The first two of seven principles underlying the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1994) speak to the important role of equity and excellence in science education:
"Principle: All students, regardless of gender, cultural or ethnic background, physical or learning disabilities, aspirations, or interest and motivation in science, should have the opportunity to attain higher levels of scientific literacy than they do currently. This is a principle of equity.
"Science in our schools must be for all students. All individuals and groups who contributed to the National Science Education Standards emphatically reject the current situation in science education where members of certain populations are discouraged from pursuing science and excluded from opportunities to learn science. The standards assume the inclusion of all students in challenging science learning opportunities and define levels of understanding and abilities that all should develop.
"This principle implies that all students will have an opportunity to learn science and that, given this opportunity, all students can achieve understanding and skill in science. The commitment to science for all students has implications for program design and the education system, especially the allocation of resources to ensure that the standards do not exacerbate the differences in opportunities to learn that currently exist between advantaged and disadvantaged students."
"Principle: All students will learn all science in the content standards.
"The science that all students are expected to learn requires that students have sufficient time to develop their knowledge and understanding of essential scientific ideas.
"Not only is science for all students, all of the understandings and abilities described in the science content standards should be achieved by all students. This distinction is more than a play on words. The previous principle addressed equity. This principle addresses an achievement principle, that of excellence. The understandings and abilities described in the content standards are outcomes for all students; they are not different expectations for different groups of students. The standards describe outcomes, not the rate or manner in which students will achieve them. They do not assume that all students will develop understanding and abilities at the same rate or with similar programs. Undoubtedly, some students will achieve the outcomes sooner than others. Furthermore, different students will achieve different depths of understanding. Decisions about programs and the means to accommodate the different rates of learning are left to curriculum developers, state and local school systems, and science teachers."
"All students in the K-12 science program must have equitable access to opportunities to achieve the National Science Education Standards."
"...In particular, the commitment to science for all implies the inclusion of those who traditionally have not received encouragement and opportunity to pursue science - women and girls, students of color, students with disabilities, and students with limited English proficiency. It implies attention to various styles of learning and differing sources of motivation. And it also implies providing opportunities for those students interested in and capable of moving beyond the basic program...The principles of equity and excellence have implications for the grouping of students...All dimensions of a science program adhere to the principle of science for all. Themes and topics chosen for curricula must support the premise that men and women of diverse backgrounds engage and participate in science. Teaching is responsive to diverse learners, and the community of the classroom must be one in which respect for diversity is practiced. Assessment practices adhere to the standard of fairness and do not unfairly assume the perspective or experience of a particular group. Practices should be modified appropriately to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities or other special conditions."