Coauthored by Ashley Green and Sarah English
Every year, science educators in New York State gather together the first weekend of November to share best practices and participate in three days of exceptional professional development opportunities. The Science Teachers Association of New York State (STANYS) hosted its annual conference across grade levels (PK through college) in Syracuse, NY from November 1 - 4, 2024. This year’s theme was “Launching into NYSSLS Assessments: Empowering Sensemaking Opportunities for Liftoff.” NYSSLS (New York State Science Learning Standards) are the current science standards for New York State that were adapted from the NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) by the Board of Regents in 2016.
We both have leadership roles in the STANYS community. Sarah is the director at Large (DAL) for chemistry where she works with 16 chemistry subject area representatives (SARs) from across New York State. Ashley is the Director of the Southeastern section of the state where she coordinates the science SARs in her section, organizes local professional development opportunities and works with educators across all science disciplines and age levels. At the annual conference, each science discipline presents a strand of presentations that align to the conference theme.
We were the first to present in the chemistry strand with our session entitled, “It’s a Cluster! Setting the Stage for Student Sensemaking using Formative and Summative Three-Dimensional Assessment Items.” The presentation was an ambitious one as we provided a glimpse of what the NYSSLS chemistry exam could look like based on the released biology and earth and space science clusters and educator guides. Then we talked about how we as a community could start the process of generating assessment tasks to use throughout a storyline. Retrospectively, we both wished we could have extended our session to give everyone more time to start the process of unpacking the specific disciplinary core idea at each table. This step is so critical in the development of assessment tasks to be used in the classroom.
We view the STANYS conference as more than three days of professional development. Attending the conference and seeing fellow chemistry teachers from across the state is similar to reconnecting with family members that you have waited the whole year to see again. We share experiences, challenges, and successes whether in sessions or during one of the various social events in the evening. During the sessions, the focus is on sharing best practices, encouraging collaboration to enhance student engagement and understanding of three dimensional learning best practices. The chemistry sessions ranged from hands-on experiences that focused on the NYSSLS performance expectation HS-PS1-9 on behavior of gases to technology integration and using AI to transform questions in laboratory experiences to be more three-dimensional. This is just a sample of the many chemistry sessions that were available to attendees. Participants left inspired, equipped with new tools and a renewed passion as chemistry educators. The call for further collaboration outside of the conference with promises to meet online or in person at a future conference emphasizes the collective feeling that the journey of education is never complete—there’s always more to learn, explore, and discover.
In a world where science education is increasingly vital, the STANYS conference reaffirmed the importance of community, support, and collaboration. It is a reminder that when science teachers come together, they not only enhance their own skills but also enrich the lives of their students, fostering anticipation for the next time we all gather together. We ended our session by highlighting the upcoming ChemEd25 conference in Golden, Colorado. We are both so excited to be part of this amazing biannual event so check out the conference website to learn more about ChemEd25. We will both be there to talk about our three-dimensional implementation storylines and experiences. If one of the conference threads speaks to your expertise, please consider submitting a proposal for ChemEd25 and join us in Golden, Colorado!