Some kids missing climate change research
Some policymakers deny science or cite “alternative facts” as they implement public policies.
It’s tempting to blame such science denial on the last four years. A new assessment of state K-12 science standards, however, reveals this started years ago. Caught in misrepresentations of settled science in state standards are our children and their opportunities to learn about new, rewarding careers and participate in civic deliberations about public policy.
The new report on science standards of all 50 states concludes: “public education policymakers in many states are failing to ensure that science standards forthrightly and accurately address climate change…expos(ing) a serious deficit in the quality of science education in the United States.”
The National Center for Science Education and Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, nonprofit education advocates, conducted the study.
The study also evaluated the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), adopted by 20 states. A consortium of 26 states and science societies developed the NGSS in 2013. The research framework of the NGSS date to the mid 2000s and before.
Three college climate change educators independently graded the NGSS and standards of states that changed or rejected the NGSS. I was one of the reviewers.
Reviewers evaluated the scientific consensus on climate change.
It’s real..
It’s us.
It’s bad.
And there’s hope in each set of standards.
Reviewers also graded each for clarity, effectiveness and curricular integration.
The NGSS and most state standards aim to graduate “college and career ready” students. Accordingly, reviewers rated standards on how well they prepared students for college study and participation in civic deliberations about climate change policies.
The report, Making the Grade, How State Public School Science Standards Address Climate Change, including each state’s overall grade, item scores, and scoring rubrics is here: Climategrades.org.
Of the 50 states, 27 including those adopting the NGSS, earned B+ or better. Ten states earned a D or worse; six states failed. Ohio’s standards received a D, an artifact of study methodology. Reviewers scored only standards documents, not supporting ones, such as Ohio’s Model Curriculum, which discusses climate change extensively.
The research framework for the NGSS is over a decade old. They and standards derived from them are dated. For example, no standards explain how and why some people cherry-pick data.
Over 97% of climate scientists accept that global temperatures are rising over the last century because of our burning fossil fuels. Yet, many state standards obscure or deny this.
Most climate-denying states removed the NGSS core idea that “Though magnitudes of human (climate) impacts are greater than they have ever been, so too are human abilities to model, predict, and manage current and future impacts.”
This speaks to new careers designing ways to de-carbonize our economy, develop innovative technologies, and create energy efficient environments.
Our children should learn about hope, solutions to looming climate challenges, and ways to contribute meaningfully to such efforts.
Steve Rissing is a professor emeritus in biology at Ohio State University.
steverissing@hotmail.com