Curriculum goals are wide general statements of what the education department should adhere to for the provision of desired knowledge to students, and what the students will do to gain the anticipated knowledge and skills. Good curriculum goals are written in an unambiguous language that is understandable by both students and teachers. Hollins and Reiss (2016) posit that educators have for a long period lobbied for change in state standards for an improved curricular to lead to higher grades. Normally, science educators face a myriad of problems spanning from the unavailability of appropriate textbooks and classroom resources (Hollins & Reiss, 2016). As such, this paper discusses how the curriculum influences the current situation of science content area standards, how the situation can be improved while at the same time giving examples of science learning expectations among students.
Current Issues that Regulate Standards in Science Content Area
The National Conference of State Legislatures and National Science Education Standards are the regulatory bodies that govern and set standards for science content in schools. The eight recommended classifications of science content standards include unifying concepts and processes in science, science as inquiry, physical science, life science, earth and space science, science and technology, science in personal and social perspectives, and history and nature of science (National Research Council, 1996). Nonetheless, various issues in society regulate these science content areas. First, politics play a crucial role in the regulation process since countries have a propensity to take control of the curriculum leading to standardized education. Another issue that regulates science curriculum standards is whether or not a standardized curriculum is suitable for everybody and satisfies the educational needs of various persons with dissimilar ideas.
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Finally, the notion of how teaching conducts can meet the desires of learners and policymakers determines the science content areas to be handled. Hence, teachers ought not to disregard governmental mandates, but they should also employ various teaching approaches to meet the requirements of diverse student populations. Nevertheless, Hollins and Reiss (2016) postulate that the differences between jurisdictions give districts driven by local needs a higher awareness for science content comparisons. The state of Florida, for example, has a curriculum that matches world-class education systems, while Massachusetts is inclined more on hands-on laboratory and field works. Hence, some of the science content aspects here are left out.
Curricular Goals, Science Content Standards and Classroom Success
Curricular goals and science content standards have a purpose that intimately relates to student outcomes. Standards help to frame the scope of education by identifying what is relevant for students’ knowledge of science to yield positive outcomes. Content standards also assist schools in organizing their curriculum and assessment in an orderly and efficient way. Moreover, these rules guide institutions in allocating resources within their disposal through the clarification of goals. Additionally, the rules motivate districts in identifying their resources and give guidance on how to best utilize them.
Science standards provide an outlook for what the program should include in terms of content, priority, relevance, and emphasis especially with regard to societal ongoings. For instance, science and technology contents are significant today because of technological advancements and advantages in society. Hence, capitalizing on this content area will yield better learners. According to Pelger and Nilsson (2015), teachers generally assess the achievement or failure of an instruction activity by its initial capacity to retain the classroom flow. If the operation fails, the teacher considers the option of re-teaching the full course.
How Curriculum Guides Science Content, Objective and Strategies for Success
A curriculum helps one to plan the education process for a certain period be it a term, session, or lesson. Normally, any curricular are founded on the objectives of an educator or the institution with regard to their students. An operative curriculum offers students, teachers, administrators and the community a quantifiable plan and structure to deliver quality education. Therefore, the curriculum recognizes the science content learning results, standards, together with core competencies that students ought to portray before proceeding to the next level. The faculty plays a major role in creating, implementing, evaluating and modifying the curriculum. Normally, a curriculum for a school or district should line up with instruction through its development process.
Administrators adhere to a detailed curriculum to enable students to attain state and national science content standards of academic outcomes. Normally, schools can miss on public funding if learners fall considerably behind peers at better performing schools. The curriculum informs the faculty of the science skills to be taught at every grade level to eventually prepare learners for postsecondary schooling or a job. Hence, comprehending the big picture enables teachers to align the learning purposes of their curriculum with the school’s science curriculum. Failure to have a curriculum makes teachers fail to know whether learners are creating a solid science foundation to back their learning at the next level.
Learning Experiences Appropriate for Science Content Area
An in-depth analysis was carried out on the application of science and math standards by the Council of Chief State School Officers (Pelger & Nilsson, 2015). The results showed that classroom sessions require different approaches to teaching, different materials, and additional roles for students. Even though there were slight variations, generally, the content standards across the nation were similar. The results showed that a majority of states require students to be able to write, apply prior knowledge to comprehend texts, exhibit the ability to organize information, and establish cultural sensitivity.
Conclusion
Standard content provides a curriculum that feeds the educational course. The actual change in education comes with curriculum content that enables teachers to teach and learns to study. It is imperative, therefore, to adopt a curriculum that is rigorous to improve students’ grade in a bid to keep with international standards. Schools in jurisdictions that have modified to world-class curricula show signs of great improvement. Thus, the world-class curriculum should be adopted at the national level to improve grades, especially in the field of science. Science requires students to write well, relate the learnt knowledge to comprehend texts, exhibit the ability to organize information and demonstrate cultural sensitivity.
References
Hollins, M., & Reiss, M. (2016). A review of the school science curricula in eleven high achieving jurisdictions. The Curriculum Journal , 27 (1), 80-94. doi: 10.1080/09585176.2016.1147968
National Research Council. (1996). National Science Education Standards: Observe, interact, change, and learn . Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Pelger, S., & Nilsson, P. (2015). Popular Science Writing to Support Students’ Learning of Science and Scientific Literacy. Research in Science Education , 46 (3), 439-456. doi: 10.1007/s11165-015-9465-y
