Resources

The California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS) Toolkit for Instructional Materials Evaluation (TIME) is a suite of tools and processes for evaluating and selecting instructional materials aligned with the CA NGSS. This report provides an overview of the full TIME process, participants’ perceptions of TIME, a detailed description of statewide TIME trainings, challenges to implementing the TIME process, and recommendations for adoption committees supporting districts’ NGSS implementation.

CA NGSS TIME takes adoption committees through a comprehensive, six-step, evidence-based process for evaluating how well instructional materials:

• Align to the NGSS
• Provide desired student learning experiences
• Provide useful teacher supports and resources
• Correspond to district needs and priorities

To kick off statewide implementation of TIME in California, a series of TIME trainings were held in 2018–19. The primary purpose of the trainings was to model the most time-intensive and comprehensive step of the TIME process, the Paper Screen. TIME training attendees and facilitators cited several benefits of the approach, including that TIME:

• Is useful for district materials adoption
• Deepens participants’ understanding of the NGSS
• Improves participants’ ability to recognize features of high-quality instructional materials