ABSTRACT
Science for all Americans: The recognition of the need for changes in science instruction began in the early 1980s with the release of the report, A Nation at Risk (Golberg & Harvey, 1983), and has culminated in the current movement to create national standards across the content areas, including science. Of the common themes that can be traced across the two most influential science reform documents, the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS; 1989) Science for All Americans: Project 2061 and the National Research Council’s (NRC, 1996) National Science Education Standards, equity of educational opportunities in science stands at the forefront of reform, as emphasized in the following statement:
The intent of the [National Science Education] Standards can be expressed in a single phrase: Science standards for all students. The phrase embodies both excellence and equity. The Standards apply to all students, regardless of age, gender, cultural or ethnic
background, disabilities, aspirations, or interest and motivation in science. (NRC, 1996, p. 2)
Clearly, the science education community recognizes the need for teaching methods and strategies that address the unique needs of diverse student populations. We believe that the means of meeting this goal can be encompassed within the rubric inclusive education. Characteristics of inclusive science teaching include:
1. the recognition of the unique strengths and challenges that each student brings to the classroom;
2. the design of science lessons that can engage all students in the social construction of science knowledge through inquiry-based lessons;
3. the portrayal of science as a powerful, but limited, way of making sense of the natural world; and
4. the creation of a curriculum that holistically attends both to varying instructional strategies and to selecting content that allows students to use science in a meaningful way.
