Physics AAC Responses
to Proposed Georgia Performance Standards

    The assignment:

  1. Does the curriculum cover all of the knowledge and skills necessary for success in college core curriculum courses in the subject area? Are the necessary content and skills covered in sufficient depth to prepare students for college? (If there are gaps, please identity specific areas.) Will the adoption of this curriculum lead to a higher level of college preparation for Georgia high school graduates?

  2. Is it consistent with our expectations for entering freshman?

  3. Are the content and tasks accurate and relevant? (Be specific in identifying and describing any strengths and weaknesses.)

  4. Does the alignment of content and skills within and across grade levels appear to be appropriate?

    5. The Response:

    The Academic Advisory Committee on Physics and Astronomy commends the Georgia Department of Education for its efforts in establishing a standards-based curriculum focused on analytic and critical thought. This is a considerable improvement on the previous QCC which consisted mainly of content essentially in the form of a laundry list. Moreover, the QCC's selection of content for early grades was weak in the area of age-appropriateness.

    The general content listed in the GPS covers all the core areas of physics: mechanics, electricity and magnetism, wave behavior, thermal physics, basic atomic and nuclear physics, basic gravitation and astrophysics. All of us in higher education will be delighted to receive students with the capability to observe, analyze, calculate, and communicate effectively on topics in physics and physical science. It is not necessary that students should arrive in our classrooms knowing all there is to know; it is more important that they arrive with a minimum of misconception, and with a maximum of intellectual preparation. Of course, the major unknown is the effectiveness with which these goals can be achieved in the K-12 classrooms.

    A prerequisite to achieving the GSP's goals is that they should be clearly and carefully articulated. It was particularly gratifying to us that the committee preparing the GPS made extensive use of nationally-recognized performance standards such as those created by AAAS. However, in reviewing the document, we identified several places where we believe revision is warranted for the purpose of clarity and correction; as well, we identified several points of concern regarding the balance between qualitative and quantitative emphases in the content sections. These are listed below: