Standards

Everyone needs to use scientific information to make choices that arise every day. Everyone needs to be able to engage intelligently in public discourse and debate about important issues that involve science and technology. And everyone deserves to share in the excitement and personal fulfillment that can come from understanding and learning about the natural world. Other countries are investing heavily to create scientifically and technically literate work forces. To keep pace in global markets, the United States needs to have an equally capable citizenry.

Edmond Public Schools' curriculum standards reflect the state and national science standards as expressed in the following documents:

	Oklahoma State Priority Academic Skills for Science (PASS)- OSDE
	National Science Education Standards - National Standards The National Science Education Standards present a vision of a scientifically literate populace. They outline what students need to know, understand, and be able to do to be scientifically literate at different grade levels. They describe an educational system in which all students demonstrate high levels of performance, in which teachers are empowered to make the decisions essential for effective learning, in which interlocking communities of teachers and students are focused on learning science, and in which supportive educational programs and systems nurture achievement.

The Standards call for more than "science as process," in which students learn such skills as observing, inferring, and experimenting. Inquiry is central to science learning. When engaging in inquiry, students describe objects and events, ask questions, construct explanations, test those explanations against current scientific knowledge, and communicate their ideas to others. They identify their assumptions, use critical and logical thinking, and consider alternative explanations. In this way, students actively develop their understanding of science by combining scientific knowledge with reasoning and thinking skills.

The science teaching standards describe what teachers of science at all grade levels should know and be able to do. They are divided into six areas:

The planning of inquiry-based science programs.

The actions taken to guide and facilitate student learning.

The assessments made of teaching and student learning.

The development of environments that enable students to learn science.

The creation of communities of science learners.

The planning and development of the school science program.