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Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
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For Further Reading

The reports listed below provide additional guidance related to moving the recommendations in this report forward and addressing the five priorities for providing better, more equitable science education. They are available online for free.

K-12 EDUCATION

A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (2012)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/13165/a-framework-for-k-12-science-education-practices-crosscutting-concepts

This report outlines a broad set of expectations for students in science and engineering in grades K-12. It lays out three key dimensions for learning: crosscutting concepts that unify the study of science through their common application across science and engineering; scientific and engineering practices; and disciplinary core ideas in the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences and for engineering, technology, and the applications of science. It also discusses key issues related to improving science education including equity, curriculum and instruction, professional learning for teachers and assessment.

Guide to Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (2015)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/18802/guide-to-implementing-the-next-generation-science-standards

The Framework was used as a blueprint for the development of The Next Generation Science Standards, which were developed by a consortium of states. Implementing these standards and achieving the vision of the Framework requires time, resources, and ongoing commitment from state, district, and school leaders, as well as classroom teachers. This report identifies overarching principles that should guide the planning and implementation process that will include changes to curriculum, instruction, professional learning for teachers and administrators, policies, and assessment needed to align with the new standards.

Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
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Science and Engineering in Grades 6-12: Investigation and Design at the Center (2018)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25216/science-and-engineering-for-grades-6-12-investigation-and-design

This report provides evidence-based guidance for teachers, administrators, creators of instructional resources, and leaders of teacher professional learning on how to support students as they make sense of phenomena, gather and analyze data/information, construct explanations and design solutions, and communicate reasoning to self and others during science investigation and engineering design. It also provides guidance to help educators get started with designing, implementing, and assessing investigation and design.

Science and Engineering in Preschool Through the Elementary Grades (Forthcoming in 2021)

This report will provide evidence-based guidance on effective approaches to preK-5 science and engineering instruction that supports the success of all students. The report will examine the state of the evidence on learning experiences prior to school; describe promising instructional approaches across preK-5 and discuss what is needed for implementation to include teacher professional development, curriculum, and instructional materials; and the policies and practices at all levels that constrain or facilitate efforts to enhance preK-5 science and engineering.

English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and Lives (2018)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25182/english-learners-in-stem-subjects-transforming-classrooms-schools-and-lives

The report offers guidance on how to improve learning outcomes in STEM for students who are English Learners (ELs). It considers the complex social and academic use of language delineated in the new mathematics and science standards, the diversity of the population of ELs, and the integration of English-as-a-second-language instruction with core instructional programs in STEM.

Science Teachers’ Learning: Enhancing Opportunities, Creating Supportive Contexts (2015)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/21836/science-teachers-learning-enhancing-opportunities-creating-supportive-contexts

This report outlines the learning needs of teachers as they work to implement new, evidence-based approaches to science education. It provides guidance for schools

Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
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and districts on how best to support teachers’ learning and how to implement successful programs for professional development for educators that reinforce and expand their knowledge of the major ideas and concepts in science, their familiarity with a range of instructional strategies, and the skills to implement those strategies in the classroom.

Changing Expectations for the K-12 Teacher Workforce: Policies, Preservice Education, Professional Development, and the Workplace (2020)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25603/changing-expectations-for-the-k-12-teacher-workforce-policies-preservice

This report explores the impact of the changing landscape of K-12 education and the potential for expansion of effective models, programs, and practices for teacher education and professional development. This report examines changing expectations for teaching and learning, trends and developments in the teacher labor market, preservice teacher education, and opportunities for learning in the workplace and in-service professional development.

Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards (2015)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/18409/developing-assessments-for-the-next-generation-science-standards

Assessments are tools for tracking what and how well students have learned. They should be designed to support classroom instruction, monitor science learning on a broader scale, and track opportunity to learn. This report recommends strategies for developing assessments that yield valid measures of student proficiency in science; it offers a systems approach to science assessment, in which a range of assessment strategies are designed to answer different kinds of questions with appropriate degrees of specificity and provide results that complement one another.

Seeing Students Learn Science: Integrating Assessment and Instruction into the Classroom (2017)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/23548/seeing-students-learn-science-integrating-assessment-and-instruction-in-the

This guide, based on the report Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards, is designed to help educators improve their understanding of how students learn science and guide the adaptation of their instruction and approach to assessment. It includes examples of innovative assessment formats, ways to embed assessments in engaging classroom activities, and ideas for interpreting and using novel kinds of assessment information. It provides ideas and questions educators

Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
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can use to reflect on what they can adapt right away and what they can work toward more gradually.

Successful K-12 STEM Education: Identifying Effective Approaches in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (2011)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/13158/successful-k-12-stem-education-identifying-effective-approaches-in-science

This report examines the landscape of K-12 STEM education by considering different school models, highlighting research on effective education practices, and identifying conditions that promote and limit school- and student-level success in the STEM subjects. It identifies three important goals that share certain elements: learning STEM content and practices, developing positive dispositions toward STEM, and preparing students to be lifelong learners.

STEM Integration in K-12 STEM Education (2014)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/18612/stem-integration-in-k-12-education-status-prospects-and-an

This report examines efforts to connect the STEM disciplines in K-12 education. It identifies and characterizes existing approaches to integrated STEM education, both in formal and after- and out-of-school settings. The report reviews the evidence for the impact of integrated approaches on various student outcomes, and proposes a framework to provide a common perspective and vocabulary for researchers, practitioners, and others to identify, discuss, and investigate specific integrated STEM initiatives within the K-12 education system of the United States.

Monitoring Progress Toward Successful K-12 STEM Education (2013)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/13509/monitoring-progress-toward-successful-k-12-stem-education-a-nation

This report identifies methods for tracking progress toward the recommendations of the 2011 Successful K-12 STEM Education report by presenting a framework and key indicators for a national-level monitoring and reporting system that could measure student knowledge, interest, and participation in the STEM disciplines and STEM-related activities; track financial, human capital, and material investments in K-12 STEM education at the federal, state, and local levels; provide information about the capabilities of the STEM education workforce, including teachers and principals; and facilitate strategic planning for federal investments in STEM education and workforce development when used with labor force projections.

Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
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Monitoring Educational Equity (2019)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25389/monitoring-educational-equity

This report proposes a system of indicators of educational equity, presents recommendations for implementation, and serves as a framework to help policy makers better understand and combat inequity in the United States’ education system. Measures of educational equity often fail to account for the impact that the circumstances in which students live have on their academic engagement, academic progress, and educational attainment. Some of the contextual factors that bear on learning include food and housing insecurity, exposure to violence, unsafe neighborhoods, adverse childhood experiences, and exposure to environmental toxins.

Building Educational Equity Indicator Systems: A Guidebook for States School Districts (2020)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25833/building-educational-equity-indicator-systems-a-guidebook-for-states-and

The guidebook expands on the indicators of educational equity identified in the report, Monitoring Educational Equity, to show education leaders how they can measure educational equity within their states and school districts. For each indicator of educational equity identified in the report, the guidebook describes what leaders should measure and what data to use, provides examples of data collection instruments, and offers considerations and challenges to keep in mind.

POSTSECONDARY

Discipline-Based Education Research: Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering (2012)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/13362/discipline-based-education-research-understanding-and-improving-learning-in-undergraduate

This report synthesizes empirical research on undergraduate teaching and learning in the sciences, explores the extent to which undergraduate instruction reflects current evidence about learning and teaching, and identifies the intellectual and material resources required to further develop research in this areas. Knowledge of teaching and learning can mesh with deep knowledge of discipline-specific science content to provide detailed information on discipline-specific difficulties learners face in physics, biological sciences, geosciences, and chemistry.

Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
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Undergraduate Research Experiences for STEM Students: Successes, Challenges, and Opportunities (2017)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/26024/undergraduate-and-graduate-stem-students-experiences-during-covid-19-proceedings

Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have been proposed as tools to increase the active engagement of students and decrease traditional lecture-based teaching. This report provides a set of questions to be considered by those implementing UREs as one component of a learning system that engages students in STEM learning.

Barriers and Opportunities to 2- and 4-Year STEM Degrees: Systemic Change to Support Students Diverse Pathways (2016)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/21739/barriers-and-opportunities-for-2-year-and-4-year-stem-degrees

This report describes changes in student demographics; how students, view, value, and utilize programs of higher education; and how institutions can adapt to support successful student outcomes. Students’ decisions to enter, stay in, or leave STEM majors are impacted by the quality of instruction, grading policies, course sequences, undergraduate learning environments, student supports, co-curricular activities, students’ general academic preparedness and competence in science, family background, and governmental and institutional policies. Many students do not take a traditional 4-year path to a STEM undergraduate degree and the report describes several other common pathways and also reviews what happens to those who do not complete the journey to a degree. The report raises the question of whether definitions and characteristics of what constitutes success in STEM needs to change.

Minority-Serving Institutions: America’s Underutilized Resource for Strengthening the STEM Workforce (2019)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25257/minority-serving-institutions-americas-under-utilized-resource-for-strengthening-the-stem

This report examines the nation’s MSIs and identifies promising programs and effective strategies that have the highest potential return on investment for the nation by increasing the quantity and quality MSI STEM graduates. This study also provides critical information and perspective about the importance of MSIs to other stakeholders in the nation’s system of higher education and the organizations that support them.

Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
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The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM (2019)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25568/the-science-of-effective-mentorship-in-stemm

Mentoring relationships provide developmental spaces in which students’ skills in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) are honed and pathways into STEMM fields can be discovered. This report explores the importance of mentorship, the science of mentoring relationships, mentorship of underrepresented students in STEMM, mentorship structures and behaviors, and institutional cultures that support mentorship. This report and its complementary interactive, online guide present insights on effective programs and practices for institutions, departments, and individual faculty members.

Indicators for Monitoring Undergraduate STEM Education (2018)

https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24943/indicators-for-monitoring-undergraduate-stem-education

This report outlines a framework and a set of indicators that document the status and quality of undergraduate STEM education at the national level over multiple years to help policy makers and the public know whether reform initiatives are accomplishing their goals and leading to nationwide improvement in undergraduate STEM education.

Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
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Page 58
Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
×
Page 59
Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
×
Page 60
Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
×
Page 61
Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
×
Page 62
Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
×
Page 63
Suggested Citation:"For Further Reading." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26152.
×
Page 64
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Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future Get This Book
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Scientific thinking and understanding are essential for all people navigating the world, not just for scientists and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals. Knowledge of science and the practice of scientific thinking are essential components of a fully functioning democracy. Science is also crucial for the future STEM workforce and the pursuit of living wage jobs. Yet, science education is not the national priority it needs to be, and states and local communities are not yet delivering high quality, rigorous learning experiences in equal measure to all students from elementary school through higher education.

Call to Action for Science Education: Building Opportunity for the Future articulates a vision for high quality science education, describes the gaps in opportunity that currently exist for many students, and outlines key priorities that need to be addressed in order to advance better, more equitable science education across grades K-16. This report makes recommendations for state and federal policy makers on ways to support equitable, productive pathways for all students to thrive and have opportunities to pursue careers that build on scientific skills and concepts. Call to Action for Science Education challenges the policy-making community at state and federal levels to acknowledge the importance of science, make science education a core national priority, and empower and give local communities the resources they must have to deliver a better, more equitable science education.

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