New standards for teaching science, from kindergarten to 12th grade, focus on hands-on applications to engage students in an intense study of scientific concepts.
The state was one of 26 to develop the recently released Next Generation of Science Standards, and two teachers from Northwest Arkansas helped write the guidelines.
The Next Generation standards are separate from the Common Core State Standards for math and literacy being implemented in kindergarten through eighth grade. Implementation of Common Core will continue next school year in grades nine through 12.
At A Glance
New Standards
Next Generation science standards take students deeper into the study of science. For example, first-graders will be asked to use tools and materials to design and build a device that uses light or sound to solve a problem of communication over a distance. Kindergartners will be asked to construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs.
Source: http://www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards
The standards are intended to take students deeper into the study of life, earth and physical sciences with less memorization of theories and more problem-solving through experiments.
Steve Long, chairman of the science department at Rogers High School, said, “We won’t be teaching facts and minutiae.”
A stronger emphasis will be placed on engineering, Long said.
Jacob Hayward, assistant principal at Southwest Junior High in Springdale, said the idea is to get students thinking like a scientist, asking questions and experimenting.
Educators agree it could take several years to get the standards implemented in Arkansas schools and professional development for teachers is a major key.
“Professional development has to be very strong,” Hayward said, noting many teachers may have to learn new content to teach according to the new standards.
Jenny Gammill, director of K-12 science and technology in the Fayetteville School District said in addition to intense professional development, new curriculum will have to be written. The new standards could cost school districts more money if new textbooks, print or digital, or new laboratory equipment is required.
“We will ensure our teachers are ready, especially the kindergarten through fifth-grade teachers,” Gammill said.
The Next Generation standards will undergo intense scrutiny by the Arkansas Department of Education before there is any consideration of adopting them, said Phyllis Stewart, chief of staff for the Education Department.
That process could take well into the next year, Gammill said, suggesting the earliest implementation could be in the 2015-16 school year.
Stewart said a group of Arkansas educators will begin reviewing the standards May 2. This group has been reviewing drafts as they were released during the past two years. In mid-June a second group of educators from across the state will begin an intense review of the standards, Stewart said.
The goal of the second review is to prepare a recommendation to the state Board of Education, although no timetable has been established for that group to complete its review, Stewart said.
Gammill said the standards are built around scientific practices across all disciplines so students devote more time and study to solving problems.
“This is doing science, not memorizing facts” Gammill said.
The standards are in a 71-page document developed by the National Science Teachers Association, Achieve Inc., the National Research Council and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Two of the writers were Melissa Miller, a science teacher at Randall G. Lynch Middle School in Farmington and Kathy Prophet, a science teacher at Hellstern Middle School in Springdale.
Miller has spent an untold number of hours over the past two years developing the standards. She is one of 43 classroom teachers and higher education representatives nationally who wrote the standards.
“This is to benefit kids as they travel through school to be college or career ready when they graduate,” Miller said.
Miller said she was selected for the writing team through her service as a district director for the National Science Teachers Association and also for her work with the University of Arkansas in research experiences for teachers.
Engineering is heavily integrated throughout the new standards.
Engineering teaches problem solving with critical thinking and finding a variety of solutions to the same problem, both of which are major components in the study of science, Miller said.
Some educators aren’t sure if the new science standards will elevate the teaching of science at all grade levels.
“One can hope so,” Long said. I hope the new standards will reinvigorate the interest in science.”
The addition of an assessment to measure a student’s knowledge of life, physical or earth sciences might be the avenue to add weight to the study of science.
Gammill has expressed concern that science is not being adequately taught, especially in elementary grades, because more classroom time has been devoted to literacy and math, which are tested annually on the Arkansas benchmarks.
Science is a component of the Benchmark test at the end of the fifth and seventh grades. Students also must take an end-of-course exam in biology in order to graduate from an Arkansas high school.
“Change of this magnitude is scary, changing what we’ve been doing the last 30-plus years,” Long said.