Report to Congress 2011 - National Academies

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EDUCATION AND SOCIAL ISSUES 10 REPORT TO CONGRESS 2011
STRENGTHENING K-12 STEM EDUCATION The need for better science and engineering education in the U.S. has been a long-standing concern for many business leaders and policymakers. A growing number of jobs require knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), as do many decisions that almost everyone faces in their everyday life. A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas identifies the key scientific ideas and practices that all students should learn by the end of high school. The new framework is designed so that students will gradually deepen their knowledge of core ideas in four disciplinary areas — life sciences; physical sciences; earth and space sciences; and engineering, technology, and the applications of science — rather than acquire shallow knowledge of many topics. The report strongly emphasizes the practices of science — helping students learn to plan and carry out investigations, for example — and to engage in argumentation from evidence. The framework recognizes seven crosscutting concepts that have explanatory value across much of science and engineering, such as “cause and effect” and “stability and change.” These concepts should be taught in the context of core ideas from the disciplines of science and become familiar touchstones as students progress from kindergarten through 12th grade. Just as important are scientific and engineering practices, which have been given too little emphasis in K-12 education. The framework specifies eight key practices — such as asking questions and defining problems, and analyzing and interpreting data — that should be integrated into and applied throughout students’ K-12 education. Since the report was released, more than 25 states have announced that they are joining the effort now under way to develop new science standards, which would replace those issued more than a decade ago. Another report, Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, calls for state, national, and local policymakers to put K-12 science on a par with reading and mathematics and recommends ways that leaders at all levels can improve K-12 STEM education. For example, assessments for science subjects should be done as frequently as for reading and math, using an assessment system that supports learning and understanding. States and national organizations need to develop assessments that are aligned with the next generation of science standards, which 11 REPORT TO CONGRESS 2011
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Report to Congress 2011 - National Academies

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