Kentucky’s public school science testing standards for biology are about to change. The State Board of Education voted in late 2011 to begin delegating the development of Kentucky’s science testing standards to a consortium of more than twenty-five other states under the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) program . The NGSS testing will require considerable change to the science core content, having a significant impact on classroom instruction. While some of the standards are positive changes, some are controversial. If fully adopted as planned by May, 2012, districts will be required to change classroom instruction to match the NGSS testing.
One significant change is the greatly increased testing on evolution. According to the preliminary standards, 25-40% of the end-of-course exam will be on genetics/evolution. Presently there is no quantitative requirement for evolution testing.
We will be posting additional information soon to help you better understand the implications of the NGSS program. At the current time, we highly recommend that you sign up to stay informed (available on this page) and we will email you as the standards are released for public comment.
Please signup here.
