---
license: cc0-1.0
language:
- en
tags:
- deprecated
- synthetic
- template-generated
- education
- k-12
- science
- stem
- ngss
- assessment
- curriculum
- learning
- standards
- educational-ai
- three-dimensional-learning
- bloom-taxonomy
- depth-of-knowledge
- scientific-practices
- crosscutting-concepts
pretty_name: '[Deprecated] K-12 Science Standards (generated)'
size_categories:
- 1K<n<10K
task_categories:
- text-classification
- text-generation
- question-answering
task_ids:
- text2text-generation
- multi-class-classification
- open-domain-qa
dataset_info:
  features:
  - name: instruction
    dtype: string
  - name: input
    dtype: string
  - name: output
    dtype: string
  - name: task
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_standard_code
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_grade_level
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_domain
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_core_idea
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_core_idea_title
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_ngss_practice
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_crosscutting_concept
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_dok_level
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_bloom_level
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_complexity_level
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_three_dimensional
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_ngss_aligned
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_assessment_type
    dtype: string
  - name: metadata_estimated_time
    dtype: string
  splits:
  - name: train
    num_bytes: 3778013
    num_examples: 4750
  - name: validation
    num_bytes: 808193
    num_examples: 1018
  - name: test
    num_bytes: 810805
    num_examples: 1019
  download_size: 202337
  dataset_size: 5397011
configs:
- config_name: default
  data_files:
  - split: train
    path: data/train-*
  - split: validation
    path: data/validation-*
  - split: test
    path: data/test-*
---

> [!WARNING]
> **Deprecated - use [`k12-science-standards-expanded`](https://huggingface.co/datasets/robworks-software/k12-science-standards-expanded) instead.**
>
> This dataset is superseded: every instruction in this set also appears there, plus 1,123 more and nine additional metadata columns. Nothing here is unique to it.
>
> It stays online so existing references keep resolving, but it will not be updated.
> New work should point at `robworks-software/k12-science-standards-expanded`.

# K-12 Science Standards (generated instruction data)

6,787 instruction/input/output records for science, generated around a K-12
standards taxonomy for instruction-tuning and educational-content experiments.

## How this was built (read this first)

These are **programmatically generated training examples**, not curriculum written by
educators and not the text of any official standard. A generator combined standards
metadata - codes, grade levels, domains, Bloom's and DOK levels - into instruction and
output text using a fixed set of templates.

Of 4,750 training rows, only **664 instructions (14.0%)** and **572 outputs (12.0%)**
are distinct. Text is assembled by concatenating NGSS taxonomy fields into a frame, so
one output recurs 26 times verbatim.

Structured metadata fields (standard codes, grade levels, domain names) come from the
source taxonomy and are reliable. The generated prose is not.

## Loading

```python
from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("robworks-software/k12-science-standards")
```

## Splits

| Split | Rows |
|-------|------|
| train | 4,750 |
| validation | 1,018 |
| test | 1,019 |
| **total** | **6,787** |

## Appropriate use

- Synthetic instruction-tuning data where fluent, on-topic, low-variety text is
  acceptable.
- Format and schema experiments: task routing, metadata-conditioned generation.
- Structural analysis over the standards taxonomy itself.

## Inappropriate use

- **Classroom or student-facing material.** Nothing here was reviewed by an educator.
- **A source of official standard text.** Go to the issuing body.
- **Benchmarking model knowledge of standards.** Low text variety lets a model score well
  by learning templates rather than content.
- **Training a model whose output will reach students without human review.**

## Limitations

- **12-14% distinct text** - among the most repetitive datasets in this collection.
- **Not NGSS performance expectation text.** NGSS publishes specific performance
  expectations; this generates prose around NGSS *codes and dimension names*. Official
  NGSS material is at [nextgenscience.org](https://www.nextgenscience.org/).
- **"Three-dimensional learning" flags are structural**, set because the generator
  attached a practice and a crosscutting concept - not because the item was designed or
  reviewed against the three-dimensional framework.
- **`metadata_estimated_time` is generated**, not measured or piloted.
- **No educator or subject-matter review** at any stage.
- **`quality_score`, `difficulty`, `bloom_level` and `dok_level` are generator
  assignments**, not expert annotations. A high quality score reflects a rule firing, not
  a judgment about instructional value.
- **Sparse metadata.** Many optional metadata columns are `nan` for most rows.
- **US-centric** and English-only.


## Source taxonomy

Next Generation Science Standards structure - disciplinary core ideas, science and
engineering practices, crosscutting concepts. NGSS codes and dimension names are public;
generated text is original output of this project and is not endorsed by the NGSS
developers.

## License

**CC0-1.0** for this compilation and its generated text.

## Citation

```bibtex
@dataset{k12_science_standards,
  title  = {K-12 Science Standards (generated instruction data)},
  author = {Robworks Software},
  year   = {2025},
  publisher = {Hugging Face},
  note   = {Programmatically generated instruction-tuning data; not official standard text},
  url    = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/robworks-software/k12-science-standards}
}
```