Mandated Science: Science and Scientists in the Making of Standards

Mandated Science: Science and Scientists in the Making of Standards PDF

Author: L. Salter

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9400927118

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For a long time I would not eat strawberries. In 1977, a scandal broke about a testing laboratory having falsified the data that was used to register a large number of pesticides. The Canadian government, along with several others, began the process of re-evaluating both the procedures for testing and these specific chemicals. One chemical proved particularly controversial, the commonly-used pesticide named captan. In light of the controversy, which was manifest in a conflict between two government departments, in 1981, the Canadian government chose to appoint a special panel of experts to advise them. I was a member of this expert committee. The experience on the captan committee did little to reassure me, either about captan or about the way that decisions had been made about many pesticides in widespread use. Although it could not be demonstrated that captan was dangerous to people in the amounts to which they would likely be exposed, the animal studies provided the basis for concern. Prudence required at the very least that consumers take the precaution of washing their fruit, for captan is widely used on apples, cherries and berry fruits. Captan residues wash off apples relatively easily; they are less easily removed from berry fruits, such as straw berries.

A Framework for K-12 Science Education

A Framework for K-12 Science Education PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-02-28

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 0309214459

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Science, engineering, and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and hold the key to solving many of humanity's most pressing current and future challenges. The United States' position in the global economy is declining, in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge in these fields. To address the critical issues of U.S. competitiveness and to better prepare the workforce, A Framework for K-12 Science Education proposes a new approach to K-12 science education that will capture students' interest and provide them with the necessary foundational knowledge in the field. A Framework for K-12 Science Education outlines a broad set of expectations for students in science and engineering in grades K-12. These expectations will inform the development of new standards for K-12 science education and, subsequently, revisions to curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development for educators. This book identifies three dimensions that convey the core ideas and practices around which science and engineering education in these grades should be built. These three dimensions are: crosscutting concepts that unify the study of science through their common application across science and engineering; scientific and engineering practices; and disciplinary core ideas in the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences and for engineering, technology, and the applications of science. The overarching goal is for all high school graduates to have sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on science-related issues, be careful consumers of scientific and technical information, and enter the careers of their choice. A Framework for K-12 Science Education is the first step in a process that can inform state-level decisions and achieve a research-grounded basis for improving science instruction and learning across the country. The book will guide standards developers, teachers, curriculum designers, assessment developers, state and district science administrators, and educators who teach science in informal environments.

Next Generation Science Standards

Next Generation Science Standards PDF

Author: NGSS Lead States

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2013-09-15

Total Pages: 533

ISBN-13: 0309272270

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Next Generation Science Standards identifies the science all K-12 students should know. These new standards are based on the National Research Council's A Framework for K-12 Science Education. The National Research Council, the National Science Teachers Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Achieve have partnered to create standards through a collaborative state-led process. The standards are rich in content and practice and arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally benchmarked science education. The print version of Next Generation Science Standards complements the nextgenscience.org website and: Provides an authoritative offline reference to the standards when creating lesson plans Arranged by grade level and by core discipline, making information quick and easy to find Printed in full color with a lay-flat spiral binding Allows for bookmarking, highlighting, and annotating

National Science Education Standards

National Science Education Standards PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1995-12-07

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0309141494

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Americans agree that our students urgently need better science education. But what should they be expected to know and be able to do? Can the same expectations be applied across our diverse society? These and other fundamental issues are addressed in National Science Education Standardsâ€"a landmark development effort that reflects the contributions of thousands of teachers, scientists, science educators, and other experts across the country. The National Science Education Standards offer a coherent vision of what it means to be scientifically literate, describing what all students regardless of background or circumstance should understand and be able to do at different grade levels in various science categories. The standards address: The exemplary practice of science teaching that provides students with experiences that enable them to achieve scientific literacy. Criteria for assessing and analyzing students' attainments in science and the learning opportunities that school science programs afford. The nature and design of the school and district science program. The support and resources needed for students to learn science. These standards reflect the principles that learning science is an inquiry-based process, that science in schools should reflect the intellectual traditions of contemporary science, and that all Americans have a role in improving science education. This document will be invaluable to education policymakers, school system administrators, teacher educators, individual teachers, and concerned parents.

Making it comparable

Making it comparable PDF

Author: David Waddington

Publisher: Waxmann Verlag

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 3830969015

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One of the most significant developments in school education in recent years has been the development and introduction of standards, a subject of considerable controversy. This book is the result of a symposium held in Kiel, a symposium that was arranged by two leading science education groups, one at IPN (Leibniz Institute for Science Education at the University of Kiel) in Germany and the other at the University of York, UK. The seminar brought together experts from 15 countries. These countries include those that have extensive experience with the effects of standards on the educational system, on individual schools and teachers and on students. Other reports concern countries which are introducing them shortly and yet others on countries that are in the early stages of development of standards. 11 are from Europe and the others are from Australia, Israel, Taiwan and the U.S. The book is divided into three parts. In Part A, two of the organizers set the scene, describing the reasons for arranging the symposium and outlining the preparations and the work done at the meeting. Part B contains 17 reports from the 15 countries and in Part C, there are two summaries, analysing the conclusions, taken from two different vantage points. The controversies surrounding standards remain. However, this book gives a succinct and authoritative overall account of the advantages and disadvantages of their introduction taken from the experiences of many countries.

A Framework for K-12 Science Education

A Framework for K-12 Science Education PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-03-28

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 0309217423

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Science, engineering, and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and hold the key to solving many of humanity's most pressing current and future challenges. The United States' position in the global economy is declining, in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge in these fields. To address the critical issues of U.S. competitiveness and to better prepare the workforce, A Framework for K-12 Science Education proposes a new approach to K-12 science education that will capture students' interest and provide them with the necessary foundational knowledge in the field. A Framework for K-12 Science Education outlines a broad set of expectations for students in science and engineering in grades K-12. These expectations will inform the development of new standards for K-12 science education and, subsequently, revisions to curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development for educators. This book identifies three dimensions that convey the core ideas and practices around which science and engineering education in these grades should be built. These three dimensions are: crosscutting concepts that unify the study of science through their common application across science and engineering; scientific and engineering practices; and disciplinary core ideas in the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences and for engineering, technology, and the applications of science. The overarching goal is for all high school graduates to have sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on science-related issues, be careful consumers of scientific and technical information, and enter the careers of their choice. A Framework for K-12 Science Education is the first step in a process that can inform state-level decisions and achieve a research-grounded basis for improving science instruction and learning across the country. The book will guide standards developers, teachers, curriculum designers, assessment developers, state and district science administrators, and educators who teach science in informal environments.

Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards

Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2014-05-29

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0309289548

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Assessments, understood as tools for tracking what and how well students have learned, play a critical role in the classroom. Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards develops an approach to science assessment to meet the vision of science education for the future as it has been elaborated in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (Framework) and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These documents are brand new and the changes they call for are barely under way, but the new assessments will be needed as soon as states and districts begin the process of implementing the NGSS and changing their approach to science education. The new Framework and the NGSS are designed to guide educators in significantly altering the way K-12 science is taught. The Framework is aimed at making science education more closely resemble the way scientists actually work and think, and making instruction reflect research on learning that demonstrates the importance of building coherent understandings over time. It structures science education around three dimensions - the practices through which scientists and engineers do their work, the key crosscutting concepts that cut across disciplines, and the core ideas of the disciplines - and argues that they should be interwoven in every aspect of science education, building in sophistication as students progress through grades K-12. Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards recommends strategies for developing assessments that yield valid measures of student proficiency in science as described in the new Framework. This report reviews recent and current work in science assessment to determine which aspects of the Framework's vision can be assessed with available techniques and what additional research and development will be needed to support an assessment system that fully meets that vision. The report offers a systems approach to science assessment, in which a range of assessment strategies are designed to answer different kinds of questions with appropriate degrees of specificity and provide results that complement one another. Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards makes the case that a science assessment system that meets the Framework's vision should consist of assessments designed to support classroom instruction, assessments designed to monitor science learning on a broader scale, and indicators designed to track opportunity to learn. New standards for science education make clear that new modes of assessment designed to measure the integrated learning they promote are essential. The recommendations of this report will be key to making sure that the dramatic changes in curriculum and instruction signaled by Framework and the NGSS reduce inequities in science education and raise the level of science education for all students.

Risk, Science, and Politics

Risk, Science, and Politics PDF

Author: Kathryn Harrison

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 1994-11-18

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 0773565051

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Paying particular attention to how politicians and bureaucrats in the two countries deal with the scientific uncertainty that pervades environmental decision making, Harrison and Hoberg analyse case studies of seven controversial substances suspected of causing cancer in humans: the pesticides Alar and alachlor, urea-formaldehyde foam insulation, radon gas, dioxin, saccharin, and asbestos. They weigh the strengths and weaknesses of each country's approach according to five criteria: stringency and timeliness of the regulatory decision, balancing of risks and benefits by decision makers, opportunities for public participation, and the interpretation of science in regulatory decision making. The Canadian approach is exemplified by closed decision making, case-by-case review that relies heavily on expert judgement, and limited public debate about the scientific basis of regulatory decisions. In contrast, regulatory science in the United States is characterized by publication of lengthy rationales for regulatory decisions, reliance on standardized procedures for risk assessment, and controversy surrounding the interpretation of scientific evidence.

Creating Scientists

Creating Scientists PDF

Author: Christopher Moore

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-11-22

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 1315298570

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Learn how to shift from teaching science content to teaching a more hands-on, inquiry-based approach, as required by the new Next Generation Science Standards. This practical book provides a clear, research verified framework for building lessons that teach scientific process and practice abilities, such as gathering and making sense of data, constructing explanations, designing experiments, and communicating information. Creating Scientists features reproducible, immediately deployable tools and handouts that you can use in the classroom to assess your students’ learning within the domains for the NGSS or any standards framework with focus on the integration of science practice with content. This book is an invaluable resource for educators seeking to build a "community of practice," where students discover ideas through well-taught, hands-on, authentic science experiences that foster an innate love for learning how the world works.