The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which Washington State adopted outright as our 2013 Washington State Science Learning Standards (2013 WSSLS), require important shifts in science experiences and outcomes for all students — including for 100% of our high school students.
Our nation’s high schools largely follow a Biology – Chemistry – Physics pattern, and it’s time we reconsider our approach: it is impossible to truly learn biology, chemistry, or physics in just one year. In contrast, each of these science disciplines requires years of study and engagement to learn. But that common structure leads to a common sentiment that it is hard to “see” many traditionally designed classes in the NGSS. They’re right, it can be difficult, and here’s why.
That one-subject-a-year structure has lured many of our secondary level science courses to reflect college-level introductory science classes — it’s how many master schedules are designed, what many educators know, and it’s what many communities have come to expect.
For example, let’s take a look at some topics included in a year of a typical 9th-grade biology class. In one year, 9th grade students (who have no formal chemistry background) “cover” :
- “Water as a Universal Solvent” (a general chemistry concept)
- DNA Transcription/Translation and protein expression (cellular molecular biology)
- Cancer (molecular biochemistry mutation and cell cycles)
- And even CRISPR (advanced molecular biology and molecular engineering)
Each of these topics is an entirely separate field within biology. This is nothing short of a survey class of what students can learn more about at a university. And we repeat the survey in chemistry classes and then again in physics classes: each time delivering to a smaller and smaller audience, the basics of what they can learn more about… at a later time. We need to build our learning experiences throughout Science in a way that doesn’t assume all students are going to pursue further learning in a post-secondary setting, such as a university.
We must ask:
- Is this really what we want students to get out of a science class?
- Is this equitable?
- Shouldn’t what students learn in a science class be useful to all of the students in the here-and-now, rather being useful to just a fraction of students who continue to access advanced science through post-secondary means?
Changing our systems to respond to the NGSS is hard work that requires a great deal of study, conversation, and support. No district can change how they do things overnight, yet in Washington State, 100% of our students are required to take three years of science. Our state’s biology, chemistry, and especially physics teachers are the experts and the holders of knowledge that 100% of our students deserve to have equitable access to in order to understand the world around them. In our typical, linear, Bio-Chem-Physics sequence, where will students learn deeply about the very earth they live on (Earth Science) or how the planet came to exist and where it’s going (Astronomy)? In light of NGSS, it’s important that we carefully examine what is being taught to 100% of our high school science students as well as how they are engaged in learning science. Luckily, there are some resources that we can look at to help start imagining the future of science education.
- If your district is taking on redefining your science offerings:
- 2016 California Science Framework (specifically, chapter 7 “High School Three-Course Model”)
- Read about the “modified domains model” where there are still classes appropriately named Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, but the importance of those fields has been re-cast through making sense of the world around us. So biology becomes “The Living Earth,” chemistry becomes “Chemistry in the Earth’s System,” and physics becomes “Physics of the Universe.” Because of the need to involve chemistry and physics in the learning of biology, these course sequences are put together to help students learn those subjects meaningfully within the context of the biology course. And to make room for that, some of the traditional college survey topics have been let go. This resource is really to get ideas. It’s not a fully fleshed-out curriculum, but it does describe one and could help schools reimagine their own offerings for 100% of students over three years.
- If your district is taking on redefining what it means for students to be engaged within their existing science courses:
- A new publication from WestEd (which is the agency “home” of the NGSS) called “Authentic Science Experiences: Designing High School Science Learning to Reach all Students.”
- In this release, the authors describe the types of learning experiences that high school students need to have in order to reach the vision behind A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards. This would be a great resource for teachers who are trying to push the boundaries of student engagement and think about course structures that may help support that.
It can’t be ignored that Washington State adopted the NGSS eight years ago, and a specific end-of-course exam such as Biology has not been required for several years. It is a great time to rethink what outcomes we are striving for. If your district’s high schools have held off on deep systemic conversations around high school science offerings and the NGSS, it’s really important that this topic be central during remote learning and made a priority during any transition back to in-person learning.
I hope these two resources may be helpful to you in your own district’s transition to NGSS. In addition, the NWESD and our Regional Science Coordinator, Brian MacNevin, are available to assist districts thinking through how to support their science faculty in moving forward. And if you think that systems-level support beyond your science faculty would be helpful, Gayle Everly and the Improvement Science team can assist!
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