Performance expectationDesign a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering.
Every item written to HS-ETS1-2 has to assess all three dimensions together, not the content alone. This is the structural change that made older practice material stop matching the exam.
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
What a student at each level can do with HS-ETS1-2. These drive how a cluster spreads difficulty across its items.
Summarised by ScienceIQ from the NYSED Performance Level Descriptions for Physical Science: Chemistry. These are our wording, not the Department’s — the official descriptions are the authority.
Identify a provided solution that addresses a smaller, manageable problem.
Identify a solution to one smaller problem within a complex real-world problem.
Identify one smaller manageable problem and describe an engineering solution.
Design a solution to a complex problem by breaking it into smaller manageable problems.
Phenomenon stimulus, connected items across the required types, answer key, rubric and figures drawn deterministically from a structured spec — in the format your students will sit.