Next Generation Science Standards

What Next Generation Science Standards does

The Next Generation Science Standards is a state-developed K-12 science standards framework managed by NextGenScience, which is housed at WestEd. It defines performance expectations by combining Crosscutting Concepts, Science and Engineering Practices, and Disciplinary Core Ideas across grade bands from kindergarten through high school and across Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering Design. The framework serves state education agencies, districts, teachers, curriculum developers, students, and the public.

The initiative is not a conventional software product; it is a suite of standards and implementation resources. These include the EQuIP Rubric for Science, the NGSS Lesson Screener, the NGSS Design Badge, the Resource Library, curriculum-bundling tools, assessment frameworks and task-screeners, professional-development guides, a video hub, and the NGSS Now Newsletter. The EQuIP Rubric contains 19 criteria across NGSS 3D Design, NGSS Instructional Supports, and monitoring NGSS student progress, while the Science Peer Review Panel uses it to evaluate instructional materials.

Achieve created the NGSS website in 2013, and its science team launched NextGenScience in April 2020; NextGenScience now serves as steward of the standards and is hosted by WestEd. Resources are free and publicly available through the website without a commercial paywall, and implementation support is delivered to states and districts. The source describes funding as grants and state partnerships rather than commercial sales, so the operating model is that of a nonprofit educational standards and dissemination initiative rather than a transaction-based company.

Name

Next Generation Science Standards

Legal name

Achieve

Website

https://nextgenscience.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Next Generation Science Standards is a state-developed K–12 framework stewarded by NextGenScience at WestEd, setting science performance expectations for states, districts, teachers, and students through free standards, assessment, and implementation resources.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Science Education Standards

NAICS

Other Schools and Instruction (6116), Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Standards Alignment & Curriculum Mapping (State/National) (EDAJAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Curriculum, Lesson Planning & Instructional Content Platforms (EDAJAMAD), Assessment, Testing & Analytics Platforms (Formative/Summative) (EDAJAMAC), K–12 Digital Curriculum & Interactive Lessons (EDAGAEAA), Open Lesson Plans & Teaching Units (K–12) (EDAGAJAI), Formative & Benchmark Assessment Content (K–12) (EDAGADAH)

Keywords

• K-12 science standards
• Science curriculum frameworks
• Educational assessment rubrics
• Professional development resources
• Three-dimensional science learning

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding and State Partnerships: NGSS operates as a non-profit standards initiative. The website was created by Achieve (a nonprofit organization) in 2013, and in April 2020, the Achieve science team launched NextGenScience, now housed at WestEd (a nonprofit education research organization). All resources on the website are free and publicly available. Funding appears to come from grants and state partnerships rather than commercial revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

NGSS provides K-12 science content standards built on a three-dimensional learning framework (Crosscutting Concepts, Science and Engineering Practices, and Disciplinary Core Ideas) for state education agencies, school districts, and classroom educators. It accompanies the standards with a suite of free evaluation and implementation resources, including the EQuIP Rubric for Science, NGSS Lesson Screener, NGSS Design Badge, Task Annotation Project in Science (TAPS), assessment screening tools, a video hub, a searchable Resource Library, curriculum bundling tools, and a monthly newsletter. All standards and resources are distributed free of charge as a public good.

Product overview

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is a comprehensive K-12 science education standards framework managed by NextGenScience (housed at WestEd). The offering is not a single unified software product but rather a suite of educational standards, assessment tools, and professional resources. The core product is the NGSS standards themselves, which are accompanied by the EQuIP Rubric for Science (evaluation rubric with 19 criteria), NGSS Lesson Screener (quick assessment tool), and NGSS Design Badge (digital quality certification). Additional offerings include the Video Hub (professional development videos), Resource Library (searchable database), Bundling tools (curriculum planning resources), and the NGSS NOW Newsletter. Assessment resources include Task Annotation Project in Science (TAPS), Science Cognitive Complexity Framework, and Task Screening Tools. The EQuIP Professional Learning Facilitator's Guide supports professional development for educators. All materials are free and publicly available to support states, districts, and educators in implementing rigorous science standards.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) K-12 science content standards setting expectations for what students should know and be able to do, built on a three-dimensional learning framework combining Crosscutting Concepts, Science and Engineering Practices, and Disciplinary Core Ideas across four domains (Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering Design). Provided free to states, districts, and educators.
• EQuIP Rubric for Science Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Products (EQuIP) Rubric for Science — a tool with 19 criteria across three categories (NGSS 3D Design, NGSS Instructional Supports, and Monitoring NGSS Student Progress) for measuring the degree to which lessons and units are designed for the NGSS. Used by curriculum developers and district reviewers.
• NGSS Lesson Screener A quick review tool with fewer criteria than the full EQuIP Rubric, used informally to determine whether a lesson's level of NGSS design warrants investing time in a full EQuIP Rubric evaluation. Aimed at teachers and curriculum reviewers.
• NGSS Design Badge A digital Open Badge (issued via Badgr) awarded to science lessons and units that earn the highest rating on the EQuIP Rubric for Science, providing a digitally verifiable quality certification for curriculum developers and publishers.
• Task Annotation Project in Science (TAPS) A suite of resources providing annotated examples of assessment tasks for elementary, middle, and high school that highlight the most important features of high-quality science tasks for three-dimensional standards. Targeted at educators designing assessments.
• Science Cognitive Complexity Framework A framework for capturing and communicating the complexity of summative assessment items and tasks designed for three-dimensional standards, supporting both analysis of individual items and holistic analysis of multi-component tasks.
• Science Assessment Task Screening Tools Two tools that assist educators in evaluating science assessment tasks to determine whether they are designed for three-dimensional science standards based on the Framework for K-12 Science Education.
• Tennessee District Science Network Task Library A library of assessment tasks developed collaboratively by teachers from six districts in Tennessee working to improve science programs toward the vision of Tennessee Academic Standards for Science.
• Bundling the NGSS Resources providing groups of standards arranged together to create endpoints for units of instruction, with example bundles for grades K-12 organized by thematic model, topics model, and phenomenon model.
• NGSS Lessons and Units (EQuIP Reviewed) A curated repository of free and publicly available K-12 instructional materials that have been submitted for EQuIP review and received top ratings on the EQuIP rubric, identified and curated by NextGenScience.
• EQuIP Professional Learning Facilitator's Guide A series of 10 modules designed to guide leaders in providing professional learning that builds educator capacity to use the EQuIP Rubric for Science Version 3.0.

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• WestEdcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2020In April 2020, the Achieve science team launched NextGenScience, now housed at WestEd. WestEd serves as the host organization for NextGenScience, which serves as the steward of the NGSS and standards based on A Framework for K-12 Science Education. WestEd supports dissemination of free resources and implementation support to states, districts, and educators.
• AchievecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAchieve created the NGSS website in 2013 and coordinated the development of the NGSS and EQuIP Rubric for Science. The Achieve science team later transitioned to form NextGenScience.
• The Teaching ChannelminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for video production. The Teaching Channel collaborated on videos about Crosscutting Concepts, Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science and Engineering Practices, and classroom transition examples. Videos highlight NGSS in teacher professional development settings.
• Science Peer Review PanelcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNextGenScience's Science Peer Review Panel conducts reviews of free and publicly available instructional materials using the EQuIP Rubric for Science. The panel is composed of science education experts who evaluate materials for NGSS design quality.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• National Science Teaching Association (NSTA): Largest U.S. professional organization for science educators, providing professional development and resources aligned to NGSS. Comparable as an ecosystem participant supporting the same teacher audience rather than as a direct competitor.
• Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO): Nonpartisan organization of state education chiefs that co-led the original Common Core development and engages on K-12 standards. Comparable as a coordinating body for state-level education policy decisions that drive NGSS adoption.
• Achieve: The original creator of the NGSS website in 2013 and steward of related standards efforts (including Common Core). Highly comparable as a nonprofit standards-coordination body, though it now sits in an 'enabling' relationship to NGSS rather than as a competitor.
• WestEd: Current host organization for NextGenScience and a major U.S. education research and development nonprofit. Comparable as an enabling organization that houses standards-related programs and provides dissemination infrastructure.

Broad incumbents

• STEMscopes / Accelerate Learning: Large commercial K-12 science curriculum publisher with NGSS-aligned offerings. Comparable as a broader incumbent that sells directly to districts and competes for the curriculum budget that NGSS implementation unlocks.
• College Board: Large established educational standards and assessment organization (SAT, AP, CLEP). Comparable as a broader incumbent that sets de facto standards in adjacent K-12 and post-secondary science assessment spaces and overlaps with NGSS-aligned curriculum review.

Emerging players

• OpenSciEd: Nonprofit developer of freely available, NGSS-aligned science instructional materials whose units have received the NGSS Design Badge. Comparable as a curriculum developer operating in the same NGSS ecosystem with the same target users (states, districts, teachers).
• Smithsonian Science Education Center: Federally chartered science education organization producing NGSS-aligned curriculum modules and professional development. Comparable as a mission-driven developer of NGSS-aligned instructional materials targeting the same district and teacher audience.
• BSCS Science Learning: Nonprofit science curriculum developer with deep K-12 science education research roots, producing NGSS-aligned instructional materials. Comparable as a content producer that feeds the NGSS-aligned materials ecosystem and competes for district adoption.

Direct peers

• Common Core State Standards Initiative: The most direct structural peer: a U.S. state-led standards initiative for K-12 ELA and math with a comparable adoption model, free public website, and steward organization. Directly comparable on governance, distribution, and customer base (states, districts, educators).

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/OfficialNGSS

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Next Generation Science Standards