SB2354 Engrossed LRB103 28361 RJT 54741 b
1		AN ACT concerning education.
2		Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3		represented in the General Assembly:
4		Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section
5		2-3.196 as follows:
6		(105 ILCS 5/2-3.196 new)
7		Sec. 2-3.196. Science in Elementary Schools Working Group.
8		(a) The State Board of Education shall create the Science
9		in Elementary Schools Working Group. The State Board of
10		Education shall appoint science and health education
11		specialists, educators or former educators who teach or have
12		taught the subject of science or health, medical doctors,
13		doctors of osteopathy or osteopathic medicine, parents,
14		registered nurses, chiropractors, exercise physiologists, and
15		physical therapists to the Working Group.
16		The members of the Working Group shall serve without
17		compensation.
18		(b) The State Board of Education shall provide
19		administrative support to the Working Group.
20		(c) By June 1, 2024, the Working Group shall create a
21		crosswalk and alignment of the current Illinois Learning
22		Standards, the Next Generation Science Standards adopted by
23		the State Board of Education and the Illinois Learning

SB2354 Engrossed - 2 - LRB103 28361 RJT 54741 b
1		Standards for Science, with links to available resources so
2		elementary teachers have access to high quality,
3		age-appropriate, and free educational materials that are
4		centered on anatomy, physiology and nutrition to empower
5		students with the knowledge of their own bodies and to care for
6		their own health and well-being throughout their lives.
7		(d) The Working Group shall focus its recommendations on
8		how to empower students with the knowledge to adequately
9		understand their own bodies and care for their own health and
10		well-being throughout their lives, with the idea that science
11		education is more human-centered. The Working Group shall
12		additionally focus on connecting this human-centered science
13		education with other sciences as students advance to other
14		areas of their science education, such as chemistry, biology,
15		and physics, taught at later grade levels.
16		(e) The Working Group shall make recommendations to the
17		State Board of Education on updating its science standards by
18		December 31, 2025. By December 31, 2030, the State Board of
19		Education shall review and provide updates as appropriate to
20		the crosswalk and alignment documents and elementary
21		storylines. The State Board of Education shall conduct these
22		reviews and provide these updates, at a minimum, of every 5
23		years thereafter.