National Science Education Standards

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National Science Education Standards

• National Research Council

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Are National and/or State Education Standards
Needed?
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Benchmarks for Science Literacy 1993

• Based on the philosophy that human existence will
  change radically during the next life span with
  mathematics, science, and technology at the
  center of this change, American Association for
  the Advancement of Science (AAAS) posed the
  following question in their document
• What should the substance and character of an
  education be that is reacting to radically change
  in human existence and life span with
  mathematics, science, and technology at the
  center of this change?
• It is recommended that the book Science for All
  Americans be used with the Benchmarks

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• Science for All Americans
• Answers the question of what constitutes adult
  scientific literacy
• Recommends what all students should know and be
  able to do in science, mathematics, and
  technology by the time they graduate from high
  school
• Benchmarks for Science Literacy
• Specifies how students should progress toward
  science literacy
• Recommends what students should know and be able
  to do in mathematics, science, and technology by
  the time they reach certain grade levels (2nd,
  5th, 8th, and 12th)

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Benchmarks

• The Nature of Science
• The Nature of Mathematics
• The Nature of Technology
• The Physical Setting
• The Living Environment
• The Human Organism
• Human Society
• The Designed World
• The Mathematical World
• Historical Perspectives
• Common Themes
• Habits of Mind

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National Science Education Standards

• Scientific Literacy
• The knowledge and understanding of scientific
  concepts and processes required for personal
  decision making, participation in civic and
  cultural affairs, and economic productivity. It
  means that a person can ask, find, or determine
  answers to questions derived from curiosity about
  everyday experiences, or identify scientific
  issues underlying national and local decisions
  and express positions that are scientifically and
  technologically informed.
• Inquiry
• Involves making observations, posing questions,
  examining books and other sources of information
  to see what is already known, planning
  investigations, using tools to gather and analyze
  data, proposing answers and predictions, and
  making conclusions.

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National Science Education Standards

• Science Teaching Standards
• Addresses what teachers of science should know
  and be able to do
• Professional Development Standards
• Provides vision for the development of
  professional knowledge and skills among teachers
• Assessment Standards
• Provides criteria to judge the quality of
  assessment practices
• Science Content Standards
• Outlines what students should know, understand,
  and be able to do
• Science Education Program Standards
• Describes the conditions for quality science
  programs
• Science Education System Standards
• Provides criteria used for judging the overall
  science education system

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Science Teaching Standards

• Teachers should become experts in
• Selecting or planning an inquiry-based science
  program
• Guiding and facilitating science learning
• Engaging in ongoing assessment of his or her
  teaching and of student learning
• Designing and managing learning environments
  conducive to doing science
• Developing communities of science learners that
  reflect the intellectual rigor of scientific
  inquiry
• Participating actively in ongoing planning and
  development of their school science program

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Professional Development Standards

• Professional Development for teachers requires
• Learning science through methods of inquiry
• Integrating knowledge of science, learning, and
  pedagogy and applying that knowledge to science
  learning
• Building an understanding for lifelong learning
• Professional development programs that are
  coherent and integrated

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Assessment Standards

• Assessments must
• Be designed to measure clearly stated objectives.
• Be compared to the standard of opportunity to
  learn.
• Be valid, authentic, and reliable.
• Accommodate diversity and be examined for signs
  of bias.
• The strengths, weaknesses, assumptions, and
  inaccuracies inherent in every assessment should
  be kept in mind.

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Content Standards

• Unifying Concepts and Processes
• Systems, order, and organization
• Evidence, models, and explanation
• Constancy, change, and measurement
• Evolution and equilibrium
• Form and function
• Science as Inquiry
• Physical Science
• Life Science
• Earth and Space Science
• Science and Technology
• Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
• History and Nature of Science

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Program Standards

• Questions to consider relating to a science
  program
• Is the program consistent?
• Does the curriculum connect to other areas of
  learning and to the students world?
• Are the necessary mathematical tools integrated
  into the program?
• Is the program supported by time, space, and
  equipment necessary for student growth?
• Does the program give diverse learners equal
  footing?
• Does the faculty and school community support and
  continually renew the program?

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System Standards

• Prerequisites for supporting science education at
  all levels
• Common Vision
• Coordination
• Continuity
• Resources
• Equity
• Unanticipated Effects
• Individual Responsibility

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Science TEKS

• Introduction for Grade Level
• Scientific Processes
• Scientific Concepts
• Organized by Themes
• Systems
• Properties, Patterns, and Models
• Constancy and Change
• Form and Function