction to my research
Are Teachers and Students Clear on what and how they are supposed to Learn?

Students cannot articulate what they are learning or if they are meeting the success criteria. They can tell you the learning task they are doing but not the learning outcome or how to show they are successful.  Teachers need to be explicitly clear with our students what the learning outcomes are, what the success criteria is and how are they going to show they have met the objectives.  ​
Not only have the standards shifted to the NGSS, only about 33% of the content is the same
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New integrated model Vs Discipline specific Model (7th grade)