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Conceptions of Science Achievement in Major Reform Documents
Author(s) -
Lee Okhee,
Paik Seounghey
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
school science and mathematics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.135
H-Index - 2
eISSN - 1949-8594
pISSN - 0036-6803
DOI - 10.1111/j.1949-8594.2000.tb17316.x
Subject(s) - national science education standards , science education , learning standards , context (archaeology) , mathematics education , construct (python library) , academic standards , political science , achievement test , sociology , standardized test , pedagogy , higher education , psychology , education policy , curriculum , computer science , paleontology , biology , law , programming language
The construct of science achievement—what K‐12 students should know and be able to do in science—is central to science education reform. This paper examines current conceptions of science achievement in major reform documents in the context of standards‐based and systemic reform. The paper reviews documents on (a) science content standards, including the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) and Project 2061 (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1989, 1993); (b) performance standards in the New Standards Project (National Center on Education and the Economy, 1997a, 1997b, 1997c, 1998); and (c) assessment frameworks, including the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress (National Assessment Governing Board, 1994, 1996) and the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (Martin & Kelly, 1996; McKnight, Schmidt, & Raizen, 1993; Robitallie et al., 1993). Although there is an overall agreement on the conceptions of science achievement among the documents, there are also noticeable differences. Based on the analysis of the five sets of documents, an aggregated view of science achievement is presented in terms of science content and process. Implications for promoting science achievement in standards‐based and systemic reform are discussed.