NORTH CAROLINA'S EARTH SCIENCE GRADUATION REQUIREMENT: HISTORY OF A 15 YEAR EFFORT

In 1985 the North Carolina State Board of Education revised the science curriculum. The revised curriculum changed the Life, Earth, and Physical Science courses offered in grades seven, eight and nine to a three year Integrated Science sequence and Earth Science was eliminated from the curriculum. Later that year an effort was launched to create an Earth Science course for the high school and have it added to the curriculum as a graduation requirement. What was expected to be an easy process turned into a 15 year effort, complete with short bursts of progress interspersed with significant set backs. The history of this effort and today's challenges by groups seeking to modify or eliminate the course provide an instructive view of the challenges involved in promoting quality science education for twenty first century students.