Chapter 5 - The Standards

My certificate is in secondary science and I am taking this class in order to obtain my middle school endorsement in science. For Reading Assignment 5, I evaluated the National Science Education Standards.  I found them to be very comprehensive, easy to follow, and out-of-date.  They were put into place in 1996, similar to the Illinois Learning Standards for Science, which were adopted in July 1997. There have been many changes in science since I graduated from high school.  A few of those changes are:

• Archaea, a new domain was added to our classification system
• The Human Genome has been completely mapped.
• Mammals have been cloned.
• Gene therapy has been used in humans (Mader, 2004).

In order to keep up with our ever-changing world a new set of science standards have been adopted by 26 states. In addition to keeping up with change, the standards have been carefully designed to prepare our students for high school, college, and careers in science. The new standards have been named, The Next Generation Science Standards, and include connections to engineering and technology. They also include connections to the Common Core Standards for English and Math.  

After talking to a couple of administrators, I came to realize that if I get a science teaching position, I will be required to use the NGSS. Dr. Cantu graciously allowed me to use the NGSS for Reading Assignment 6, instead of the Illinois Learning Standards. Completing the assignment allowed me to obtain a small understanding of what the standards entail.  I will need to allow time in the future to study them completely before I will be able to implement them.

Mader, Sylvia S. (2004). Biology. Boston:  McGraw Hill.

Next Generation Science Standards. (2013). http://www.nextgenscience.org/next-generation-science-standards