Science Education--How Kids Can Learn
Prospects for better science teaching in American public schools have been markedly improved by proposed new national standards for science education. But the standards mean little without a commitment from local school districts, universities and businesses to provide the resources, leadership and staffs to reverse a deterioration in American scientific literacy that threatens the nation’s economic future.
The issue here is not producing more scientists and engineers; they are in surplus now. Rather the issue is to provide the wider public with an understanding of how the natural world operates, both to equip people for 21st-Century jobs and to arm them against forces of ignorance.
Until fairly recently, American schools were doing a terrible job at that. Five years ago, the average youngster in grades kindergarten through five spent only 33 minutes a week on science. Today it is up to 2.5 hours, far from good but better.
The standards were written by a panel of the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. They attempt to spell out, from kindergarten until high school graduation, what youngsters should know about science.
The emphasis throughout, though, is not on memorizing the periodic table of elements and other tasks that drove generations of students up the wall--and away from science. Rather, the stress is on science as an exciting process of discovery and inquiry. Students should be taught how to construct and test scientific hypotheses, gather and evaluate evidence. These are lessons that can be valuable in many spheres of life.
Before graduation, the standards say, students should grasp the molecular basis of heredity and evolution, not just to understand the chemistry involved “but because of the need to take informed positions.” The media, after all, are filled with technical news concerning such subjects as health, the environment, reproduction and communication.
These new standards are not the only effort in this area. The National Science Teachers Assn. has mounted a project to redefine the entire scope and sequence by which high school students study physics, chemistry and biology. And many local districts and schools have made remarkable strides. The Pasadena Unified School District, for example, has won national attention for its imaginative program, meant to bring science into every classroom at every grade.
Much more needs to be done. The new standards are entirely voluntary. Local districts must give new emphasis to science. Also, major corporations and universities should recognize they too bear a responsibility to make their experts available to help local schools. At least this is one national problem that is not getting worse.
