Chemical Education Today
Report
The National Science Board on Science Education by Donald J. Wink
The NSF Web site (http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/start.htm) is host to the online materials from the U.S. National Science Board, a major advisory group within the Federal Government. While the NSB often focuses on broad issues in science (including its role as a governing board to the NSF), it also has an active task force—Task Force on Mathematics and Science Achievement—focused on science education. In the last year, the NSB has issued two major policy statements related to K–12 education in science and mathematics. The first was brief and to the point of its title “Failing our Children: Implications of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study”. It is online in HTML format at http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/documents/1998/nsb98154/ nsb98154.htm. Echoing other documents over the last 20 years, the Board writes, “No nation can afford to tolerate what prevails in American schooling: generally low expectations and low performance in mathematics and science, with only pockets of excellence at a world-class level of achievement.” This negative assessment, though timely, requires a forward-looking component, and that has been issued in March through the Board’s more extensive report “Preparing our Children: Math and Science Education in the National In-
terest”. Online versions in HTML, ASCII, and Microsoft Word formats are available at http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/ getpub?nsb9931. The “Preparing” report aims to establish a base where “stakeholders working in their home communities can converge on what matters most for mathematics and science achievement—rigorous content standards, high expectations for teaching and learning, teachers well-prepared in the subjects they are teaching, and meaningful measures of accountability.” The outcome, they suggest, would be a “seamless” K–16 education system developed through attention to instructional materials, teacher preparation, and college admissions. Anyone concerned with any aspect of science education, including teacher preparation in higher education, will find a succinct summary of the current situation and cogent suggestions for future work within both the “Failing” statement and the “Preparing” report. Donald J. Wink teaches in the Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 W. Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60607;
[email protected].
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 76 No. 6 June 1999 • Journal of Chemical Education
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