Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Photo by Demure Storyteller on Unsplash.
A story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (November 27, 2024) discussed (subscription required) a new set of proposed high school environmental science standards (Word document) for Virginia, with the assistance of NCSE staff.
"The standards state that climate change is happening, will have negative impacts on humans and ecosystems, and there are steps that can be taken to find solutions," the newspaper observed, adding, "The standards draw no explicit connection that humans are the primary cause of climate change because of increased fossil fuel usage and carbon dioxide increases in the atmosphere."
NCSE's Blake Touchet told the Times-Dispatch that the standards were a step in the right direction. Although he regarded some of them as overemphasizing individual activities and decisions relevant to climate change, he described ENV 12, which addresses environmental public policy and policymaking, as "one of the most progressive climate change related standards I've ever seen."
High school environmental science is not a required course in Virginia, and Touchet commented, "My other major concern is that even though these environmental science standards are decent, only a small percentage of students will take this course," explaining, "What really moves the needle on quality of climate change education is inclusion of good standards in required courses like middle school science and high school biology."
The article noted that Virginia received a grade of F in "Making the Grade," the 2020 study of the treatment of climate change in state science standards from NCSE and the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund. Although climate change is discussed further in a framework provided to help Virginia's districts develop their curricula, NCSE's Glenn Branch noted that "it's unclear to what extent districts follow the framework's guidance."
The Virginia state board of education is scheduled to consider adopting the new environmental science standards (among others) in early spring 2025. If adopted by the board, the new science standards are expected to be implemented in the 2025-2026 school year.
