Science standards have played an increasingly central role in shaping the landscape of school science over the past several decades, as societies have endeavored to better educate scientifically literate citizens and prepare a technically capable workforce. Yet, evidence that standards have driven improvements in either the quality of instruction or student learning is scarce. We argue that the construction of science standards may unintentionally promote instruction that does not align with learning theory, and this may limit the potential impact of science standards on science teaching and learning. Using the lenses of constructivism, motivation, and situated cognition, we review and discuss the construction of science standards using the US Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) as an example. Based upon this review, we propose a path forward for reinventing science standards that organizes standards according to contemporary issues and contexts rather than disciplinary content ideas and prioritizes students' “informed agency” over “competence.” We argue that such an approach to constructing standards is more likely to promote instruction that aligns with learning theory and that more effectively supports instruction that reaches the societal and workforce goals espoused by current standards documents. © 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Research in Science Teaching published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Association for Research in Science Teaching.
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