The findings of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study document the penchant for U.S. schools to teach core content that is a mile wide and but only an inch deep. SPLASH is an initiative of Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation with funding from the Aerospace States Association to create open and inclusive discussions concerning in-depth learning priorities, particularly in science. SPLASH is offering this web-based opportunity to contribute to the development of a general consensus on a list of core science concepts essential for students to learn in-depth by the time they graduate from high school. With each entry, we ask you to please include a brief explanation of what in your opinion makes each concept critical.

What led to the creation of SPLASH?

 In Kentucky we start on firm footing in that the State has made significant strides in developing a statewide curriculum framework, core content for assessment, and fine-tuning a high stakes system of accountability. The Program of Studies further translates the core content standards for local schools in the development of curricula.  And Kentucky has instituted a single consolidated planning process through which all school districts apply for federal and state professional development funds to strengthen these curricular activities.  Still in Kentucky (and undoubtedly in other states) the grassroots application of content standards remains a somewhat daunting challenge for educators, despite their best efforts to comply with state and national standards.

 New knowledge is the fuel of the 21^st century knowledge economy.  To make the greatest contribution to this economy, KSTC has embraced a culture of entrepreneurship defined as the unconstrained pursuit of new ideas resulting in an innovative creation (©1998 KSTC).  This applies to all sectors, including the education enterprise.  Its relevance to SPLASH lies in the pursuit of new ways to understand and translate world-class math/science standards, resulting in improved learning opportunities and ultimately in improved academic performance.

 Kentucky continues to place a growing value on the education enterprise and a will to change that stands strong in the interest of all students. Entrepreneurial ideas (from big and small companies alike) are fueling this knowledge economy; therefore, we contend that student-powered learning must be fueled by the education enterprise.  The Kentucky Innovation Act provides a larger context to advance Kentucky’s capacity to compete in the knowledge economy.

 The focus of SPLASH is to create a model that links what students must learn in-depth (i.e., translating the standards for front-line use) with how they learn best (student-powered, project-based learning opportunities).  There is an apt quote from Peter Drucker in the October 1999 issue of Atlantic Monthly in his article entitled “Beyond the Information Revolution”.  In it he states: The psychological impact of the Information Revolution…has perhaps been greatest on the way in which young children learn. …computers are their toys and their learning tools.  Fifty years hence we may well conclude that there was no ‘crisis of American education’ in the closing years of the twentieth century—there was only a growing incongruence between the way twentieth century schools taught and the way late-twentieth century children learned.

 The fundamental premise of all of Kentucky’s educational system is that all students can learn at high levels; and in this initiative we further contend that students can achieve this every day.  SPLASH is dedicated to exploring both what students must learn in terms of in-depth core content and how they learn best.  With a decade of front-line experience in comprehensive education reform, Kentucky enjoys a well-versed cadre of educators who know what must be done to make school a place that students are eager to come to every day.  One of their greatest challenges is how to execute their ideas while fully understanding core content in-depth and adhering to state and national standards of academic excellence.  This challenge is not exclusive to education.  A book by Stanford University faculty Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton, The Knowing-Doing Gap, is premised on the notion that most companies know what to do to be successful but not all are able to put what they know into action. This initiative applies a similar notion to the education enterprise by focusing both on “what” students and teachers should know in-depth as well as how they actually come to know critical content in science, mathematics and technology most effectively by applying this new knowledge.

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