ED ITORIAL
Science, civics, and democracy
W
ill the inauguration of President Joe Biden and
Vice President Kamala Harris—a transition
made “orderly” with barbed wire, National
Guard soldiers, and the closure of downtown
Washington, D.C.—be remembered as an in-
flection point? After 4 years of boorish incivil-
ity, incendiary nativist extremism, a crippling
Michael J. Feuer pandemic, resurgent racism, and riotous mobs incited to
attack the Capitol, can the United States rebuild its civic
is Dean of the
and moral infrastructure? To repair the damage and pre-
Graduate School
pare the next generation of citizens and leaders requires
of Education
a new spirit of cooperation between the science and civics
and Human education communities.
Development and About 30 years ago, the U.S. National Academy of Sci-
a professor at The ences and the American Association for the Advancement
George Washington of Science (AAAS, the publisher of Science) recommended
University and is major overhauls of science education. The drive for re-
the Immediate Past form confronted partisan conflicts
President of The along the way, but the good news
National Academy is that more students today benefit
of Education,
Washington, DC,
from stimulating instruction in many
subjects. Now the country must sus-
“…can the
USA. mjfeuer@
email.gwu.edu
tain this momentum for progress in
science, technology, engineering, and
United States
mathematics (STEM) while heeding
the call for more attention to civics,
rebuild its
the humanities, and the foundations
of democratic pluralism.
civic and moral
This is not a zero-sum competi-
tion. STEM priorities can be aligned
infrastructure?”
with—and reinforce—ideals of social
responsibility and the public good.
The inspired choices of Eric Lander for director of the Of-
fice of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Alondra
Nelson as OSTP deputy director for science and society
can put American science policy back on track. With their
leadership and a joint effort of the Department of Educa-
tion, the National Science Foundation, the National Acad-
emy of Education, the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine, and philanthropies, the coun-
try can build on the 2013 Next Generation Science Stan-
dards to promote the needed coordination.
What ingredients should be included in this recipe
for reform? Policy-makers and legislators must acknowl-
edge the effects of economic inequality on educational
outcomes and invest resources to protect disadvantaged
youth. Research on disruptions caused by the pandemic
shows that, on average, American students in K–12 ex-
perienced less “learning loss” than anticipated, but for
disadvantaged and minority children, the setbacks were
substantially worse. This is no surprise to researchers
442 29 JANUARY 2021 • VOL 37 1 ISSUE 6528
Published by AAAS
who study the effects of poverty and racism on achieve-
ment. A strategy to raise average performance in STEM
while shrinking the variance would help instill an ethos of
the common good—a core aspiration of civics.
Good science education means equitable science edu-
cation. This principle will require sustained efforts to
expunge biases associated with race, gender, and class
from curricula and school culture. As the astrophysicist
Neil deGrasse Tyson noted, we must work toward a world
where students will succeed in science because of—not
despite—what happened in school. Research on the ori-
Downloaded from http://science.sciencemag.org/ on February 2, 2021
gins of bias and its effects is bringing new ideas into the
development of methods to combat discrimination in
K–12 schools, colleges, and universities. Again, good sci-
ence and good citizenship are mutually reinforcing.
Americans know that educational opportunity is the
ticket to economic and social advancement. In recent
polling by PDK International, 70%
of parents said that education issues
influenced their vote for president in
the 2020 election. Let’s seize on this
evidence and hold government ac-
countable for ensuring that all stu-
dents learn in safe classrooms with
skilled and dedicated teachers, mod-
ern lab equipment and digital tech-
nologies, experienced school leaders,
and a curriculum that logically con-
nects science with social studies, hu-
manities, and language arts.
Certainly, not every young person
will become a practicing scientist, but
every student should appreciate the processes of scientific
inquiry and its uses. In the United States and other coun-
tries, relations between the scientific community and
government can be tense. But today, the United States is
suffering from years of distrust for evidence—about the
pandemic, climate change, racism, immigration, and the
economy. Let’s integrate into hands-on STEM education
some hands-on learning about objective inquiry as a cor-
nerstone of American democracy and the preparation of
a well-informed citizenry.
President Biden says he is determined to restore dig-
nity to government and trust in science. Miguel Cardona,
the nominee for Education Secretary, is a seasoned edu-
cator whose path from poverty to leadership exemplifies
PHOTO: GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
the possibilities even in the nation’s fractured system. The
country must work with them toward the inseparable
goals of scientific excellence and fulfillment of our noblest
egalitarian dreams.
–Michael J. Feuer
10.1126/science.abg7402
sciencemag.org SCIENCE
Science, civics, and democracy
Michael J. Feuer

Science 371 (6528), 442.

DOI: 10.1126/science.abg7402

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