The National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula (APA, 2011) define learning outcomes for the high school psychology course. Teachers can use the National Standards to determine the overall content and learning objectives for students who are first learning about psychology in high school. The policy document will expire in August 2021, and a working group has started the process of revising the psychology standards.
All high school psychology teachers and any other interested stakeholders are invited to send feedback on the current psychology standards for the working group to consider as it works to revise the document. An online surveyopens in new window is available to collect feedback through July 1, 2018. Specific questions for teachers and other stakeholders include:
- Do you like the current format of the National Standards?
- What are the strengths of the current National Standards?
- What if anything was missing from the current National Standards?
- There are currently seven content domains and 20 standard areas in the National Standards. Do you think the scope of the content in the National Standards is too large?
- What would you recommend for inclusion in the revised National Standards?
- A working group last summer recommended aligning the next revision of the National Standards to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013). Do you support this alignment?
- This working group also recommended aligning the next revision of the National Standards to existing undergraduate assessment guidelines and models for the undergraduate introductory psychology course, to encourage better alignment between high school and undergraduate psychology courses. Do you support this alignment?
- Do you have any other feedback to share about the National Standards, for the National Standards Working Group to consider?
References
American Psychological Association. (2011). National standards for high school psychology curricula. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/education/k12/national-standards.
NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next generation science standards: For states, by states. Retrieved from https://www.nextgenscience.org/opens in new window.
