Standards

D.C. Adopts Common Science Standards

By Erik W. Robelen — December 19, 2013 1 min read
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The reach of the Next Generation Science Standards got a little wider yesterday as the District of Columbia’s board of education voted 8-0 to adopt them. D.C. joins eight states that have formally embraced the K-12 standards since they were finalized in April.

The science standards were developed by 26 lead state partners in collaboration with several national organizations. Key tenets of the standards include providing a greater emphasis on depth over breadth in science education and asking students to apply their learning through the practices of scientific inquiry and engineering design.

The adoption landscape has been quiet for a couple of months now, with the last action coming when Washington state adopted them in early October. The seven other adopting states include California, Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The action by the D.C. school board comes the same week that an expert panel assembled by the National Research Council issued a detailed, 256-page report on how science testing should change to reflect the Next Generation Science Standards.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Curriculum Matters blog.