News Brief
State Superintendent Backs New Science Standards
The Reporter.com (CA) (07/05/13)California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson says he will recommend that the State Board of Education adopt the proposed Next Generation Science Standards, which aim to provide all students with the science skills they need to compete for jobs after graduation. "Science instruction is crucial to California's future, and these new standards will bring the science being taught in our classrooms up to date. These standards eliminate arbitrary limits on hands-on experimentation and replace long lists of facts to memorize with a deeper focus on understanding the cross-cutting concepts within and across scientific disciplines," he says. Moreover, Torlakson notes that scientific understanding and technology have advanced notably in the past 15 years, the last time that California adopted new science standards. He adds the new science standards will connect to other parts of the curriculum and implies that they would be in line with the new Common Core State Standards. The State Board of Education was expected to begin discussing the standards at its next meeting July 10-11.
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