Help students grow in the NGSS Science and Engineering Practices with this NGSS Science Practice Intervention Matrix. This teacher tool is designed to help science educators connect student needs to targeted instructional supports.

Instead of guessing what a student needs next, this matrix helps teachers identify a student’s current growth level and choose practical scaffolds, interventions, and next steps. It is especially helpful for students who struggle with starting science tasks, organizing their thinking, applying science practices independently, or transferring skills to new situations.

This resource is ideal for middle school science teachers, NGSS-aligned classrooms, intervention groups, co-teaching, special education support, and progress monitoring.

What’s Included

• NGSS Practice Intervention Matrix PDF
• Growth levels from Level 1 to Level 5
• Student need descriptions
• Teacher intervention suggestions
• Scaffold examples for each level
• Classroom-friendly language for planning support

Teachers Can Use This To

• Match student needs to targeted science practice interventions
• Plan small-group reteaching
• Support students during labs, investigations, CER writing, modeling, and data analysis
• Choose scaffolds based on student readiness
• Move students toward independence with NGSS science practices
• Guide intervention planning without starting from scratch

Best For

• Middle school science
• NGSS Science and Engineering Practices
• Science intervention
• Lab skill support
• Progress monitoring
• Small group instruction
• Co-teaching and support services
• Beginning-of-year diagnostics

Please Note: This resource is a classroom observation and instructional planning tool. It is not a diagnostic tool for identifying or diagnosing learning disabilities, executive functioning disorders, or other disabilities.

This resource is also included in the complete NGSS Science Practices Toolkit Bundle.