[su_heading size=”20″]Wyoming board of education has some parents up in arms.[/su_heading]
Wyoming’s public schools faced issues in recent years in regards to levels of student performance. Most importantly, the science standards in the state came under scrutiny by several East Coast think tanks.
In Jan. 2012 the Thomas B. Fordham Institute gave the Wyoming science standards a grade of F.
The review of Wyoming’s science standards on the Fordham Institute website states, “The writers of the Wyoming science standards failed to articulate the critical science content that K–12 students should learn. In no discipline does more than a smattering of such content appear. The few items that are included follow no logical pattern and lack necessary context.”
In lieu of the negative review, the Wyoming Board of Education (WBE) began the process of adopting new science standards in mid-2013.
The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) presented its recommendations to the Board of Education on Oct. 8
The standards that the Department of Education urged the WBE to adopt are known as Common Core, or more specifically New Generation Science Standards (NGSS.)
The NGSS strongly emphasize the causes of global warming and understanding the consequences of human impact on the world as well as basic scientific comprehension.
Before the WBE could vote to adopt the NGSS, organizations of concerned parents wrote letters expressing their concern in regards to the Common Core standards.
The Wyoming Citizens Opposing Common Core group outlines several main points on their website. Specifically the group expresses concern that the NGSS has a “negative slant” against mining and agriculture, which the group argues is an important part of Wyoming economics.
Furthermore, the group expresses their concern over a recent Kansas lawsuit that is being filed against the state by a non-profit group that challenges the legality of the science standard s in regards to religious neutrality. Groups of parents and religious non-profit organizations are challenging the integration of the NGSS citing their concern that the standards “promote an atheistic religious view.”
Organizations of parents opposed to the Common Core standards urged the WBE to delay their decision on integrating the new standards into the school system until the Kansas lawsuit concludes.
Administrators in Kansas appear unconcerned that the lawsuit will gain much traction, however.
“I don’t see this going anywhere.” Stated Steven Case, the Director of the University of Kansas Center for Science Education. “It’s a pretty frivolous lawsuit that’s based on bad law. Parents here basically want the freedom to teach their kids what the courts have decreed to be religion, and therefore unconstitutional.”
Wyoming Citizens Opposed to Common Core, however, do not just cite the pending Kansas lawsuit as their only concern. Also mentioned on their website is the fact that the Fordham Institute has rated the NGSS with a C, which is higher than the current Wyoming science standards, but ranked below other science standard alternatives.
The Fordham Institute does not necessarily rank education standards in a manner that accurately represents what their effect in the public school system would be, according to Case.
“Standards should broadly define what students know, understand and are able to do. They aren’t necessarily a curriculum.” stated Case. “[The Fordham Institute] feels like we should be more at the curriculum level when dictating what students should know.”
Due to the various organizations and groups of concerned citizens contacting the WBE, the board decided to postpone their final decision on whether or not to implement NGSS into the education system. The next board meeting takes place on January 23-24.
