State politics, industry drives planetary health education for K-12 students in US, finds study
Educational science standard quality across the United States (A) is represented by each state/territory composite score. The inset box shows composite scores for Washington, DC (topleft; DC), American Samoa (top right; US), Guam (bottom left; GU), and Puerto Rico (bottomright; PR). States and territories that have fully adopted the Next Generation Science Standards are outlined in bright green. The deviation from the mean for each state or territory’s science standard composite score (B) is shown along with its major political affiliation. Credit: Samantha L.R. Capel
As much of the US broils under record-setting temperatures, battles wildfires and is rocked by fierce storms, a new study suggests that the science learning standards for many public schools are not preparing young people to understand and respond to problems such as climate change that will dramatically impact their lives and those of millions of people around the globe.
Published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciencethe findings raise troubling questions about political bias shaping if and what the nation’s youth are learning about looming environmental crises and what these portend for the Earth’s inhabitants.
The quality and depth of the information that today’s K-12 students receive on planetary health
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