The National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education (NSSME) has provided periodic snapshots of K-12 science instruction in the United States for over 40 years. Study topics include teacher background and beliefs, professional learning opportunities, course offerings, instructional objectives and activities, resources for instruction, and policies affecting instruction. First conducted in 1977 as part of a larger study commissioned by the National Science Foundation, successive iterations occurred in 1985, 1993, 2000, 2012, and 2018. The two most recent studies coincidentally share important milestones with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (NGSS; the NGSS Lead States, 2013). In July 2011, the National Research Council published the Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012). The 2012 NSSME study followed 1 year later, and the NGSS were released in 2013. In this way, the 2012 NSSME provided baseline data for NGSS implementation. From 2013 to 2018, 39 states and the District of Columbia (DC) adopted the NGSS or NGSS-like standards (National Science Teaching Association, n.d.). By the time the 2018 NSSME+ was conducted, NGSS states accounted for over two-thirds of the nation's K-12 students. In this editorial, the author summarizes findings in these areas from analyses of data from the 2012 NSSME and the 2018 NSSME+ (Smith, 2020). The author also attempts to explain the findings and suggest where the field may need to shift or concentrate its focus if the NGSS are to take hold in science classrooms broadly.