Peter McLaren served as part of the national writing committee for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the National Academy of Engineering' Guiding Implementation of K-12 Engineering Education committee, and the National Academy of Science Committee for Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards.



He serves as Director at Next Gen Education, LLC and works with states and districts in support of the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards and other three-dimensional state science standards based on the Framework for K-12 Science Education (NRC, 2012). In his previous work Mr. McLaren served in a number of roles in the area of science education policy including Director of the State and District Support for Science at Achieve, Science and Technology Specialist at the Rhode Island Department of Education and President of the Council of State Science Supervisors (CSSS) serving as President from July 2010 until April 2013.



An award winning educator, McLaren was a teacher of science for 13 years at both the high- and middle-school level. In 2001 he was recognized with the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award and in 1995 as the Rhode Island Science Teacher of the Year by the MIT-sponsored Network of Educators of Science and Technology. He holds Bachelors of Science and Master of Arts degrees in Science education from the University of Rhode Island.