A Tool for Analyzing Science Standards and Curricula for 21st Century Science Education

Twentieth century curricula are no longer sufficient to prepare students for life and work in today’s diverse, fast-paced, technologically driven, and media saturated world of the 21st century. This chapter presents a new framework for analyzing science standards and curricula to determine the extent of alignment with 21st Century essential understandings and skills. The Tool for Analyzing Science Standards and Curricula (TASSC) was developed using the conceptual frameworks proposed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, and the typology of knowledge proposed by Jurgen Habermas. Development of TASSC relied on an iterative process of refinement, testing, and discussions resulting in an instrument with three sections and related rating scales: content, skills, and additional curricular components. TASSC was piloted using middle school science standards and curricula in the context of two US states (Ohio and New York) and two Arab countries (Lebanon and Qatar). The analysis procedure and individual case study results are presented and discussed in the chapter.