BLUEPRINT FOR SCIENCE EDUCATION

Abstract

THE NATIONAL Research Council (NRC) has released a framework for science and technology education that is expected to lead to new national standards for teaching science in kindergarten through high school. “Currently, science education in the U.S. lacks a common vision of what students should know and ... curricula too often emphasize breadth over depth,” Helen Quinn, chair of the NRC committee that wrote the report and a professor emerita of physics at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, Calif., said in a statement. This framework addresses these weaknesses and “provides a blueprint that will guide improvements in science education over many years,” she added. The NRC report, “A Framework of K–12 Science Education,” specifies four disciplinary areas all students should understand by the time they finish high school: life sciences, physical sciences, earth and space sciences, and engineering and technology. It outlines how important concepts, practices, and ideas in these four areas ...