CWU's Egger Re-envisions Teacher Preparation

Big changes are afoot in K-12 science education—changes for the better.

Washington is an early adopter of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which embody a way of science teaching and learning that more accurately represents how we do science. Each standard consists of a performance expectation that weaves together three dimensions: content knowledge (for example, earthquakes release seismic waves that travel through Earth), science and engineering practices (for example, we design experiments to test buildings for their ability to withstand shaking caused by an seismic waves), and cross-cutting concepts (for example, patterns—earthquakes occur much more commonly in some places than others). In this and many other examples, the NGSS also highlight interactions between human society and the natural world.

This three-dimensional framework takes the emphasis off knowing things and puts the emphasis on being able to do things, integrating content and building skills from one grade to the next in order to prepare students for going to college, entering the workplace, and becoming engaged citizens.

Read more of this column in the Daily Record.

By Anne Egger, CWU geological sciences professor