Next Generation Science Standards Released

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a set of K-12 science education curriculum benchmarks, were released earlier this month, according to Education News. Although adoption of the NGSS by states is voluntary, its creators hope that it will help decrease “widespread scientific ignorance” and inspire more students to study science and technology in college.

In 2011, the National Research Council of the Academies published the Framework for K-12 Science Education, which paved the way for the effort to create the NGSS. The 26 states that helped create the standards have also agreed to adopt them, including Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.

“The NGSS aim to prepare students to be better decision makers about scientific and technical issues and to apply science to their daily lives,” explained Science Education Program Consultant Matt Krehbiel to Education News. “By blending core science knowledge with scientific practices, students are engaged in a more relevant context that deepens their understanding and helps them to build what they need to move forward with their education — whether that’s moving on to a four-year college or moving into post-secondary training.”

The New York Times reports that the new science standards call for some dramatic changes to how subjects in science are currently being taught. While it will take states some time to develop new curricula based on the standards, the hope is that NGSS will encourage the use of more “real-world examples” in science education and a more “holistic” approach to teaching that includes greater integration of case studies and focus on the scientific method.

The new standards also dictate that climate change be taught starting in middle school and that evolution be taught in spite of protest from religious groups. The Huffington Post reports that those two topics alone could cause some of the remaining states to refuse to adopt NGSS. A 2012 Gallup poll showed that Americans are still very much divided on the concept of evolution, and five states are currently proposing “academic freedom bills” that would allow teachers to discuss alternatives to evolution with students.

“The plan's assertion that human behavior and activity have had ‘major effects’ on global climate change has proved to be an easy focal point for right-wing criticism,” writes the Huffington Post.

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