Page 38 - Standards for K-12 Engineering Education

Standards for K-12 Engineering Education?

LEVERAGING EXISTING STANDARDS 25

expected to inform the development of new science standards by Achieve, Inc. (www.achieve.
org), which has worked with ACT and The College Board in developing common core standards
for English language arts and mathematics (Box 3-3).

BOX 3-2
Selected Engineering-Related Concepts, Skills, and Dispositions
in the National Science Education Standards

Students should make proposals to build something or get something to work better; they should
be able to describe and communicate their ideas. Students should recognize that designing a
solution might have constraints, such as cost, materials, time, space, or safety. (Grades K–4, p. 137)

Children should develop abilities to work individually and collaboratively and to use suitable
tools, techniques, and quantitative measurements when appropriate. Students should demonstrate
the ability to balance simple constraints in problem solving. (Grades K–4, p. 137)
Scientific inquiry and technological design have similarities and differences. Scientists propose
explanations for questions about the natural world, and engineers propose solutions relating to
human problems, needs, and aspirations. (Grades 5–8, p. 166)
Perfectly designed solutions do not exist. All technological solutions have trade-offs, such as
safety, cost, efficiency, and appearance. Engineers often build in back-up systems to provide safety.
(Grades 5–8, p. 166)
Students should demonstrate thoughtful planning for a piece of technology or technique.
Students should be introduced to the roles of models and simulations in these processes (Grades 9–
12, p. 192)

The daily work of science and engineering results in incremental advances in our understanding
of the world and our ability to meet human needs and aspirations. (Grades 9–12, p. 203)

SOURCE: NRC, 1996.

BOX 3-3
K–12 Engineering Education and the Common Core
The goal of the common core initiative, coordinated by the National Governors Association
and the Council of Chief State School Officers, is to increase the rigor and narrow the content of
standards for core subjects in grades K–12, as well as to encourage consistent implementation of
standards among the states. Although the vast majority of states have indicated a willingness to
consider adopting the core standards, the fate of the initiative is still uncertain. Attempts to set
common performance measures for student achievement could reveal dramatic differences that
have been largely obscured until now by variations among state student assessments.
Participating states will be allowed to add as much as 15 percent more content of their
choosing to the common standards. This could be an opening for engineering, especially if
science is the next subject taken up in the common core process. However, one goal of the com-
mon core effort is to restrict the number of student learning goals, which could limit how much
engineering content can be added. Even if common core science education standards are not
forthcoming, the NRC framework for a new generation of science education standards is expected
to include engineering content.
Interestingly, one of the states that have indicated they may not participate in the common
core initiative is Massachusetts, a leader in K–12 engineering education.

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