ONPAR Middle School Physical Science

This project researched and developed a suite of technology-enhanced classroom assessments for middle school students aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Two students wearing lab coats are sitting side by side with science lab equipment on the table in front of them.

Sample Physical Science Item Series

Full assessment tasks consist of 2 to 4 item series related to an overall context.

Screenshot of a task that shows a student sitting in a kitchen. — Overall task context

Screenshot of three tasks that are about heating water and molecules. — Item series with animated phenomenon and model

Unit Overviews

These overviews show the primary NGSS standards assessed in each ONPAR middle school physical science unit.

Screenshot with four Particle Nature of Matter tasks with a table that contains the primary NGSS standards for each task.

Screenshot with four Chemical Reactions tasks with a table that contains the primary NGSS standards for each task.

Screenshot with four Matter and Energy in Living Systems tasks with a table that contains the primary NGSS standards for each task.

Screenshot with four Light and Electromagnetic Waves tasks with a table that contains the primary NGSS standards for each task.

Screenshot with four Energy tasks with a table that contains the primary NGSS standards for each task.

Screenshot with four Motion and Forces tasks with a table that contains the primary NGSS standards for each task.

About the ONPAR Project

Materials for 12 middle school science units were developed and piloted with 71 teachers and approximately 8,000 students across the United States between 2016 and 2019.

Using an assessment approach based on our prior research, called ONPAR, this project developed innovative assessment tasks that used visuals, action, sound, and language to communicate with students in the assessment environment and generated automatic scoring and reporting, with diagnostic feedback, based on student responses across screens.

Wright, L., Harkins, H., Kopriva, R., Auty, W., Malkin, L., & Myers, B. (2022). Technology-enhanced tasks to assess three-dimensional science sense-making: Possibilities and lessons learned from the ONPAR NGSS-based classroom assessment project [Journal Article]. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 22(2).

Other ONPAR Middle School Science Projects

Learn More About ONPAR

This project was carried out in collaboration with the Michigan Department of Education and funded by the US Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) Enhanced Assessment Grant (EAG) Program (PR #S368A150019).