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From 2020–2023, Massachusetts participated as a partner state in the development of materials for three full-year High School courses. Teachers in Massachusetts districts field tested and provided feedback on units in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. The high school courses have Earth & Space and Technology/Engineering standards embedded throughout.
Each unit has received the NGSS Design Badge , and all three courses have received an "all green" rating from EdReports , indicating high-quality.
DESE recognizes specific instructional materials as "high-quality". High-quality instructional materials (or HQIM) are designed in accordance with the principles described in the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine's 2012 publication, A Framework for K-12 Science Education . For a brief overview of these features and a summary of tools and resources to identify high-quality, refer to our quick reference guide on HQIM in science .
High-quality science units are meant to be taught in their entirety. Although teachers should adjust and customize units to be relevant to their students, or to meet required accommodations, it is not recommended to "mix and match" activities from different units or to pull discrete activities from a unit without context. A major feature of high-quality units are their coherence and intentional design of progressing student independence with the science and engineering practices .
Learn more about this multi-dimensional approach to science learning with this free module from STEM Teaching Tools .
At the course level, it may be possible to use units from different sources; however teachers and curriculum coordinators will need to understand the standards addressed by each unit to anticipate gaps or redundancies to ensure a coherent scope and sequence.
The OpenSciEd High School materials are freely available on the OpenSciEd website . Additional supplemental materials have been developed by DESE in order to ensure full alignment with the Massachusetts 2016 STE Curriculum Frameworks. To receive access to those materials, and to receive any other Massachusetts-specific updates on the OpenSciEd high school course, please fill out this interest form: OpenSciEd HS in MA .
High-quality, standards-aligned instruction represents a change in pedagogy and instruction, not just content and curriculum materials. Schools and districts that intend to adopt HQIM should ensure that teachers have ample time in their schedule to experience ongoing professional learning. Professional learning should be curriculum specific whenever possible, and should include a combination of formal unit training, guided professional learning communities, and responsive coaching.
For OpenSciEd, it is recommended to use a certified provider to provide unit training and to support district and school leadership in developing the competencies needed to build supportive learning systems for teachers.
Selecting HQIM is just the beginning of a complex, multi-year implementation process. Many tools for leaders to support implementation of Science HQIM are available at the NGSS Curriculum Tools Leadership site . If you would like to begin the process of evaluating, selecting, and implementing HQIM, we recommend using the IMplementMA process or a similar process. DESE offers annual networks that are open to all Massachusetts districts in support of the evaluating/selecting and implementing/monitoring processes.
DESE has created a suite of instructional planning and classroom observation tools to support school teams in using HQIM.
Last Updated: October 24, 2025