Coordinating Council for Education: A division of the National Research Council, the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences. In September 1991, the council received a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Education Department to coordinate efforts to develop science standards via the creation of a National Committee on K-12 Science Standards and Assessment. Plans to develop, by late 1993, standards for what students should know and be able to do. Simultaneously working on standards for teaching and for assessment.
Mathematical Sciences Education Board: In April 1991, sponsored a mathematics-education summir to advance the work on standards-setting in mathematics.
Lamar Alexander, now U.S. Secretary of Education, chaired the steering committee for the summit.
The board is now coordinating the development of assessment standards for mathematics with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and other groups, and is working to develop prototype assessment items that might be included in a 4th-grade assessment in mathematics.
National Council for Geographic Education and the Association of American Geographers: In December 1984, the council issued “Guidelines for Geographic Education,” which proposed learner outcomes for students in grades K-12.
National Council for the Social Studies: Long-range planning committee will recommend to the board of directors in January to begin a process for setting national standards.
National Council of Teachers of English: Standards-setting project launched in the summer of 199/. Tentative time line, fall 1993.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: Issued a report in 1989, “Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics,” that outlined what should be taught in grades K-/2. A similar report, issued in March 1991, outlined the standards for teacher training. The Mathematical Sciences Education Board and the Math Association of America for Undergraduates have released complementary reports.
National Science Teachers Association: In March 1991, the N.S.T.A. formed a task force to oversee the development of national standards for the teaching of precollegiate science, known as the “Scope, Sequence, and Coordination of Secondary School Science” project. Target date, 1995.
Standards were to include what students ought to know, how that information should be taught, and how science competency should be assessed. In April 1991, the N.S.T.A. launched a similar project for the elementaryschool years. Since then, the group has decided to cooperate with the Coordinating Council for Education to develop science standards.
Project 2061: In 1989, the American Association for the Advancement of Science issued a blueprint for developing scientific literacy, “Science for All Americans.” The document defined those concepts that are critical to scientific literacy and encouraged the design of curricula that incorporate those elements.
Six teams of educators in school systems nationwide are devising models for reform based on the report. The A.A.A.S. is now working with the Coordinating Council for Education to develop science standards.
