The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) prompt for assessment and curriculum design that make connections across STEM and ELA practices and content. This presentation examines a set of curriculum design and evaluation tools that provide structure and formative feedback for this complex, inter-disciplinary curriculum planning. The tools were piloted with professional learning teams of middle and high school educators in several school districts in MD. The tools provided rich formative data for monitoring by program staff, documentation for teacher-generated case studies on Project-Based Learning, and baseline data for additional focused work on assessment design and scoring.