Thinking about National Standards in Science Education

Abstract

In this paper I present a critical reflection on the rationale and history of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which has sometimes been presented as the US version of a vision for a standardized science curriculum. I explore how the monograph, The Framework for K-12 Science Education, established the groundwork for the Next Generation Science Standards. I argue that crisis narratives often drive the arguments for standardization but in the US there was also an argument of the need to build a level of national uniformity in the content and practices that are presented to students as a tool for ensuring that children and youth have equitable access to important knowledge. However, at the same time educators have a responsibility for ensuring that homogenization achieved through standards does not enshrine the very inequities and ideologies public education seeks to change.