EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES: SUMMARIES AND TRENDS

The latest reform of science education resulted in the “Benchmarks for Science Literacy” (Project 2061, AAAS, 1993), and the “National Science Education Standards” (NRC, 1996). Earth and Space Science content is a significant component of both of these proposed standards. The standards are the “knowledge of” and “abilities to do” science that should be a part of the education of every American. However, K-12 education is managed at the state level. Therefore, the national science standards are voluntary; but the state science standards are mandates. The state standards will be used to generate assessment tools (usually standardized testing), the results of which are commonly published as a means for measuring success of school districts and individual schools. We have obtained copies of state science standards from each state department of education within the Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America. Summaries of the Earth and Space Science standards were produced for each state and for the two proposed national science education standards. Copies of these summaries were presented at the 2000 National GSA meeting for information dissemination and for feedback from persons from states. In producing the state summaries, it become obvious that states used either one or a combination of two national science education standards as their core curriculum. Many states have more specific standards that apply to the unique features of their state. For example, Virginia standards include the “physiographic provinces of VA” as part of Plate Tectonics content; North Carolina includes “NC wetlands, inland and tidal environments” within Competency Goal 4 (Hydrosphere and Environmental Quality); and Mississippi requires instruction in the “geologic areas of MS” and research experiences beyond the level of the textbook.