| Reprinted here with the permission of the Ripon
Quarterly - The Journal of National Politics & Policy.
No further republication or redistribution is permitted without
the written permission of the editor.
Source:
Ripon Quarterly, Spring 1999 - Volume 34 - Number
1 |
 |
Science & Math Education for the 21st Century
by George D. Nelson
In general knowledge of science and mathematics, U.S. 12th grader
scores were among the lowest of 21 nations that participated in the Third
International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). And U.S. students taking
Advanced Placement mathematics and physics courses ranked even lower when
compared to their international counterparts. Bad news? Yes. New news? Decidedly
not. The fact is, the TIMSS data merely support what educators and researchers
have known for decades: Most children, even the brightest, are failing to
learn much that is useful in science, mathematics, and technology. But what
should students be learning? How should students be taught? How should science
and mathematics education be improved? Why is this important now, given today’s
booming economy and the lowest unemployment rate in decades? Isn’t the
current system working just fine?
Since 1985, Project 2061 has been helping to answer these questions. While
earlier education reform efforts have focused on preparing more students for
a few scientific and technical careers, Project 2061’s approach grows
out of the recognition that science, mathematics, and technology are major
influences in the lives of all citizens, no matter what their roles in society
may be. Today, nearly every career is a science and technology career.
Project 2061 is a nationwide K-12 science education reform initiative of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science. A 1996 study released
by the Organisarion of Economic Cooperation and Development on innovations
in science education around the world describes Project 2061 as the "single
most visible attempt at science education reform in American history."
SRI International, in a year-long evaluation of the influence of the project
and its publications, credits Project 2061 for its efforts that have "changed
the national climate for science education reform." But despite the successes
of Project 2061 and of other reform efforts, persistent and multiple weaknesses
in the complicated U.S. educational system continue to threaten our children
and the nation.
To help make meaningful and long-lasting improvements, Project 2061’s
efforts are now focused on achieving the following key conditions for success:
clear and specific learning goals for all students; curriculum materials,
including textbooks and tests, aligned with these learning goals; teachers
who are well-prepared and supported to help students achieve the goals; a
K-12 curriculum purposefully designed to result in science and mathematics
literacy; and communities—administrations and school boards, parents,
business and industry, churches, government—that understand and are committed
to long-term education improvement for all students.
Science Literacy and Science for All Americans
The first step towards achieving these conditions was to envision the knowledge
and skills that today’s students will need as adults in the 21st
century. In Science for All Americans (1989), Project 2061 presents
a broad, yet clear definition of science literacy, emphasizing the connections
among ideas in the natural and social sciences, mathematics, and technology.
According to Science for All Americans, a science literate person is
one who:
- is familiar with the natural world.
- understands the key concepts and principles of science, mathematics, and
technology.
- has a capacity for scientific ways of thinking.
- is aware of some of the important ways in which mathematics, technology,
and science depend upon one another.
- knows that science, mathematics, and technology are human enterprises,
and what that implies about their strengths and limitations.
- is able to use scientific knowledge and ways of thinking for personal
and social purposes.
With Benchmarks for Science Literacy (1993) Project 2061 created the
first set of specific recommendarions for what students in grades 2, 5, 8,
and 12 should know and be able to do in science, mathematics, and technology.
Together, Science for All Americans and Benchmarks have sold
more than 200,000 copies worldwide and have become essential resources for
a growing number of reform efforts abroad and a great many at the national,
state, and local levels. Benchmarks has shaped the science curriculum
frameworks and science standards in most states and provided the foundation
for the National Science Education Standards published by the National
Research Council in 1996. Educators now have a clear and coherent tool to
help them decide what to include in (or exclude from) a core curriculum, when
to teach it, and why.
Project 2061 is producing a coordinated set of print, CD-ROM, and online tools
designed to help educators make changes in what and how they teach. These
include Resources for Science Literacy: Professional Development (1997),
Blueprints for Reform (1998), and Dialogue on Early Childhood Science,
Mathematics, and Technology Education (1999). Scheduled for publication
later this year are Designs for Science Literacy and Atlas of Science
Literacy.
Standards-Based Curriculum and Assessment
With sound, well-accepted benchmarks for student learning now in place, Project
2061 has turned to the next task. In 1997, the National Education Goals Panel
released several recommendations regarding the implementation of education
benchmarks and standards to improve student achievement in science and mathematics.
Calling for an independent source to "provide high quality narrative
reviews of textbooks and instructional materials to schools and the public,"
the Goals Panel also gave high priority to identifying materials that "explain
the underlying concepts in the subject area, how they balance depth and breadth,
and how well they represent the subject area standards."
Project 2061 took on this challenge. With funding from the National Science
Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the project has developed
a curriculum-materials analysis procedure that is now being used to evaluate
many of the most widely-used textbooks. Starting with an evaluation of math
and science textbooks for the middle grades (a critical leverage point for
reform efforts, according to research), the project plans to move on to evaluate
high school and then elementary school textbooks.
Results from the middle grades mathematics textbook evaluation bring both good
news and bad. While a few relatively new textbooks are excellent and provide
both in-depth mathematics content and strong instructional support, the textbooks
used in most classrooms today are weak in their coverage of basic concepts
and instructional support for students and teachers. In addition, many do
little to develop more sophisticated mathematical ideas from grades 6 through
8 — something research shows can stall students’ achievement, lower
their interest in mathematics, and limit academic and career options in the
future. A full report on the evaluation of 13 middle grades mathematics textbooks
is available online at http://www.project2061.org.)
The science textbook review will be published later this summer.
Teachers’ Key Role
Project 2061 continues to develop tools for improving science, mathematics,
and technology education. To ground all of these efforts in the realities
of the classroom, Project 2061 works closely with teachers and administrators
from schools and districts around the country. Out of these experiences, the
project has created a unique set of workshops, seminars, and other professional
development opportunities that support educators as they put benchmarks and
standards to work in their classrooms. Through Project 2061 Professional Development
Programs (PDP), teachers, administrators, university faculty (and even parents
and community leaders) can take part in custom-designed workshops that will
show them how benchmarks and standards can be used to help all students reach
their highest potential in science and mathematics.
Science Education Tomorrow
Although a healthy debate on what and how students should learn will continue
at the national and local levels, one thing is clear: The nation cannot meet
the challenges of the future unless today’s children have a better understanding
of the world and how it works. Literacy in science, mathematics, and technology
is not an option for the citizens of the 21st century.
George D. Nelson is a research astronomer and
director of Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. He flew three space shuttle missions from 1978 to 1989 while a NASA
astronaut.
References
American Association for the Advancement of Science. (1989). Science for
All Americans. New York: Oxford University Press.
American Association for the Advancement of Science. (1993). Benchmarks
for science literacy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Atkin, J. Myron, Bianchini, Julie A., & Holthuis, Nicole I. (1996). The
different worlds of Project 2061. Paris: Organisarion of Economic Cooperation
and Development.
National Research council. (1996). National science education standards.
Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
TIMSS high school results released. (1998, April). TIMSS U.S. National Research
Center Report No. 8, p. 1-2.
Zucker, Andrew A., Young, Viki M., Luczak, John. (1996). Evaluation of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Project 2061. Menlo
Park, CA: SRI International.
Nelson, G. 1999. Science and Math Education for the 21st Century. Ripon
Quarterly, 34 (1).
