With the additions of Connecticut and Michigan, one-third of states have now officially adopted the Next Generation Science Standards.
The Connecticut board of education voted unanimously to adopt the Next Generation standards last week. And just this afternoon, the Michigan state board voted 5 to 1 in favor of the standards. Those moves bring the total tally of adopters up to 17 states and the District of Columbia.
(It’s worth noting that the National Science Teachers Association, which helped develop and has advocated for the standards, tallies just 16 states, saying it does not count West Virginia as an adopter. The Mountain State made some tweaks to the standards to appease climate-change doubters.)
The Next Generation Science Standards emphasize scientific inquiry and engineering design, and ask students to link broad concepts across the science fields. The standards were developed by 26 “lead state partners,” including Michigan. (Connecticut was not among the lead states.)
Dianna R. Wentzell, Connecticut’s commissioner of education, said in a statement, “With new science standards and a renewed focus on STEM careers, we not only set students on a path to success, we set up Connecticut for long-term economic growth.”
The Michigan vote was announced on Twitter today by attendees at the board meeting.
It’s official MI has adopted #NGSS #miscichat #miched pic.twitter.com/aE1Wb0tlwm
— Jen Arnswald (@JenArnswald) November 10, 2015
AYES HAVE IT! #miscistan
— Mary Starr (@starrscience) November 10, 2015
Cindy Workosky, a spokeswoman for the National Science Teachers Association, said in an email, “We continue to see a keen interest among teachers from all states for the NGSS and Framework [for K-12 Science Education]. Teachers everywhere are working to integrate key elements of the NGSS and Framework into their teaching and seeking our resources and products.”
See more about the Next Generation Science Standards. Also read: