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2004 NSF K-12 Math, Science, and Technology Curriculum Developers Conference

Full Option Science System and Assessment

Linda De Lucchi

The Full Option Science System (FOSS) K–6 program is a complete, modular, inquiry-based science program for elementary students. FOSS was developed at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California at Berkeley with the support of the National Science Foundation (1989-1995). The goals of the program are to:

1. provide all students with in-depth science experiences appropriate to their cognitive level so as to develop their scientific literacy,
2. provide all teachers with a complete and flexible, easy-to-use science program that reflects current research and uses effective instructional methodologies; and
3. meet the community science-achievement standards and societal expectations for scientific literacy.

Twenty-six modules in four strands (Physical Science, Life Science, Earth Science, Scientific Reasoning and Technology) were developed for K–6, each consisting of a kit of student materials, a teacher guide, and a module-specific teacher-preparation video, a student reading book, and a program website. Delta Education is the publishing partner and with LHS provides ongoing support for professional development and materials refurbishment. The program has undergone two major revisions and is in its third edition (2000–03). FOSS is used in every state in the country, was the first non-textbook curriculum to make the California adoption list (1992), is on 14 state adoption lists, including Texas, and is used in 40 of the 100 largest U.S. school districts. The FOSS K–6 matrix with summaries of all the modules and courses can be found at http://lhsfoss.org. Currently FOSS is the focus of a 4-year NSF assessment project, ASK—Assessing Science Knowledge. ASK is a collaborative project between the Lawrence Hall of Science, the Berkeley Evaluation and Assessment Research Center, SRI International, and eight national centers involving 384 teachers and their students grades 3–6. The project is refining and developing assessment materials that schools, districts, and curriculum developers can use to improve formative assessment practices in classrooms, and provide accountability to acquire a more comprehensive view of student achievement. The products developed in the ASK Project will enable districts and teachers to put into practice the critical elements of the educational enterprise as described by Pellegrino (2002)—curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The products that support this enterprise include Domain Frameworks, Progress Maps, formative assessment items, next-step strategies, summative assessment items, and professional development materials.

This project is supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. ESI-0352345). Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.