The Montana board of education .
The new standards closely resemble the . Montana鈥檚 previous set of science standards had been in place since 2006.
Many of the new standards contain the exact . For example, both sets of standards ask kindergartners to 鈥渦se observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals, including humans, need to survive.鈥�
Like the NGSS, the Montana standards also integrate , or ideas that help students make connections across science disciplines (i.e., 鈥減atterns鈥� and 鈥渃ause and effect鈥�), and science and engineering practices, which describe how to inquire like a scientist.
Notably, doesn鈥檛 mention the Next Generation Science Standards at all. As a since the Next Generation standards began to meet with some controversy.
For example, in West Virginia and Wyoming, there was pushback regarding the NGSS language on global warming. The Montana standards maintain the wording of some of the more controversial standards, including one that says students will 鈥渁sk questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.鈥�
The Montana standards differ from the NGSS in that they incorporate information about American Indians, with an emphasis on Montanan Indians, as a part of the state鈥檚 Indian Education for All initiative. 鈥淪tudents will understand that American Indians鈥� use of scientific knowledge and practices are interdisciplinary and are a valid way to learn about the natural world,鈥� the standards document states.
Cindy Workosky, a spokeswoman for the National Science Teachers Association, which helped develop the Next Generation Science Standards, wrote in an email of the recent adoption, 鈥淢ontana鈥檚 new science education standards are a great improvement over the previous ones. We are pleased that NGSS has had a major influence on the new standards and that Montana science teachers were involved in the process of developing them.鈥�
The new standards will go into effect in July 2017.
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