A prominent national science education reform program received a major blow when the National Science Foundation opted to discontinue its support. |
Sidebar: For Further Information - NAS Science Education Standards
One significant standards-based project, however, recently suffered a major setback in its quest for government funding. In late October, after two appeals, the National Science Foundation rejected a two-year, $3.1 million funding renewal proposal for the Scope, Sequence, and Coordination of High School Science Education (SS&C) project. The program is run by the Arlington, Va.-based National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and is one of the first trial implementations of the national standards. It involves teaching 6,400 ninth- and 10th-graders in 13 high schools in seven states and the District of Columbia using hands-on materials designed to achieve the NRC science standards.
Bill Aldridge, former NSTA director and SS&C's principal investigator, calls the situation "a disaster." Current NSTA director Gerald Wheeler ...
