ABSTRACT Nearly 50 million public school students in the United States are required to learn the content prescribed by state‐mandated science standards. Although much is known about the implementation of science standards and teachers' perceptions of them, the development process of these standards remains unclear. Understanding standards development is crucial to ensure the process employed is thoughtful, fair, considers expertise, and results in standards of sufficient quality to warrant implementation. This study examined the development of science standards in Texas to determine the enacted process, the expertise involved, who held decision‐making authority, and how authority was exercised. State Board of Education meetings were transcribed, coded, and supplemented with online documents and public records requests. Experts on learning were not present, and expertise in physics, earth science, and chemistry was weak to non‐existent. Teachers played a role in the early stages of the process, but the board ultimately had the authority to override, modify, and write the final standards document. The board was observed adding developmentally inappropriate content, overriding teachers' and subject‐matter experts' concerns, and using humor about their lack of subject‐matter knowledge. The findings raise important concerns about placing responsibility for standards development on an elected board of public officials, given their limited time, expertise, and connections to special interest groups. Given the immense influence of standards on what students are taught, we recommend an independent standards development process that balances decision‐making authority across experts in teaching, learning, the subject matter, and the milieu.
Esparza et al. (Tue,) studied this question.