Approval of Courses
It is amazing when you think about what is involved with course approval. On one hand, you have oversight at the Site level: Teacher, Department, and Principal; District level (Curriculum Department and School Board). There are also approvals needed from college systems (e.g. University of California or University of Arizona) and on top of that, the NCAA has also become involved in high school course approval. At each of these levels, one is looking for a rubber stamp of approval to allow the class to exist. However, the guidelines for actual content are rather nebulous. Some organizations involved
Federal Level:
10th Amendment
US Dept. of Education
State Level:
The federal government can influence education in the United States in many ways, but the 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution does give the states the ability to run schools as they see fit: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. - See more at: http://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment10.html#sthash.cBbxXInY.dpuf. This means that each state has great latitude to set up the governing and administration of various school systems. This means that the curriculum standards could be set up at the state level, or they might be set at the district or site level. In short, there is a great deal of variability in school systems and schools in the United States. If you click the Education Commission Link to the left, you will see the graduation standards for each state.
If you peruse the education requirements, the requirements become clear:
Colorado: All graduation requirements in Colorado, with the exception of the .5 unit of U.S. and state government and history, are determined by local boards. However, legislation directs the state board of education, by December 15, 2011, to adopt a comprehensive set of guidelines for districts to use in developing local graduation requirements.
With regard to science, there is therefore a large amount of latitude involved in determining what is required for graduation. Some states (Alabama require 4 years (Units) of science. Many states requires 3 or 2 years of science, but differ in how many lab science courses are required. Some require a year each in physical science and life science. Some leave the requirement up to local school boards where they teach how God unleashed the Big Bang in the universe if wished. There is a great deal of latitude in creating standards for education.
There is great latitude in creating guidelines for graduation, but there has been an attempt to standardize curriculum called "Common Core," however, it merely states that "While the standards set grade-specific goals, they do not define how the standards should be taught or which materials should be used to support students.While the standards set grade-specific goals, they do not define how the standards should be taught or which materials should be used to support students." So, there might be a great deal of latitude in how materials are presented and what is taught.
With regard to science, the guidelines are provided by Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
An example of the standards is : HS-PS1-4 Matter and its Interactions.
Students should be able to: Develop a model to illustrate that the release or absorption of energy from a chemical reaction system depends upon the changes in total bond energy. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that a chemical reaction is a system that affects the energy change. Examples of models could include molecular-level drawings and diagrams of reactions, graphs showing the relative energies of reactants and products, and representations showing energy is conserved.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include calculating the total bond energy changes during a chemical reaction from the bond energies of reactants and products.]
Experts and non-experts have a lot to say a lot of things about how to teach and how to fix problems with education. There are supposed to be many things that will "help" education. The truth is that kids who take school seriously do well; those that have a flippant attitude do not. The data shows that parents and zip codes are the greatest determinant of student success. This means that the attitude that kids bring about education to class is the largest determinant of success.
Chemistry teachers are in a unique position to view the skill of college-preparatory students. Common Core skills are supposed to address a problem that chemistry teachers have know forever. Students do not know how to apply math to real problems. Perhaps Common Core teaching will help alleviate the problem, but experience shows that kids will have poor math skills as they enter chemistry and one can expect this to continue. Teaching chemistry gives students the first real opportunity to use math skills, thus students who cannot "do" math have a terrible time understanding chemistry.
National Level
National Science
While the standards set grade-specific goals, they do not define how the standards should be taught or which materials should be used to support students.