Next Generation Science Standards Unveiled
Posted on July 31st, 2011 by Mary Lord
Engineering rarely rates more than a passing nod in most K-12 science programs. A new report from the National Research Council could change that. Its sweeping recommendations for “next generation” science standards put engineering on a par with physics and other disciplines as key to meeting society’s most pressing problems while helping citizens make informed daily decisions.
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Tags: Education Policy, engineering standards, National Research Council, new science standards, Public Policy, Science, science frameworks
An investigation of Atlanta Public Schools has uncovered such widespread cheating on state tests that writers of the 428-page report ran out of synonyms for cheating. Some 44 schools and 178 educators were named in the probe, with teachers now facing termination and doubt spreading about impressive gains in student achievement that helped the former superintendent become 2009 superintendent of the year.
New York City will eliminate a performance-bonus program for teachers and principals in light of new research showing that the three-year-old program did not improve student achievement at any grade level or teachers’ morale. “A lot of the principals and teachers saw the bonuses as a recognition and reward, as icing on the cake,” explained Julie Marsh, lead researcher of the RAND report.
As they hurtle toward 2014, when all students must reach proficiency in reading and math, states are pushing new accountability systems–and waivers. The Council of Chief State School Officers announced recently that 41 states had pledged to work together on a new generation of accountability systems that offer a blueprint for reforming NCLB’s pass-fail cut scores and include “growth” in student learning.
The summer break will cost many students a month of learning, a sweeping new study by the nonprofit RAND Corporation and the Wallace Foundation reports. The setbacks also are cumulative, disproportionately affecting pupils from low-income families and all but guaranteeing a permanent achievement gap. The good news: quality summer programs can help stave off summer slide.
Eighty four percent of school districts nationwide anticipate cuts in funding for the coming school year. Of these, well over half plan to cut staff. “A grim situation is expected to worsen in the coming school year,” predicts the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based advocacy group. 
The Republican chairman of the House education committee outlined publicly for the first time a timetable for rewriting the sprawling No Child Left Behind school accountability law. Minnesota Rep. John Kline said he would move five bills to the House floor by year’s end. Experts say that profound partisan disagreement with the Democrat-led Senate could doom the Elementary and Secondary Education Act’s reauthorization this year. 
Teacher layoffs nationwide threaten to make a bad STEM education situation worse, as more educators must cover subjects they are not certified to teach. A new survey by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) found that fewer than half the chemistry and physical science teachers in public high schools had degrees in those fields, with about 30 percent lacking certification in those subjects. 
Nearly a decade of graduation exams, “adequate yearly progress,” and other test-based accountability systems has produced little or no positive effect on student learning, a blue-ribbon committee of the National Academies concludes in a new report. Moreover, there are insufficient safeguards against gaming the system.
