《国家科学教育标准》是为引导我国国民步入一个具有高度科学素养的社会而撰写的。以典型的实践和研究为依据而制定出来的这部标准，不仅对所谓的具有科学素养的人作出具体的构想，也为可使这种构想变成现实的科学教育提出具体的衡量基准。
The National Science Education Standards are designed to guide our nation toward a scientifically literate society. Founded in exemplary practice and research, the Standards describe a vision of the scientifically literate person and present criteria for science education that will allow that vision to become reality.
具有科学素养何以如此重要呢?首先，懂科学能给人以惬意感和兴奋感——这是每一个人都应分享到的好处。其次，美国人在自己的生活中所遇到的需要运用科学知识和科学的思维方式作出明智抉择的那类问题越来越多。我们将如何对待我们共同拥有的资源——诸如空气、水源和国有森林等——也取决于我们的人民做出的集体判断。
Why is science literacy important? First, an understanding of science offers personal fulfillment and excitement--benefits that should be shared by everyone. Second, Americans are confronted increasingly with questions in their lives that require scientific information and scientific ways of thinking for informed decision making. And the collective judgment of our people will determine how we manage shared resources—such as air, water, and national forests.
懂得科学、有科学的本领还可使学生们有足够的能力胜任将来的各种重要而富有成效的工作。工商企业界所需要的新就业者是那种善于学习、善于推理、思维具有创造性、能决善断、会解决问题的人。此外，人们对经济竞争力的关注也使科学和数学教育不能不占据极端重要的中心地位，因为只有搞好我们的科学和数学教育我们才不致落后于我们在全世界的竞争对手。
Science understanding and ability also will enhance the capability of all students to hold meaningful and productive jobs in the future. The business community needs entry-level workers with the ability to learn,reason, think creatively, make decisions, and solve problems. In addition, concerns regarding economic competitiveness stress the central importance of science and mathematics education that will allow us to keep pace with our global competitors.
为什么要有国家科学教育标准
Why National Science Education Standards?
“标准”一语具有多种含义。科学教育标准是量度质量的准绳：量度的是学生们所掌握的知识和能力的质量；给学生提供学科学之机会的科学大纲的质量；科学教学的质量；支持着科学教师和科学大纲的教育系统的质量；评价的具体做法和政策的质量。科学教育标准是检验进步大小的尺度，检验的是我们向着国家给一个造就优等人才的系统所定的科学学习与科学教学目标前进了多少，因此，科学教育标准也是一面旗帜，全国的改革者们可以团结在这面旗帜下向着共同的目标而前进。
The term “standard”has multiple meanings.Science education standards are criteria to judge quality: the quality of what students know and are able to do; the quality of the science programs that provide the opportunity for students to learn science; the quality of science teaching; the quality of the system that supports science teachers and programs;and the quality of assessment practices and policies. Science education standards provide criteria to judge progress toward a national vision of learning and teaching science in a system that promotes excellence, providing a banner around which reformers can rally.
美国教育质量的高低，关键掌握在地方，因为学生们要学些什么完全是由各地的教育委员会和教师委员会来决定的。国家标准就是给各州、各地方的学校人士和社区提供的判断依据，帮助他们判断什么样的课程、什么样的教师进修活动或者什么样的评价项目才是合适的。国家标准有助于各地制定出能使科学教育的改革工作步调统一、目标一致、首尾如一地进行下去的政策：使每一个人都能向着同一个方向前进，因此就可确保，人们为改革科学教育而采取的各种颇具风险的行动会得到整个系统中的政策和实际做法的支持。
A hallmark of American education is local control, where boards of education and teachers make decisions about what students will learn. National standards present criteria by which judgments can be made by state and local school personnel and communities ,helping them to decide which curriculum ,staff development activity, or assessment program is appropriate. National standards encourage policies that will bring coordination, consistency, and coherence to the improvement of science education : They allow everyone to move in the same direction , with the assurance that the risks they take in the name of improving science education will be supported by policies and practices throughout the system.
今天，即使在没有国家标准的情况下，在科学的课堂上也有一些别开生面的做法在实践，但是这只是因为有一些十分出类拔萃的教师要做些非那么做不可的事而不得不置传统的做法于不顾罢了。有许多慷慨乐施的教师因为知道学生们只有通过研究才能取得上佳的学习效果，因而不惜自己花钱来添置科学用品。这些教师不是把注意力放在充满科学术语的教科书上，而是鼓励学生们进行科学探究。这些教师在备课的时候还总是要把自己的科学课跟学生们的生活联系起来，而不是简单化地备一门学校科学课。
Some outstanding things happen in science classrooms today, even without national standards. But they happen because extraordinary teachers do what needs to be done despite conventional practice. Many generous teachers spend their own money on science supplies, knowing that students learn best by investigation. These teachers ignore the vocabulary-dense textbooks and encourage student inquiry. They also make their science courses relevant to students’ lives, instead of simply being preparation for another school science course.
贯彻实施《国家科学教育标准》将会十分重视和鼓励这些优秀教师的那些十分出色的实践，将会给他们以应有的承认和支持。对那些在自己的预算中拨出部分款项来支持学生做野外科学考察的校长，对那些靠烤点心义卖来为学生购置科学设备的家长，对那些置市场看好的多项选择测试书籍于不顾而偏偏去尝试出版真实可信的评价实践的书籍的出版商，也要给他们以应有的承认和鼓励。
Implementation of the National Science Education Standards will highlight and promote the best practices of those extraordinary teachers and give them the recognition and support they deserve. School principals who find money in their budgets for field trips, parents whose bake-sale proceeds purchase science equipment, and publishers who are pioneering authentic assessments despite the market for multiple-choice tests will also be recognized and encouraged.
这部标准有助于规划我们走向未来的行动路线。基于今日的最佳实践而制定出来的这部标准，就是旨在引导我们从当前学校教育的种种束缚中解脱出来，向着优异超群这个共同的目标前进。
The Standards help to chart the course into the future. By building on the best of current practice ,they aim to take us beyond the constraints of present structures of schooling toward a shared vision of excellence .
学校科学的目标
《国家科学教育标准》所规定的学校科学的目标是培养学生能
- 由于对自然界有所了解和认识而产生充实感和兴奋感；
- 在进行个人决策之时恰当地运用科学的方法和原理；
- 理智地参与那些就与科学技术有关的各种问题举行的公众对话和辩论；
- 在自己的本职工作中运用一个具有良好科学素养的人所应有的知识、认识和各种技能，因而能提高自己的经济生产效率。
The goals for school science that underlie（译为划定是否可行） the National Science Education Standards are to educate students who are able to
- experience the richness and excitement of knowing about and understanding the natural world;
- use appropriate scientific processes and principles in making personal decisions;
- engage intelligently in public discourse and debate about matters of scientific and technological concern; and
- increase their economic productivity through the use of the knowledge,understanding, and skills of the scientifically literate person in their careers.
这些目标给我们勾画出来的是具有高度科学素养的社会的一个大致轮廓。内容标准所描述的是所谓有高度科学素养的人在经过那13年的学校科学教育之后都应该了解、认识和能做些什么。评价标准、教学标准、大纲标准和系统标准分别描述的是，所有学生要达到在内容标准中所描述的具有高度科学素养这个目标所需要的种种条件。
These goals define a scientifically literate society. The standards for content define what the scientifically literate person should know, understand, and be able to do after 13 years of school science. The separate standards for assessment, teaching, program, and system describe the conditions necessary to achieve the goal of scientific literacy for all students that is described in the content standards.
贯彻实施这部标准的学校将引导学生们通过积极地参加对他们既饶有趣味又十分重要的科学探究活动来学习科学。学生们通过这样的活动将可为自己探讨科学问题打下良好的知识基础。在这些学校中，教师们将有权决定学生们学什么、怎样学以及资源该如何分配等问题。教师和学生们将共同置身于一个以学科学为中心目标的集体之中，共同为一个有助于他们成长的教育系统所陶冶。
Schools that implement the Standards will have students learning science by a ctively engaging in inquiries that are interesting and important to them. Students there by will establish a knowledge base for understanding science. In these schools, teachers will be empowered to make decisions about what students learn,how they learn it, and how resources are allocated. Teachers and students together will be members of a community focused on learning science while being nurtured by a supportive education system.
在今天的大多数学校里，学生们可能都无法达到上述标准。要把这部标准付诸实施就必须实施长期而持久的改革。
Students could not achieve the standards in most of today’s schools. Implementation of the Standards will require a sustained, long-term commitment to change.
《国家科学教育标准》的成书经过
History of the National Science Education Standards
确定国家目标和为达此目标而制定国家标准，是我们教育改革政策中的当前战略。各州政府对搞国家标准的支持始于1989年，全国州长协会就是在这一年赞同制定国家教育目标的。乔治•布什总统随后便组建了国家教育目标专门小组，对这项工作给予支持。威廉•克林顿当选总统后，新政府对制定国家教育标准的工作继续给予了支持。
Setting national goals and developing national standards to meet them are recent strategies in our education reform policy.Support for national education standards by state governments originated in 1989, when the National Governors Association endorsed national education goals.President George Bush immediately added his support by forming the National Education Goals Panel. The support for standards was continued by the new administration after the election of President William Clinton.
最早的标准见之于1989年，当时，一些数学教育家和数学家在下面这两种出版物中对国家标准这个题目展开了研讨：一种出版物是全国数学教师理事会（NCTM）编定的《中小学数学的课程标准与评价标准》（Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics）(1989)和国家研究理事会编定的《人人都很举足重轻：写给国人的一份数学教育前景报告》（Everybody Counts：A Report to the Nation on the Future of Mathematics Education）(1989)。对制定其他的教育标准来说，全国数学教师理事会的经验很重要，它表明，制定标准的工作必须允许所有有关人员，特别是那些负责实施这些标准的人参与。
The first standards appeared in 1989,when mathematics educators and mathematicians addressed the subject of national standards with two publications:Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics, by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)(1989); and Everybody Counts: A Report to the Nation on the Future of Mathematics Education, by the National Research Council (1989). The NCTM experience was important in the development of other education standards,and it demonstrated that participation in the development of standards had to be open to all interested parties, especially those responsible for their realization.
《国家科学教育标准》有若干重要的前奏。1983年，《一个处在危险中的国家》（A Nation at Risk）出版，呼吁对美国教育系统进行反思和改革。在80年代期间，美国化学学会（ACS）、生物科学课程研究会（Biological Sciences Curriculum Study）、教育促进中心(Education Development Center)、劳伦斯科学馆(Lawrence Hall of Science)、全国科学资源中心(NSRC)以及技术教育资源中心(Technical Education Resources Center)都编出了富有创新精神的科学课程。1989年，美国科学促进会（AAAS）通过他们的2061计划（Project 2061）出版了《面向全体美国人的科学》（Science for All Americans），对所有中学毕业生所应具有的科学素养做出了界定。在稍晚些时候，全国理科教师协会（NSTA）通过他们的所谓范围、次序和配合计划（Scope，Sequence & Coordination Project）出版了《内容核心》（The Content Core）。
The National Science Education Standards had several important precursors. In 1983, A Nation at Risk was published,calling for reconsideration and reform of the U.S. education system. In the 1980s,the American Chemical Society (ACS), the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study, the Education Development Center, the Lawrence Hall of Science,the National Science Resources Center (NSRC),and the Technical Education Resources Center all developed innovative science curricula. In 1989, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), through its Project 2061,published Science for All Americans, defining scientific literacy for all high school graduates. Somewhat later, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA),through its Scope, Sequence & Coordination Project, published The Content Core.
1991年春，全国理科教师协会主席根据协会董事会的一致意见致信给国家科学院院长兼国家研究理事会主席弗兰克•普雷斯博士，希望国家研究理事会来协调国家科学教育标准的制定工作。一些重要的科学协会和科学教育协会的主席、教育部长、国家科学基金会教育与人类资源处助理主任、国家教育目标专门小组的主席都力促国家研究理事会，要他们在制定国家科学教育的内容、教学和评价标准的工作中发挥重要作用。此后没过多久，教育部和国家科学基金会就对这项计划给予了经费支持。
In the spring of 1991, the NSTA president,reflecting a unanimous vote of the NSTA board, wrote to Dr. Frank Press—president of the National Academy of Sciences and chairman of the National Research Council (NRC)—asking the NRC to coordinate development of national science education standards. The presidents of several leading science and science education associations, the U.S. secretary of education,the assistant director for education and human resources at the National Science Foundation, and the cochairs of the National Education Goals Panel all encouraged the NRC to play a leading role in the effort to develop national standards for science education in content, teaching, and assessment.Shortly thereafter, major funding for this project was provided by the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation.
为了对制定标准的这项重要工作进行管理和监督，国家研究理事会建立了全国科学教育标准与评价委员会(National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment)（NCSESA）。先后担任这个委员会的主席的是詹姆斯•埃伯特博士和理查德•克劳斯纳博士（后者自1993年11月起担任此职）。此外，在这个委员会的下面还设立了主席的顾问委员会，顾问委员会的成员分别来自于全国理科教师协会、美国科学促进会、美国化学学会、全国科学资源中心、美国物理教师协会（American Association of Physics Teachers）、州科学视导员理事会（Council of State Science Supervisors）、地球科学教育联合会（Earth Science Education Coalition）和全国生物教师协会（National Association of Biology Teachers)。顾问委员会的这一批人的职责是帮助物色和招募各下设委员会和工作组所需的工作人员和志愿人员。
To oversee the important process of standards development, the NRC established the National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment (NCSESA). The committee was chaired successively by Dr.James Ebert and (from November 1993) Dr. Richard Klausner. In addition, the Chair’s Advisory Committee was formed, consisting of representatives from STA,AAAS, ACS, NSRC,the American Association of Physics Teachers, the Council of State Science Supervisors,the Earth Science Education Coalition, and the National Association of Biology Teachers. This group helped to identify and recruit staff and volunteers for all of the committees and working groups that were required.
那个监理委员会亦即全国科学教育标准与评价委员会（NCSESA）于1992年5月首次举行会议，三个工作组亦即内容标准工作组、教学标准工作组和评价标准工作组在整个夏季都是在接二连三地举行工作会议。制定标准的开始阶段一直持续到1993年秋天。在这18个月中间，投入到这标准制定工作中去的一应之需都是征集自一大批科学教师、科学家、科学教育家以及对科学教育甚表关注的许许多多其他方面人士。向公众介绍有关情况的报告等活动就举行了150多次，为的是唤起公众对有关科学教育改革的种种问题以及对科学教育标准的性质和内容的讨论。
The oversight committee (NCSESA) first met in May 1992, and the three working groups (content, teaching, and assessment) each held intense working sessions over the summer. An initial phase of standards development lasted through the fall of 1993.During that 18 months,input to the standards was solicited from large numbers of science teachers ,scientists , science educators,and many others interested in science education .More than 150 public presentations were made to promote discussion about issues in science education reform and the nature and content of science education standards.
1993年年底，科学教育标准“预印稿”的定稿工作着手进行。1994年5月，这部预印稿有选择地分送到若干个专家组去，以供他们批评与审议之用。专家组是由全国科学教育标准与评价委员会主席下设的顾问委员会的代表组织再加上另外两个组织亦即全国数学教师理事会和新标准项目组（New Standards Project）的全体成员组成的。此外，国家研究理事会还曾召集完全由未曾参与此项计划有关活动的人组成的5个专家组开会，来征询他们对预印稿的各方面意见。在国家研究理事会组织的这次评议中，各个专家组分别对在预印稿中展示出来的内容标准、教学标准、评价标准、大纲标准和系统标准进行了评议。
Late in 1993, work began on the production of a complete “predraft” of the science education standards. This predraft was released in May 1994 to a selected set of focus groups for their critique and review. Each organization represented on the Chair’s Advisory Committee joined by two additional organizations (NCTM and the New Standards Project) formed focus groups. In addition,the NRC convened five focus groups that were composed entirely of individuals who had not yet been involved in the project to critique the predraft. In this NRC-organized review, separate groups of experts reviewed the content, teaching,assessment, program, and system standards present in the predraft.
参加起草工作的专家们对各位专家及各专家组就预印稿提出的许多改进建议进行了整理和分析之后，对这部预印稿进行了大量的修改，修改稿作为一种官方正式文献而出台。这部文稿于1994年12月发到全国，供各地讨论审查。《国家科学教育标准》的这个文本有40000余册分别散发到约18000人的手上和250个小组里。参加起草工作的专家们又对参与审查这个文本的许多个人和小组提出的各种意见再次进行了整理和分析，并据此起草出《国家科学教育标准》的最后文本，这就是展现在读者手上的这本书。
After the many suggestions for improving the predraft were collated and analyzed, an extensively revised standards document was prepared as a public document. This draft was released for nationwide review in December 1994. More than 40,000 copies of the draft National Science Education Standards were distributed to some 18,000 individuals and 250 groups. The comments of the many individuals and groups who reviewed this draft were again collated and analyzed; these were used to prepare the final National Science Education Standards that are presented here.
参加《国家科学教育标准》一书中内容标准部分之撰写工作的许多人，都曾不谋而合地使用和转述《面向全体美国人的科学》和《科学素养的衡量基准》（Benchmarks for Literacy）两书对所有学生都应该知道些什么和能够做些什么所作的阐述。因此国家科学院国家研究理事会以感激之情高度评价美国科学促进会的2061计划所做的这种具有开创性的工作，并且相信，各州的框架委员会、各学校和学区的课程委员会以及教学材料与评价材料的编写者们对《科学素养的衡量基准》的使用，与内容标准的精神是若合符节的。
The many individuals who developed the content standards sections of the National Science Education Standards made independent use and interpretation of the statements of what all students should know and be able to do that are published in Science for All Americans and Benchmarks for Science Literacy. The National Research Council of the Na ti onal Academy of Sciences gratefully acknowledges its indebtedness to the seminal work by the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Project 2061 and believes that use of Benchmarks for Science Literacy by state framework committees, school and school district curriculum committees, and developers of instructional and assessment materials complies fully with the spirit of the content standards.
内容安排
这部标准由八章（原文为“七章”）组成。下一章，也就是第二章，写的是要使所有学生都具有良好的科学素养就必须遵循的几条重大原则。这些原则，再加上对一些关键术语所作的定义，就是构成这部标准的思想基础。
Organization
The Standards are organized into seven chapters(疑惑：本书英文版明显分为8章). The next chapter (Chapter 2) lays out a set of overarching principles that underlie the vision o f scientific literacy for all students. These principles, as well as definitions for key terms, provide the conceptual basis for the Standards.
教学和教师是科学教育改革的中心环节。所以，我们把科学教学诸标准安排到了最前面。在第三章中讨论的这些标准，讲的中心问题就是教师要知道些什么和要做些什么。紧随其后的是教师的专业进修标准，即第四章，讲的中心问题是教师们应该如何扩充自己的专业知识，应该如何提高自己的专业技能。合而观之，第三章和第四章展现给我们的是我们对科学教学所持的一种广泛而深入的看法，这种看法正是基于这样一种坚定信念：科学探究是科学与科学学习的核心。
Teaching and teachers are at the center of the reform in science education. The standards for science teaching are,therefore, the standards presented first. Found in Chapter 3, these standards focus on what teachers know and do. The standards for the professional development of teachers are presented next: Chapter 4 focuses on how teachers develop professional knowledge and skill.Together, the standards in Chapters 3 and 4 present a broad and deep view of science teaching that is based on the conviction that scientific inquiry is at the heart of science and science learning.
科学教育评价标准是在第五章作为量度评价实践之质量的准绳而加以阐释的。评价标准也可以用作发展评价方法、制定评价政策的指南。这些标准也同样可以用来衡量课堂评价和学校外面的专家设计的评价，进行中的评价和总结式评价。
The science education assessment standards are presented in Chapter 5 as criteria for judging the quality of assessment practices.The assessment standards are also designed to be used as guides in developing assessment practices and policy. These standards apply equally to classroom-based and externally designed assessments and to formative(目前来看，应译为形成性评价) and summative assessments.
内容标准，按K-4，5-8和9-12各年级的程度分别加以组织，安排在第六章里。这些标准表述的是对学生在整个K~l2教育阶段发展理解和其他能力的期望。内容范围包括科学探究；物质科学、生命科学和地球与空间科学这类传统学科领域；科学与技术的联系；从个人与社会角度看的科学；科学史与科学的性质。内容标准还附有培养学生的理解力的有关知识，也包括构成各项标准之基础的一些基本观念。
The content standards, organized by K-4,5-8, and 9-12 grade levels, are found in Chapter 6. These standards provide expectations for the development of student understanding and ability over the course of K-12 education. Content is defined to include inquiry; the traditional subject areas of physical, life, and earth and space sciences; connections between science and technology; science in personal and social perspectives;and the history and nature of science. The content standards are supplemented with information on developing student understanding, and they include fundamental concepts that underlie each standard.
第七章的内容是大纲标准，这些标准是衡量学校和学区的科学大纲质量的准绳。大纲标准集中阐释的是与学生学科学(学这部标准所描述的科学)和教师教科学(教这部标准所描述的科学)的机会有关的一些问题。
Chapter 7 contains the program standards,which provide criteria for judging the quality of school and district science programs.The program standards focus on issues that relate to opportunities for students to learn and teachers to teach science as described in the Standards.
第八章中的系统标准是为检验学校和学区以外的科学教育系统诸元(包括从事教育工作的专业工作者和作为学校之支柱的广大社会)的业绩而提供的测量尺度。
The system standards in Chapter 8 consist of criteria for judging the performance of components of the science education system beyond the school and district : the people and entities,including education professionals and the broader community that supports the schools.
在这部标准中充满了大量的实例——以真正的实践为基础的实际例子。这些实例都表明，这部标准所确立的目标是完全可以达到的。每个实例都包括对其某些特点所作的一个简单描述，每个实例都要把例子可能帮助理解的那几项标准列述出来。许多实例都只有在学生们已经实际参与了这部标准所述及的那类科学教育活动时才是适用的。例如。评价实践和举例只有在学生们已经有了获取待评价的理解力和其他能力的机会以后才适用。
Throughout the Standards, examples have been supplied that are based in actual practice . These examples demonstrate that the vision is attainable. Each example includes a brief description of some of its features and lists the standards that might be highlighted by the example. Many of the examples are appropriate only if students have been involved in the type of science education de s c ri bed in the Standards. For instance, the assessment exercises are appropriate if students have had the opportunity to gain the understanding and skills being assessed.
《国家科学教育标准》是为全体美国人制定的标准：公正平等是这部标准的一个基本原则，因此理所当然地要渗透到科学教育的方方面面。
The National Science Education Standards are standards for all Americans:Equity is an underlying principle for the Standards and should pervade all aspects of science education .
阅读指要
《国家科学教育标准》的编制旨在提供一本可靠的指南，用以引导国人创建一个有高度科学素养的国度。因为这部标准展示给我们的是对有高度科学素养所作的一种构想，而要把这一构想变成现实，整个的教育系统就要在各方面作彻底的改变，因此，可以料想得到，不同的读者将会为了不同的目的来阅读这部标准。重要的是，所有的读者都不能不读第二章，也就是“原则与定义”这一章，因为这一章是科学教育改革之构想的基础。其后各章的阅读顺序可以因人而异，孰先孰后就全看读者的阅读目的是什么了。
Guidance for Readers
The National Science Education Standards are intended to serve as a responsible guide to the creation of a scientifically literate society. Because the Standards present a vision for scientific literacy that will require changes in the entire education system,it is expected that different individuals will read the Standards for different purposes.It is important that all readers read Chapter 2, Principles and Definitions, which sets the foundation for the vision of science education reform. The order of reading then might differ, depending on the reader’s purpose.
The brief guide below (Table 1.1) provides direction for locating different types of information .
下面的这个便览(表1.1)给读者查找不同类型的信息指明了方向。
TABLE 1.1 GUIDE TO USING THE STANDARDS
PURPOSE
Defining scientific literacy
- 原则与定义 (Chapter 2 )
- 科学内容标准 (Chapter 6 )
Providing guidance for teachers and other science educators
- 科学教学标准 (Chapter 3)
- 科学教育中评价 (Chapter 5)
- 专业进修标准 (Chapter 4)
Clarifying the responsibility of policy makers and the community
- 教育大纲标准 (Chapter 7)
- 教育系统标准 (Chapter 8)