NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2013/09/13

(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)

Dear friends of NCSE,

The Next Generation Science Standards are adopted in Kentucky -- but
for a moment it looked as though they might not be. A new poll
addresses public opinion on climate among Californians. Textbooks are
under attack by science deniers in Texas. And California is the sixth
state to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards.

NGSS TRIUMPHS IN KENTUCKY

On September 11, 2013, Kentucky's governor Steve Beshear announced
that he "plans to implement the new Kentucky Next Generation Standards
under his own authority," as the Lexington Herald-Leader (September
11, 2013) reported. The announcement followed on the heels of the
Kentucky legislature's Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee
5-1 vote that the standards are deficient. As NCSE previously
reported, the adoption of the NGSS was recommended by the state
department of education and the state board of education, as well as
Kentuckians for Science Education, the Kentucky Paleontological
Society, the Kentucky Academy of Sciences, and the Kentucky Science
Teachers Association.

The Herald-Leader quoted a deputy press secretary for the governor as
saying that Beshear "views these standards as a critical component in
preparing Kentuckians for college and the workforce. Therefore, as
provided by law, he will implement the regulations notwithstanding the
finding of deficiency." In a September 11, 2013, press release issued
by the Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky's education
commissioner Terry Holliday praised Beshear's decision, saying, "We
appreciate the Governor's courage and wisdom in executing his legal
authority to implement the Kentucky Core Academic Standards in
science." But the Kentucky General Assembly could override his
decision when it reconvenes in January 2014.

NCSE's executive director Eugenie C. Scott, who taught physical
anthropology at the University of Kentucky and helped to fight
creationist attempts to undermine the teaching of evolution in
Lexington during the early 1980s, also applauded Beshear's decision.
"It's a good day for science education in the Bluegrass State," she
said. "There's no doubt that the Next Generation Science Standards are
a tremendous improvement on Kentucky's existing state science
standards, especially when it comes to evolution and climate change.
Kentucky's schoolchildren deserve to learn about these topics in a way
consistent with the consensus of the scientific community -- and with
the NGSS in place, they'll have a fighting chance to do so."

For the Lexington Herald-Leader's story, visit:
http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/11/2816570/legislative-panel-finds-science.html 

For the Kentucky Department of Education's press release (PDF), visit:
http://education.ky.gov/comm/news/Documents/R%2013-087%20Science%20Standards.pdf 

And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Kentucky, visit:
http://ncse.com/kentucky 

NGSS FALTERS IN KENTUCKY

Despite the recommendation of the Kentucky Department of Education and
the Kentucky Board of Education, a legislative committee voted not to
adopt the Next Generation Science Standards for the state. At its
September 11, 2013, meeting, the Kentucky legislature's Administrative
Regulation Review Subcommittee voted 5-1 to find the standards
deficient. Robert Bevins, president of Kentuckians for Science
Education, told the Lexington Herald-Leader (September 11, 2013) that
rejecting the new standards would be a horrible embarrassment for the
state.

The decision is not final, however, although it is unclear what the
next stop in the approval process is going to be. Previously, the
Herald-Leader (September 10, 2003) reported, "Whatever the review
subcommittee decides, the approval process won't be over. The
standards still must go before the state House and Senate's Interim
Joint Committee on Education." In its September 11, 2013, story, the
newspaper did not mention the joint committee but claimed that despite
the subcommittee's vote, "Gov. Steve Beshear could implement [the
standards] anyway."

The NGSS, as NCSE's Mark McCaffrey explained at LiveScience (April 5,
2013), are a new set of state science standards based on the National
Research Council's A Framework for K-12 Science Education and
developed by a consortium including twenty-six states. When they were
released in their final version, The New York Times (April 9, 2013)
observed, "The climate and evolution standards are just two aspects of
a set of guidelines containing hundreds of new ideas on how to teach
science. But they have already drawn hostile commentary from
conservative groups critical of mainstream scientific thinking."

Nowhere, however, has such hostile commentary been so effective as in
Kentucky. Five states -- Rhode Island, Kansas, Maryland, Vermont, and
California -- have adopted the NGSS so far, and in none of those
states was there such a visible resistance to their inclusion of
evolution and climate change. Groups supporting Kentucky's adoption of
the NGSS include Kentuckians for Science Education, the Kentucky
Paleontological Society, the Kentucky Academy of Sciences, and the
Kentucky Science Teachers Association.

For the articles in the Lexington Herald-Leader, visit:
http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/10/2815012/kentuckys-proposed-science-standards.html 
http://www.kentucky.com/2013/09/11/2816570/legislative-panel-finds-science.html 

For McCaffrey's article at LiveScience, visit:
http://www.livescience.com/28512-science-standards.html 

For the article in The New York Times, visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/science/panel-calls-for-broad-changes-in-science-education.html 

And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Kentucky, visit:
http://ncse.com/kentucky 

POLLING CLIMATE IN CALIFORNIA

Seventy-nine percent of Californians accept that global warming is
happening, according to a new report from the Yale Project on Climate
Communication. More than half accept that human activity is
responsible for global warming, and more than half accept that there
is a consensus among the scientific community whether global warming
is happening.

The poll defined global warming as "the idea that the world's average
temperature has been increasing over the past 150 years, may be
increasing more in the future, and that the world's climate may change
as a result." Asked, "Do you think that global warming is happening,
or not?" 79% of respondents answered yes, 11% answered no, and 10%
were not sure.

Asked to assume that global warming is happening and asked why, 58% of
respondents said that it was caused mostly by human activities, 23%
said that it was caused mostly by natural changes in the environment,
13% volunteered that it was caused by both, 4% said none of these
because it isn't happening, and 2% volunteered other answers or were
unsure.

Asked about what most scientists think, 55% of respondents said
(correctly) that most scientists think that global warming is
happening, 37% said that there is a lot of disagreement among
scientists about whether or not global warming is happening, 3% said
that most scientists think that global warming is not happening, and
6% were unsure.

The poll was conducted among 800 adult Californian by telephones from
June 26 to July 3, 2013. According to the report, "the survey was
administered to respondents reached on traditional landline telephones
(480) as well as to those reached on cellphones (320). The average
margin of error for the total sample [was] +/- 3 percentage points at
the 95% confidence level."

For the report (PDF), visit:
http://environment.yale.edu/climate-communication/files/Climate-Change-Californian-Mind.pdf 

And for NCSE's collection of polls and surveys on climate change, visit:
http://ncse.com/polls/polls-climate-change 

TEXTBOOKS UNDER ATTACK IN TEXAS

Ideologues on official state textbook review teams are attacking the
treatment of evolution and climate change in science textbooks under
consideration in Texas, charged the Texas Freedom Network and the
National Center for Science Education in a joint press release issued
on September 9, 2013. "Once again culture warriors on the state board
are putting Texas at risk of becoming a national laughingstock on
science education," TFN's president Kathy Miller warned.

As the press release explains, documents obtained by the TFN show
"that reviewers made ideological objections to coverage related to
evolution and climate change in textbooks from at least seven
publishers, including several of the nation's biggest publishing
houses. Failing to obtain a review panel's top rating makes it harder
for publishers to sell their textbooks to school districts or can even
lead the State Board of Education (SBOE) to reject the textbook
altogether."

"The arguments in these reviews are the same discredited claims
anti-science activists have pushed for years," commented NCSE's Joshua
Rosenau. Among those claims, various reviewers:

* called for the inclusion of "'creation science' based on Biblical principles"
* asserted that "no transitional fossils have been discovered"
* insisted that there is no evidence for a human influence on the carbon cycle
* claimed that there is no evidence about the effect of climate change
on species diversity
* promoted a book touting "intelligent design" creationism as a
reliable source of scientific information
* denied that recombination and genetic drift are evolutionary mechanisms
* mischaracterized experiments on the peppered moth as "discredited"
and as "fabrication[s]"

“This is scary because of Texas'[s] big influence on publishers and on
textbooks used across the country," Rosenau said. "Publishers should
listen to real experts, not unqualified reviewers who don't seem to
understand even basic scientific terms.”

TFN's president Kathy Miller agreed, commenting, "What our kids learn
in their public schools should be based on mainstream, established
science, not the personal views of ideologues, especially those who
are grossly unqualified to evaluate a biology textbook in the first
place. What we see in these documents makes it imperative that the
board finally establish genuine qualifications for those entrusted
with reviewing textbooks or curriculum standards for our kids."

As the press release observes, it was members of the state board of
education who nominated the reviewers, including the evolution and
climate deniers. Few of the reviewers critical of the inclusion of
evolution and climate change possessed any scientific credentials.
Among those who did, several -- Ide Trotter, Walter Bradley, and Ray
Bohlin -- are active in state or national antievolution organizations
such as the Discovery Institute.

What's next for Texas? According to the press release, "Negotiations
between publishers and the reviewers are ongoing. TEA officials say
they cannot release documents showing what changes -- if any --
publishers are offering to make to their textbooks before the only
scheduled public hearing on the books on September 17. A final vote on
whether to approve or reject the textbooks for Texas schools is set
for November."

Texans: Will you join NCSE and your fellow Texans for science
education in fighting for honest science education, without any taint
of religious or political ideology? Visit NCSE's Taking Action page
for Texas textbooks to register to obtain up-to-date information about
when and where hearings will happen, what you have to do to ensure you
get a chance to speak, and how to prepare your statement for the
board.

For the press release, visit:
http://www.tfn.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7651 

For the documents with the comments from the reviewers, visit:
http://www.tfn.org/sciencereviewdocs 

For NCSE's Taking Action page for Texas textbooks, visit:
http://ncse.com/taking-action/tell-texas-board-ed-dont-mess-with-textbooks 

And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Texas, visit:
http://ncse.com/news/texas 

CALIFORNIA ADOPTS NGSS

California's state board of education voted unanimously to adopt the
Next Generation Science Standards on September 4, 2013, according to a
press release from the California Department of Education.

The NGSS, as NCSE's Mark McCaffrey explained at LiveScience (April 5,
2013), are a new set of state science standards based on the National
Research Council's A Framework for K-12 Science Education and
developed by a consortium including twenty-six states. When they were
released in their final version, The New York Times (April 9, 2013)
observed, "The climate and evolution standards are just two aspects of
a set of guidelines containing hundreds of new ideas on how to teach
science. But they have already drawn hostile commentary from
conservative groups critical of mainstream scientific thinking."

But in California, objections aimed at the inclusion of evolution and
climate change in the NGSS were not apparent. Summarizing the comments
offered at three public meetings held in April and May 2013, the
California Department of Education reports, "Seventy-two percent of
the comments at the public meetings were favorable towards adoption of
the NGSS for California, twenty-two percent were observations, and
only six percent unfavorable -- the unfavorable comments were mostly
focused on professional development and implementation concerns."

California is the sixth state, after Rhode Island, Kansas, Kentucky
(pending legislative approval), Maryland, and Vermont, to adopt the
NGSS; no state has considered and rejected adopting the standards.

For the press release, visit:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr13/yr13rel82.asp 

For McCaffrey's article at LiveScience, visit:
http://www.livescience.com/28512-science-standards.html 

For the article in The New York Times, visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/science/panel-calls-for-broad-changes-in-science-education.html 

For the report on the public feedback (PDF, p. 2), visit:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr13/yr13rel82.asp 

And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in California, visit:
http://ncse.com/news/california 

Thanks for reading. And don't forget to visit NCSE's website --
http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on 
evolution and climate education and threats to them.

--
Sincerely,

Glenn Branch
Deputy Director
National Center for Science Education, Inc.
420 40th Street, Suite 2
Oakland, CA 94609-2509
510-601-7203 x305
fax: 510-601-7204
800-290-6006
branch@ncse.com 
http://ncse.com 

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