Twenty Years of Science Curriculum Development: A Look Back

In 1954, the National Science Foundation (NSF) spent $1,725 on its first precollege curriculum development activity. The money was used to support a conference of educators, scientists, and federal officials to discuss ways of improving science curricula in the schools. On November 27, 1956, a grant of $303,000 was made to the Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC) to design a new high school physics curriculum. Thus began a 20-year period of science and mathematics curriculum development activity unparalleled in our nation's history. Between 1956 and 1975, more than $130,000,000 was appropriated by NSF for course content improvement projects. During this same period, an additional $565 million was used to support various teacher-training activities. The goal of many of the teacher-education efforts was the implementation of the new curricula.