National Science Education Standards: A political document

The National Science Education Standards provides a vision teaching and learning science for the science education system and criteria to measure progress toward that vision. The document contains standards for content, teaching, assessment, three major levers of change identified by policy analysts. The Standards also include program standards for schools and districts and system standards. This article describes how the Standards were developed within a political context, through a process with political aspects and includes political intents. It closes with recommendations about why and how science education researchers might engage in the political process. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 711–727, 1998.