Guest Editorial: Limiting Risk in the K-12 Science Lab Through Increased Supervision

Abstract

The recent fire on January 2, 2014 in a chemistry lab at Beacon High School in New York City, although horrific, must motivate us to restore science instructional support and oversight; using it to justify further reductions in the frequency and quality of active science instruction will only serve to undermine science education at a time when fewer and fewer of our talented students are choosing to pursue careers in science and engineering.