Science for All

The National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment, National Research Council (1993, February) describes the premise of science for all:

"The National Science Education Standards project is based on the premise that all students can learn science and that all students should learn science, and puts this premise in the forefront of its work. The basic principle, Science for All, takes an unwavering stand that 'The science standards will define the level of understanding that all students regardless of background, future aspirations, or interest in science, should develop.' The October, 1992 working paper set the tone for subsequent documents:
'We emphatically reject the current situation in science education where members of populations defined by race, ethnicity, economic status, gender, physical or intellectual capacity are discouraged from pursuing science and excluded from opportunities to learn science. By adopting the goal of Science for All, the standards prescribe the inclusion of all students in challenging science learning opportunities and define a level of understanding that all should develop.

'In particular, the commitment to Science for All implies inclusion not only of those who traditionally have received encouragement and opportunity to pursue science, but of women and girls, all racial and ethnic groups, students with disabilities, and those with limited English proficiency. Further, it implies attention to various styles of learning and differing sources of motivation. Every person must be brought into and given access to the ongoing conversation of science.

'Thus, the commitment to Science for All requires curriculum, teaching, and assessment standards that take into account student diversity vis-a-vis interests, motivation, experience, and ways of coming to understand science. The standards must define criteria for high quality science experiences that include the engagement of all students in the full range of science content. These experiences must teach the nature and process of science as well as the subject matter and support the notion that men and women of diverse backgrounds engage and participate in science and that all have a claim on this common human heritage.

'The commitment to Science for All has implications for program design and resource allocation at local, state, and national levels.'

Through its emphasis on Science for All, the National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment (NCSESA) intends to convey its strong belief that the time has come for U.S. education to make the transition from the 1890s objective of science for some in some grades to the 1990s goal of science for all in all grades, hoping that after 100 years of observation and experimentation, we move closer to getting it right." (p. 7)

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