HOME HELP FEEDBACK ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit Reader Comments Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Reader Comments are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sheppard, K. Articles by Robbins, D. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sheppard, K. Articles by Robbins, D. M.

High School Biology Today: What the Committee of Ten Actually Said

Keith Sheppard^*, and Dennis M. Robbins

*Long Island Group Advancing Science Education, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5233; and Science Department, Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York, NY 10007

Monitoring Editor: Thomas Pollard

Address correspondence to: Keith Sheppard (ksheppard{at}notes.cc.sunysb.edu) or Dennis M. Robbins (Drobbins{at}bmcc.cuny.edu)

This essay describes how in the 1890s the Committee of Ten arrived at their recommendations about the organization of the high school biological sciences and seeks to correct the frequently held, but erroneous view that the Committee of Ten was the initiator of the Biology-Chemistry-Physics order of teaching sciences prevalent in high schools today. The essay details the factors underlying the changing views of high school biology from its "natural history" origins, through its "zoology, botany, physiology" disciplinary phase to its eventual integration into a "general biology" course. The simultaneous parallel development of the "Carnegie Unit" for measuring coursework is highlighted as a significant contributor in the evolution of the present day high school biology course. The essay concludes with a discussion of the implications of the grade placement of the sciences for the future development of high school biology.