Linking Competence to Opportunities to Learn

The current world-wide movement toward standards-based science education is based on a belief that every student, no matter how different he/she is, can and should reach a prescribed level of competence. Yet there are differences in circumstances between students that lie beyond their control, such as classroom, school and family resources and practices. Thus it is more important than ever to identify the particular resources and practices that significantly predict students levels of achievement so that strategies can be developed to help students reach competence.