Topic Arrangements of the NGSS

To learn more about the standards and to view the NGSS Appendices, click here.

Download a PDF of all performance expectations grouped by topic. You may also view DCI arrangements of standards or search for individual performance expectations. To the right under Related Resources are Storylines and PDFs of related standards.Storylines are statements that describe the context and rationale for the Performace Expectations (PEs) in each grade band and section.

The topics arrangements of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) include the same PEs as in the DCI arrangements, but the PEs are bundled differently. At the beginning of the NGSS writing process, the writers arranged the Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) into topics around which to develop the standards in order to eliminate potential redundancy, seek an appropriate grain size, and seek natural connections among the DCIs. However, the codes (names) of individual PEs are based on the DCI arrangement of the standards. Some states prefer to use the topical arrangements of the standards, whereas other states prefer to use the DCI arrangements of the standards.