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High-school students examining a lens of a cow's eye.
Courtesy, UC San Francisco photo by David Powers.
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.
BIOLOGY EDUCATION
IN THE NATION'S SCHOOLS
Committee on High-Schoo! Biology Education
Board on Biology
Commission on Life Sciences
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C. 1990
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National Academy Press · 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. · Washington, D.C. 20418
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board
of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National
Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The
members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences
and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures
approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of
Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
This Board on Biology study was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are
those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute.
Library of Congress Cataloging~in-Publication Data
National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on High-School Biology Education.
Fulfilling the promise: biology education in the nation's schools
/ Committee on High-School Biology Education, Board on Biology, Commission on
Life Sciences, National Research Council.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Biology-Study and teaching United States. I. Title.
QH3 19.A1N38 1990
574' .071~0973-dc20
Copyright ~ 1990 by the National Academy Press
9042248
CIP
No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic
process, or in the form of a phonographic record, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system,
transmitted, or otherwise copied for public or private use, without written permission from the
publisher, except for the purposes of official use by the U.S. government.
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 0-309-04243-7, case; ISBN 0-309-05147-9, paper.
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COMMITTEE ON HIGH-SCHOOL BIOLOGY EDUCATION
TIMOTHY H. GOLDSMllH (Chairman), Yale University, New Haven,
Connecticut
CLIFTON POODRY (Vice Chairman), University of California, Santa Cruz
R. STEPHEN BERRY, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
RALPH E. CHRISTOFPERSEN, Smith Kline and French Laboratories, King of
Prussia, Pennsylvania
JANE BUTLER KAHLE, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
MARC W. KIRSCHNER, University of California, San Francisco
JOHN A. MOORE, University of California, Riverside
DONNA OLIVER, Bennett College, Greensboro, North Carolina
JONATHAN PIEL, Scientific American, New York, New York
JAMES T. ROBINSON, Boulder, Colorado
JANE SISK, Calloway County High School, Murray, Kentucky
WILMA TONEY, Manchester High School, Manchester, Connecticut
DANIEL B. WALKER, San Jose State University, San Jose, California
Special Advisors
PAUL DeHART HURD, Palo Alto, California
JOHN HARTE, University of California, Berkeley
Former Members
EVELYN E. HANDLER (Chairman, 1987-1988), Brandeis University, Waltham,
Massachusetts
MICHAEL H. ROBINSON (1987-1988), National Zoological Park, Washington,
D.C.
MARY BUDD ROWE (1987-1989), University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
DAVID T. SUZUKI (1987-1989), University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada
National Research Council Staff
JOHN E. BURRIS, Study Director
DONNA M. GERARDI, Staff Officer
WALTER G. ROSEN, Consultant
NORMAN GROSSBLATT, Editor
MARY KAY CERLANI, Senior Secretary
· . .
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BOARD ON BIOLOGY
FRANCISCO J. AYALA (Chairman), University of California, Irvine
NINA V. FEDOROFF, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Baltimore, Maryland
TIMOTHY H. GOLDSMITH, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
RALPH W. F. HARDY, Boyce Thompson Institute of Plant Research, Ithaca,
New York
ERNEST G. JAWORSKI, Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri
HAROLD A. MOONEY, Stanford University, Stanford, California
HAROLD J. MOROWITZ, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
MARY LOU PARDUE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
DAVID D. SABATINI, New York University, New York
MICHAEL E. SOULE, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
MALCOLM S. STEINBERG, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
DAVID B. WAKE, University of California, Berkeley
BRUCE M. ALBERTS (ex officio), University of California, San Francisco
National Research Council Staff
OSKAR R. ZABORSKY, Director
1V
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COMMISSION ON LIFE SCIENCES
BRUCE M. ALBERTS (Chairman), University of California, San Francisco
BRUCE N. AMES, University of California, Berkeley
FRANCISCO J. AYALA, University of California, Irvine
J. MICHAEL BISHOP, University of California Medical Center, San Francisco
FREEMAN J. DYSON, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey
NINA V. FEDOROFF, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Baltimore, Maryland
RALPH W. F. HARDY, Boyce Thompson Institute of Plant Research, Ithaca,
New York
LEROY E. HOOD, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
DONALD F. HORNIG, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
ERNEST G. JAWORSKI, Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Missouri
MARIAN E. KOSHLAND, University of California, Berkeley
HAROLD A. MOONEY, Stanford University, Stanford, California
STEVEN P. PAKES, Southwestern Medical School (University of Texas),
Dallas, Texas
JOSEPH E. RALL, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
RICHARD D. REMINGTON, University of Iowa, Iowa City
PAUL G. RISSER, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
RICHARD B. SETLOW, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York
TORSTEN N. WIESEL, Rockefeller University, New York, New York
National Research Council Staff
JOHN E. BURRIS, Executive Director
v
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The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating
society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research,
dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the
general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress
in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal
government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president of
the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under
the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of
outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection
of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility
for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering
also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages
education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers.
Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy
of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions
in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The
Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences
by its congressional charter to be an advisor to the federal government and, upon
its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education.
Dr. Samuel O. Thier is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of
Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology
with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the fed-
eral government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined
by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both
the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering
in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engi-
neering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies
and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are
chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
V1
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Preface
The seed for this study was germinating in the Commission on Life Sciences
of the National Research Council when the Board on Biology was created in
1984. The board's attention was initially drawn to high-school biology by the
controversy over the inclusion of evolution in the school curriculum, but in
a one-day workshop with teachers and textbook publishers it quickly became
apparent that myriad other problems beset the teaching of science. As the
present study got under way, it was our intention to focus on the high-school
biology curriculum, but we found that restricted goal elusive. Perhaps I can
explain why by paraphrasing one of our reviewers, who characterized this report
as describing the "ecology" of science education. That puts it well, for this is
a report about complex relationships how failure of learning in high-school
science has its origins in elementary school, how texts, tests, teacher education,
colleges and universities, and political and economic assumptions all contribute
to the status quo, and how difficult it is to alter any one element alone and
expect any meaningful change in the entire system. There is of course a history,
too-how the nation's educational system got into its present state, and why
previous efforts at reform of science education have been so ephemeral. In
short, as our deliberations progressed, we were compelled by the nature of the
problem to broaden the scope of our analysis.
To whom is this volume addressed? The simple answer is to everyone
interested in education and the performance of our schools: teachers, parents,
scientists, school boards, school administrators, science educators, legislators,
and all who make or support policy that affects our schools. The need for
change is pervasive and will have to be accomplished on a broad front, because
. .
V11
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. · ~
V111
PREFACE
the very intellectual and cultural environment in which both children and their
teachers are exposed to science must be altered. Consequently, there is work to
be done by everyone.
As this is a report of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research
Council, it is appropriate that we have a special message for scientists, par-
ticularly those who teach in colleges and universities. Traditionally aloof from
the world of precollege education, our institutions of higher learning in fact
contribute to the calamity. But of this, more in the report.
Several years elapsed before the National Research Council was able to
find a willing sponsor for this study, and we are grateful to the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute, whose officers and trustees shared some of the same concerns
about the distressing state of science education and who have generously
underwritten the assessment that is presented in this volume. Like all who
labor on such analyses and reports, we who made up the committee obviously
hope that we have made a useful contribution toward the solution of a complex
national problem, but we would also like to salute the stewards of the Howard
Hughes Medical Institute for enabling us to make our case. In particular, Purnell
Choppin and Joseph Perpich have displayed vision and leadership in directing
attention and resources to the problems of science education.
I would like to share a reminiscence about that early one-day meeting that
led to this study, because it introduces a theme we have strived to develop in the
book. I had not realized until that day the depth of isolation and abandonment
now felt by many able and dedicated teachers who had participated in summer
institutes for secondary-school science teachers first sponsored by the National
Science Foundation 20-25 years ago. Those experiences created a sense of
community, a feeling of belonging to a larger guild of professional scientists that
was both helpful and sustaining, but that largely melted away with the ending of
the federal programs in the early 1980s. Those of us who teach know well that
enthusiasm is indeed infectious, and I have had great trouble reconciling the
cold, analytical studies that purport to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of those
summer programs on student learning-studies that were used as part of the
justification for largely terminating federal involvement in science education-
with the joyous memories I hear whenever I interact with teachers from that
era. This is an issue discussed at greater length in our report, but it is one
illustration of how fragile is the place of teachers. As a nation we ask teachers
to do a job requiring dedication and professional performance, but we sabotage
the professionalism of teaching in countless ways. There is much more to
successful teaching than loud cries for "accountability" might have one believe,
and the need to create an appropriately professional environment for teachers is
at the heart of our problem.
The experience of working with this committee has been personally re-
warding, for it has demonstrated how a diverse group of individuals representing
practicing teachers, research scientists, science educators, university teachers,
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PREFACE
1X
school administrators, and others can work harmoniously on a complex ed-
ucational matter. We did not always start with agreement, but our areas of
disagreement always shrank dramatically with discussion, and in the end, little
of substance separated us. Mutual respect and a conscientious effort to ad-
dress the central issue before us inevitably prevailed. The experience makes
me optimistic that the approaches we have outlined in this book can in fact
be successfully implemented in the larger community by forging new working
alliances of concerned participants.
Finally, with the rest of the committee I would like to thank John Burris,
Donna Gerardi, and Walter Rosen, whose staff work made the study go. They
have organized meetings, pursued background papers, and answered countless
queries in a superbly professional manner.
TIMOTHY H. GOLDSMITH, Chairman
Committee on High-School Biology Education
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