High School Biology Today: What the Committee of Ten Actually Said

Sheppard, Keith; Robbins, Dennis M.

doi:10.1187/cbe.07-03-0013

Cited by 5 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…The explosion of information that occurred in biology over the past hundred years was never anti cipated (Sheppard & Robbins, 2007). In the 2006 report "High school biology today: What the Committee of Ten did not antici pate," Vázquez contended that the addition of new topics (e.g., DNA replication, biotechnology, human immunodeficiency virus, and cancer) to high school biology, along with decreased instructional time, provided students, at best, a "superficial" level of knowledge.…”

Section: J J Jmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Test of the Relationship between Reading Ability & Standardized Biology Assessment Scores

Allen

2014

The American Biology Teacher

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Little empirical evidence suggested that independent reading abilities of students enrolled in biology predicted their performance on the Biology I Graduation End-of-Course Assessment (ECA). An archival study was conducted at one Indiana urban public high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, by examining existing educational assessment data to test whether a relationship between reading proficiency and student performance on the Biology I ECA existed. The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was r = 0.712 (P < 0.01). A strong positive relationship between Biology I ECA and Lexile reading scores accounted for 50.7% of the variance. The results suggested that any measure to increase reading levels would increase standardized biology assessment scores.

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Section: J J Jmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Test of the Relationship between Reading Ability & Standardized Biology Assessment Scores

Allen

2014

The American Biology Teacher

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“…This focus on plant and insect identification could also address the disappearance of these subjects in the modern biology secondary school curriculum (Sheppard and Robbins 2007). One hundred years ago botany and zoology were core components of high school biology curriculum, but as new biological discoveries emerged, they were dropped in favor of a greater human focus (Rosenthal and Bybee 1988;Sheppard and Robbins 2007).…”

Section: Urban Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One hundred years ago botany and zoology were core components of high school biology curriculum, but as new biological discoveries emerged, they were dropped in favor of a greater human focus (Rosenthal and Bybee 1988;Sheppard and Robbins 2007). Even today, the number of pages in biology textbooks devoted to plants continues to diminish (Hershey 2002) At the same time that children are learning less about the natural history of local plants and animals in schools, fewer children are venturing outside to discover nature on their own (Louv 2005).…”

Section: Urban Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of an Extended Outdoor Residential Workshop on Urban Students' Learning and Appreciation of Biodiversity

Wyner¹,

Berkov²

2012

CATE

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Courses that focus on local flora and fauna are no longer included in biology curricula; therefore most K-12 teachers lack the expertise to teach their students about local biodiversity. When teachers are unable to recognize the plants and animals in their own surroundings, threats to the environment and biodiversity will inevitably remain abstractions to students. In the summer of 2011, a five-day plant and insect biodiversity workshop engaging thirteen pre-service and in-service urban public school teachers and five undergraduate biology teaching assistants was held at a forest field station outside of New York City. The goals were to develop an appreciation of local plant and insect diversity amongst practicing and pre-service teachers, and prepare them to use outdoor experiences to teach urban students. Results from pre-and post-tests and surveys indicate that teachers made significant gains in their understanding of biodiversity, with the largest gains made on plant identification skills. Post-surveys, distributed six months following workshop completion, indicate that half of the in-service teachers used these resources in their classrooms. Responses also highlighted important intangible benefits of the workshop, and indicated that some participants used their new plant identification skills to identify or observe the street trees they pass as part of their daily routine.

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“…Unfortunately, the committee is often erroneously blamed for initiating the B-C-P order of courses. 11 The physics, chemistry, and astronomy subcommittee of the CoT, which included Shepard as a member, reported on issues related to the physical sciences. There was immediate disagreement within the group about the grade placements of physics and chemistry.…”

Section: Standardization and The National Committeesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “First Physics First” Movement, 1880–1920

Sheppard

Robbins

2008

The Physics Teacher

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The issue of the grade placement of the sciences in high school is a much-discussed topic and “Physics First” strands have become regular features at physics teacher conferences. The American Association of Physics Teachers has issued a position statement and published an informational guide concerning the movement.2 There is a “Physics First” website, a list-serv that provides a forum for discussion, and at least six doctoral dissertations have been completed on the topic, with more in preparation.3 The topic is not confined to the physics education community; the American Chemical Society opened a forum on “Physics First” and recently called for a conference session about the grade placement of chemistry.4 Biologists also recently held a symposium on “Capstone Biology” and published their proceedings.5

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High School Biology Today: What the Committee of Ten Actually Said

Cited by 5 publications

References 12 publications

A Test of the Relationship between Reading Ability & Standardized Biology Assessment Scores

A Test of the Relationship between Reading Ability & Standardized Biology Assessment Scores

The Impact of an Extended Outdoor Residential Workshop on Urban Students' Learning and Appreciation of Biodiversity

The “First Physics First” Movement, 1880–1920

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