New York state education officials voted to approve a new set of guidelines Monday for what children should learn in science in preschool through 12th grade, starting next fall.
The guidelines emphasize more hand-on projects, engineering and real-world problems. Supporters say they focus less on memorizing collections of facts than in the past, and more on a deeper understanding of scientific phenomena and how they are related.
New York’s new standards are based on the National Research Council’s “Framework for K-12 Science Education” and the nonprofit Achieve’s Next Generation Science Standards, which have been adopted by 17 states and the District of Columbia.
Science standards haven’t stirred the controversy of the Common Core standards for reading and math, which were adopted by most states and drew protests from critics who thought federal authorities pushed too hard for their use, among other complaints.
Chad Colby, a spokesman for Achieve, which also helped develop the Common Core, said those standards sparked more concerns because they were tied to yearly testing and new teacher evaluations linked to test scores in many states, including New York. Federal law requires states to test students in science only in fourth grade, eighth grade and once in high school.
Mr. Colby said states had learned the importance of reaching out to science teachers for input, and the National Science Teachers Association helped devise the Next Generation Science Standards.
In announcing the new guidelines Monday, the State Education Department said they reflected feedback from teachers and public surveys. A committee of the Board of Regents approved the new standards and the full board, which comprises the same voters, are expected to finalize them Tuesday.