National standards and school science and mathematics

School Science and Mathematics, Oct 1997 by Bybee, Rodger W, Ferrini-Mundy, Joan, Loucks-Horsley, Susan

They recommend a comprehensive, focused, and coherent approach to mathematics and science education.

National standards reflect the consensus of experts from around the country at the time of standards development about what students should know, understand, and be able to do in mathematics and science, and they propose educational approaches. The national standards documents were developed by the professional communities of mathematicians, scientists, educators, and teachers, with extensive input and review. They suggest strategies for the improvement of mathematics and science teaching and learning in the K-12 arena. Research about mathematics and science teaching and learning guided the standards development (NCTM, 1991; NRC, 1996; Romberg, 1992; Schoen, 1988). The documents represent valued goals; measures of their effectiveness will be available only after the idea of standards is widely accepted and enacted.

The process of revising the NCTM Standards began in 1996, with release of the revised document scheduled for the year 2000. This revision was part of the original plan for the development of the NCTM Standards and will preserve the spirit of the original documents. There is ongoing discussion in the mathematics and mathematics education communities about substantive considerations in this revision.

A Strategic Framework For Standards-Based Reform

Developing national standards is an important and complex undertaking. Yet, once these standards are developed, they do not immediately influence policy and practice. Actions by many individuals and organizations are needed if meaningful and lasting changes are to occur in a system (Hutchinson & Huberman, 1993). The larger the system (for example, the nation vs. a school), the larger and more coordinated the actions need to be. The framework provided here is intended as an organizing tool for considering how standards-based reforms can be undertaken by a system (Bybee, 1997).

The different dimensions of the Strategic Framework for Standards-Based Reform (see Figure 1) each have particular goals. In the framework, the developer of the standards plays a role, as do other participants in the education system. For example, although national organizations (such as the NCTM, NRC, and NSTA) played a major part in initial dissemination of the national standards, they do not implement the standards. The framework is an organizer for considering what strategies are needed and for clarifying where responsibility and authority lie for making changes in the various components of the educational system. Although the framework is designed as a means of thinking about national standards, it is equally appropriate as a means of thinking about state standards.

Dissemination involves developing awareness of the standards documents among those responsible for policy making, programs, and teaching. It includes addressing the questions, "What are the standards?" "Why are they needed?" and "How could they be used to shape policy and practice?" Interpretation is about increasing understanding of and support for standards. It involves careful analysis, dialogue, and the difficult educational task of challenging current conceptions. Deeper and richer understanding of standards is the goal. Implementation means changing policies, programs, and practices to be consistent with standards. People modify district and school science and mathematics curriculum, revise criteria for the selection of instructional materials, change teacher credentialing and recertification, and develop new assessments. Enacting new policies, programs, and practices builds new understandings that can feed back into interpretation. In the evaluation dimension, information gathered about impact can contribute directly to improvement. Monitoring of and feedback to various parts of the system result in an evolution of policies, programs, and practices. At some point, as a planned element of the process, revision of standards occurs, incorporating the new knowledge developed through implementation and evaluation and drawing heavily on input and discussion generated in the field by the original documents.