Albuquerque, NM ―Teach Plus New Mexico today issued the following statement on the Public Education Department (PED) decision to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in their entirety:
“Teach Plus and Teach Plus teachers commend the Public Education Department and Education Secretary-designate Christopher Ruszkowski on the decision to adopt the NGSS as written and in their entirety. Teach Plus teachers previously presented PED a letter with 500 signatures from New Mexico’s educators in support of NGSS.
“We’re thrilled that the PED listened to teachers and other constituents and is moving forward with the full set of the NGSS, with none of the revisions and just six new of the New Mexico standards,” said Hope Morales, Teach Plus New Mexico Policy Director. “Our students learn to think critically and are ready to take on the science and technology innovations of the future. The NGSS are poised to teach them just that,”
“The Next Generation Science Standards will allow us to prepare our future scientists and engineers in the best manner possible,” said Teach Plus Fellow Shelbi Simeone, a special education teacher in the Las Cruces School District. “We’re proud that the state is moving ahead with NGSS. It’s the right thing to do.”
In 2013, NMPED’s Math & Science Advisory Council recommended full adoption of the NGSS and in 2015, an 85 member-strong working group that included teachers from around the state unanimously supported the adoption of NGSS as written. Developed through a collaborative, state-led process, the NGSS lay out the crosscutting concepts in science that students should master in preparation for college and careers. To-date, 19 states have adopted the NGSS without revisions.
Teach Plus is a national nonprofit that empowers excellent, experienced teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that affect their students’ success. teachplus.org
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