CHALLENGES DESIGNING AN EARTH AND SPACE CURRICULUM ALIGNED WITH THE NGSS

The new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which spell out a set of K-12 performance expectations for life science, physical science, and Earth and space science (ESS), pose a variety of opportunities and challenges for the establishment of a secondary-school curriculum. Among the changes recommended by the NGSS include establishing ESS on an even footing with both life science and physical science at the full K-12 level. This represents a departure from the traditional high school curriculum in most states. In addition, ESS is presented as a complex, integrated, interdisciplinary, quantitative Earth Systems-oriented set of sciences that includes complex systems-based topics such as climate change and human impacts, which will require extensive professional development.

The NGSS are clear in that they are not a curriculum. There are many possible ways that curricula can be developed in alignment with the NGSS. Appendix K, however, gives some guidance as to the process, taking in mind several often-conflicting factors. For example, if the NGSS are implemented in an optimal manner in terms of conceptual progressions, the sciences would be presented in an integrated manner. However, most high schools take a siloed approach; changing to an integrated curriculum would require significant professional development. Even if a siloed curriculum is chosen, most American high schools do not offer a required high school ESS course in, so schools would have to hire new ESS teachers, move ESS teachers from middle school to high school, or retraining high school biology, chemistry, and physics teachers to teach ESS. The ESS content, in both middle and high school, because of its complexity and interconnectedness, would be ideally taught following most of the physics, chemistry, and sometimes even biology. However, in middle school, ESS has traditionally been taught at a low conceptual level, focusing on categorization instead of system processes. Another area of change is the focus on practices that involve the analysis of data and observations. A greater involvement and connection with the ESS research communities to make sure that such data sets are adequately and appropriately made available to K-12 curriculum developers.