Paper

State Science Standards: An Appraisal of Science Standards in 36 States

Nebraska has published its mathematics and science frameworks as a single document.¹⁰⁹ A single wellwritten introduction serves both. For the most part, however, the two areas are considered separately. We concentrate here on the 60-page science section.

Following a brief but cogent introduction which includes an excellent discussion of "Developmentally Appropriate Practices,"¹¹⁰ the Standards list the usual items in a systematic and reasonably accurate way. A short summary list is followed by expanded treatment in shortessay form. There are a few goofs. For instance, I am at a loss to know how secondary students are to "predict evolutionary cycles."¹¹¹ And I do not know what it means to say "without a constant input of energy into a system, entropy occurs."¹¹² Gregor Mendel is given as an outstanding example of the application of mathematics to science,¹¹³ but in fact his mathematics was very simple and his statistics (as recent studies have shown) consisted largely of fudging results. Sewall Wright, with his critical role in the development of population genetics, would have been a much better example.

There are numerous Lamarckian notions; e.g., "The learner will . . . investigate and communicate how a species adapts to its environment."¹¹⁴ And how is a student to "create an organism to survive in a given ecological region"?¹¹⁵

More generally, energy is mentioned frequently throughout the document, but no attempt is made to define it. And, given the close connection implied in the publication of joint mathematicsscience standards, it is disappointing to see how little mathematical or statistical analysis is incorporated into the science standard. An addendum devoted to the matter¹¹⁶ is unfortunately not very specific. Biological evolution, though mentioned from time to time, is not given its proper place in the study of the life sciences. There is no mention of human evolution at all. Finally, little if any attention is devoted to the importance of communication of scientific ideas in written words and mathematical language.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire's brief (31page) framework¹¹⁷ is quite coarsegrained, being divided into levels K-6 and 7-10, in spite of the term "K-12" in its title. The work of grades 1012 is mentioned only in passing. New Hampshire law provides for the development of assessment instruments at grades 6 and 10, and the framework is intended to aid in the ongoing development of these instruments.¹¹⁸ Most persons will probably hold the view that this time scale is too coarse to deal with the complexities of the development of children's intellectual strengths. Nevertheless, the New Hampshire standards have some virtues. There are some insightful and useful observations; for example, "Although scientists reject the notion of attaining absolute truth and accept some uncertainty as part of nature, students should understand that most scientific knowledge is valid at any given time."¹¹⁹

The tendency of the Standards is to defer most theoretical understanding of the natural world to grades 11-12. For example,

In middle/junior high school life science, the emphasis should be understanding oneself as a human being. Issues focusing on health, nutrition, environmental management, and human adaptation are appropriate for middle school students. . . . General biology in the high school should emphasize biological knowledge in a social/ecological context. . . . Advanced level courses in high school biology should be taught in the context of a discipline emphasizing its structure, its modes of inquiry, its theoretical underpinnings, and its career opportunities.¹²⁰

Little attempt is made to elaborate on the fundamental principles of the sciences. Students are expected to understand the concepts of energy and entropy,¹²¹ but no attempt is made to define or develop them. Newton's laws of motion are dealt with only by implication.¹²² An attempt is made to ameliorate this lack of theoretical foundation in Standard 6 ("Unifying Themes and Concepts") but it is not very satisfactory.

New Jersey

The science standards comprise a long and very detailed section of the Core Curriculum Content Standards.¹²³ For the purposes of this work, we have concentrated our attention on the following chapters of the document: Chapter 2, Part I: "The Science Standards"; Chapter 7, "Science Process Standards"; and Chapter 8, "The Content Standards."

Much is made of the importance of mathematics as a tool in science, as here:

From the earliest grades, students should find science and mathematics virtually indistinguishable. Beginning with counting, young students will progress quickly to making simple measurements (introducing them to units), which will lead in turn to collecting and displaying data. In the middle and upper grades, students should consistently be asked to use mathematics to analyze and interpret experimental results, determining relationships among variables, and deriving mathematical expressions that describe physical phenomenon [sic]. At the most challenging level, they should begin to appreciate the importance of a mathematical model as a valid representation of an otherwise unobservable entity.¹²⁴

It may go too far to call science and mathematics "indistinguishable," and "unobservable" is not the mot juste in the last sentence, but the sentiment is laudable.

Much of the length of Chapter 8, the core of the document, is attributable to extensive descriptions of "Learning Demonstration Activities." For the most part these are well chosen and well described. But there are slips. For example, a fairly standard demonstration of the contagion process is represented as modeling the immune system as well, which it does not.¹²⁵ A visit to a pet shop is said to provide "living examples of most vertebrate groups."¹²⁶ Whether that is true or not depends, of course, on what is meant by "groups." An activity intended to demonstrate Newton's first law does not really do so.¹²⁷

A particularly welldescribed learning activity concerns the Big Bang for grades 9-12.¹²⁸ Care is taken to discuss some of the essential underlying physics that must be understood before the student can acquire an appreciation for the Big Bang. These include the idea of blackbody radiation, the concept of photons, and the Olbers paradox.

The tight theoretical structure of the sciences is well represented. In particular, evolution is presented at the core of the life sciences; some elementary ideas are introduced explicitly at the earliest grades.

New Mexico

The New Mexico science standards¹²⁹ are very brief (19 pages) and consist entirely of tabular material listing standards and the benchmarks to be used in assessing their achievement. In common with the Standards for other areas, they "clearly state that proficiency in English is of the highest importance." The overall Standards for science does, however, provide for "supporting the use of a student's primary or home language, as appropriate, for teaching and learning while the student acquires proficiency in English."¹³⁰ We must presume that the acquisition process is described in detail elsewhere. The six principles set forth as the basis for science include two, unfortunately, that suppose the existence of "a special investigative approach called the scientific method."¹³¹

The first seven pages of standards and benchmarks, comprising nearly 40% of the whole, are so abstract as to be empty. Students are, for example, to "demonstrate an understanding of prediction and its uses,"¹³² "design and develop models,"¹³³ and "discriminate between the effects of constancy and change as properties of objects and processes,"¹³⁴ but there is not a clue as to the system to which these efforts are to be applied.

Most of the remaining material constitutes a potpourri of bits and pieces of knowledge in the physical, life, and earth/space sciences. The bits and pieces, taken individually, are pretty standard fare; in the absence of any unifying argument they are not very useful. In the final section, "Technology and the History of Science," students are expected to "describe the kinds of problems people have solved through scientific investigations,"¹³⁵ "explain how the benefits of science and technology are enjoyed by some groups and not by other groups,"¹³⁶ and "model changes in the direction of scientific inquiry based on all modifications of previous scientific research."¹³⁷

In sum, the New Mexico Standards are of very little use.

New York

New York has published a combination Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology¹³⁸probably not a bad idea. The three areas are dealt with individually, but in parallel columns where that is appropriate.

Each of the many detailed benchmarks is followed by an example. While the benchmarks are mainly clear and appropriate, far too many of the examples are poorly chosen, as the following sampling suggests:

• As an example of how intermediate students should conduct a proper scientific inquiry "develop explanations of natural phenomena in a continuing, creative process"they are expected to study the disparity between the amount of solid waste that is, and the amount that could be, recycled. But disposal of solid waste is not a natural process, and in any case it is mainly a technological, not a scientific problem. More to the point, the disparity between the quantity that is recycled and that which could be recycled is a socioeconomic issue and is not relevant to science in any direct way. A poor example has been chosen for a contentspecific item, in a pious attempt to demonstrate "greenness."¹³⁹

• "Knowledge of the impacts and limitations of information systems is essential to its [sic] effective and ethical use . . . Students describe the uses of information systems . . . understand that computers are used to store personal information[,] demonstrate ability to evaluate information. This is evident, for example, when students look for differences among species of bugs . . . and classify them according to preferred habitat."¹⁴⁰ Come again?

• "The Earth and celestial phenomena can be described by principles of relative motion and perspective." Whatever this means, it is difficult to see the connection with the example that follows: "Conduct a longterm weather investigation, such as running a weather station or collecting weather data."¹⁴¹

• To demonstrate the variety of forms of energy, intermediate students are to "build an electromagnet and investigate the effects of using different types of core materials, varying thicknesses of wire, and different circuit types."¹⁴² This is a fine activity, but has no direct connection with energy. And just what "different circuit types" did the writers have in mind?

• "Individual organisms and species change over time."¹⁴³ What does this mean? Does it refer to the change in an organism as it ages or encounters environmental changes? What does it mean to say that a species changes? In the appended example"investigate the acquired effects of industrialization on tree trunk color and those effects on different insect species"what is meant by an acquired effect and how is the student to proceed? This attempt to introduce the study of evolutionary processes fails because the writers either did not understand or could not communicate their understanding of those processes.

• Students are expected to explore the role of reproduction and development in the continuity of life by "apply[ing] a model of the genetic code as an analogue of the genetic code in human populations."¹⁴⁴ What is a model of the genetic code and how is it to be applied? How is a teacher to interpret this?

There are some good examples: Students "use the atomic theory of the elements to justify their choice of an element for use as a lighter than air gas for a launch vehicle"; one may presume that by launch vehicle is meant a research balloon, not a rocket.

Standard 6--"Interconnectedness: Common Themes"--is very well done. This standard covers such ideas as model building, magnitude and scale, stability, and change. Elementary students are to study the concept of models in terms of toy cars, building-block structures, and road maps. They are introduced to scaling laws by studying the relation between height and shoe size.¹⁴⁷

A section entitled "Samples of Student Work" is intended to exemplify the output of students at various levels and various proficiencies as they progress toward meeting the standard. The section is apparently in an early stage, and will doubtless be refined. At present, it is a good start toward a laudable goal. Likewise, a draft "Curriculum Resource Guide" is an excellent beginning toward providing conceptual and exemplary materials intended to guide students toward meeting the raised expectations specified by the Regents.

Overall, the New York document is a curious mixture of generally well-written standards and poorly chosen, often confusing, erroneous, or irrelevant examples. It is as though two different groups wrote the document. The C grade assigned represents a compromise between the good and the bad.

North Dakota

The "North Dakota Science Framework"¹⁴⁸ consists almost entirely of a list of empty generalities; e.g., "The student demonstrates the ability to . . . generate questions about the world based on observation¹⁴⁹ . . . recognize[s] that science can provide enjoyment as a leisure activity¹⁵⁰ . . . recognize[s] what constitutes data."¹⁵¹ Even when content is touched upon, it is in the vaguest manner: "The student demonstrates the ability to . . . identify the phases of matter¹⁵² . . . compare[s] and contrast[s] cause and effect relationships in physical, biological, and chemical systems."¹⁵³A companion document, the Elementary Science Curriculum Guide, K6,¹⁵⁴ provides a little more specificity. It contains 20 pages of lists of such items for the teacher as "investigate rocks," "demonstrate that air can support objects," "discuss why animals are important," "investigate microscopic objects," and "recognize the difference between mass and weight." In my view, the documents are essentially useless. In an attempt to search for more specific material, I obtained several teachers' guides.¹⁵⁵ Although these contain some more specific information, they are curriculum guides and lab/demonstration manuals rather than standards.