Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
3.2.2 USA
Curricula and guidelines for chemistry education in the United States are influenced
by the National Science Education Standards (NSES) [
23
]. These standards
have been developed by the National Research Council and were published in
1996: government officials, members of business and industry, school
administrators, teachers, curriculum developers, publishers, scientists, science
educators, and many others were involved in this attempt to improve science
education through a set of standards. Until today they are the only nation-wide
valid standards for science education from kindergarten to grade 12. The NSES
are not a curriculum though. Instead of describing the journey to scientific literacy,
i.e., the concrete content and way of teaching, they point out the goals of this
journey, i.e., the knowledge and abilities to be achieved by the students. By
bringing coordination, consistency, and coherence to the improvement of science
education, they form the basis for the development of curricula on the state and
local school district level.
A short illustration of the American school system and the role of chemistry for
education will help to better understand the concrete description of the NSES.
Education is divided into primary (kindergarten (K) until grade 5/6) and secondary
education (grade 5/6-12). From K to 5/6 students go to elementary school, from 5/6
to grade 8 students visit middle schools (also called junior high school), and from
9 to 12 students go to high school. Curricula, school laws, and policies vary from
state to state due to the federal organization of education in the USA.
Besides mathematics and English, science is one of the key subjects. From K-8,
science is taught with an interdisciplinary approach combining biology, physics,
chemistry, geology, astronomy, technologies, health science, and environmental
science. In middle schools, science is usually subdivided into earth science, life
science, and physical science. When entering high school students start the world of
individual science disciplines. Besides three mandatory science courses (biology,
chemistry, physics) students can choose between a wide range of optional courses
like geology, anatomy, forensic science, health science, astronomy, environmental
science, and many others depending on the school's options. The long time span of
interdisciplinary science teaching offers time for looking at issues from lots of
different perspectives. Therefore, it supports a view of the world without discipline
borders and deepens the student's understanding of the interconnection and relation
of different science disciplines.
Since there neither exist nation-wide curricula nor standards specifically for
chemistry education, everything that is said about science education in the NSES
applies to chemistry education as well and provides answers to the following three
basic questions:
- What should students know, understand, and be able to do?
- What is the way to achieve these goals?
- What kind of assessment enables teachers to test students' attainment of these
goals?
