NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2013/11/29
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2013-11-29 16:45.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, Glenn Branch reviews American Genesis in Evolution: Education and Outreach. Victory in Texas! And a new issue of Reports of the NCSE for your reading pleasure.
NCSE'S LATEST IN EVOLUTION: EDUCATION AND OUTREACH "Old wine in new bottles," a review of Jeffrey P. Moran's American Genesis by NCSE's Glenn Branch, was just published in Evolution: Education and Outreach. According to the abstract, Moran's book "examines the Scopes trial in particular and the antievolution movement in general through the prisms of gender, region, and race. The diversification, of both ideology and strategy, of antievolutionism and the current impact of antievolutionism on scientists in academia are also discussed. Overall, despite a few problems, American Genesis deserves a place on anyone's list of the top 10 books on the Scopes trial and the antievolution impulse in America." Founded in 2008, Evolution: Education and Outreach seeks to promote the accurate understanding and comprehensive teaching of evolutionary theory for a wide audience. Starting with its first issue, NCSE regularly contributed a column under the rubric "Overcoming Obstacles to Evolution Education." In 2013, the journal became completely open access, and NCSE plans to continue "Overcoming Obstacles to Evolution Education" under the new system. The first five volumes of Evolution: Education and Outreach are now freely available as well. For Branch's review (PDF), visit: http://www.evolution-outreach.com/content/pdf/1936-6434-6-32.pdf For the content of the journal from volume 6 (2013) onward, visit: http://www.evolution-outreach.com/ For the content of the journal from volume 1 (2008) to volume 5 (2012), visit: http://link.springer.com/journal/volumesAndIssues/12052 VICTORY IN TEXAS The integrity of science education triumphed in Texas when the state board of education gave its final approval to all of the proposed textbooks for high school biology and environmental science courses at its November 22, 2013, meeting. NCSE's Joshua Rosenau, who testified before the board on November 20, 2013, commented, "These textbooks were recommended by the top scientists and teachers in Texas. By adopting them, the board is helping to lay the foundation for the sort of science education that Texas's students need in order to succeed in the twenty-first century." But the triumph was slightly tainted by two attacks, launched late in the board's November 21, 2013, meeting, against one biology textbook and one environmental science textbook. The biology textbook, by Kenneth R. Miller and Joseph Levine, was previously criticized by creationists on a state review panel for twenty supposed errors in its treatment of evolution. In response, the publisher denied that the passages contained errors and declined to make the suggested changes to the textbook. At the November 21, 2013, meeting, the board quarreled about whether to heed the panel's criticisms of the textbook (which Ron Wetherington already thoroughly debunked). Eventually the board voted to adopt it contingent on the outcome of a further review by a panel of three outside experts. The vice chair of the board Thomas Ratliff was not happy with the idea, quoted by the Associated Press (November 22, 2013) as saying, "I believe this process is being hijacked, this book is being held hostage to make political changes," and adding that the book is already used in "over half of the classrooms in the United States." The environmental science textbook, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, was attacked by Becky Berger, a geologist and Republican political aspirant testifying at the November 21, 2013, meeting. According to a report from the Texas Freedom Network, "Berger claimed that the textbook is filled with factual errors on topics like pollution potentially caused by hydraulic fracturing ('fracking') and the problem of carbon emissions (which the vast majority of scientists say is the primary cause of climate change)," although the state review panel identified no such errors. Although there were calls for the textbook to be rejected, the board finally voted to adopt it when the publisher agreed to revise outdated material identified by the state geologist; TFN reports, "Scientists who reviewed the publisher’s (tentative) proposed revisions were satisfied that none of the provisional changes compromised the integrity of the science in the textbook." "Despite the last-minute controversies manufactured by creationists and climate change deniers," Rosenau remarked, "it's clear that this is a victory for science education in Texas." He credited the victory to the Texas Freedom Network, Texas Citizens for Science, NCSE members and allies in Texas, and the various scientific, scholarly, and education societies that urged the board to adopt the textbooks. Rosenau added that special credit was due to the publishers who refused to compromise their integrity of their textbooks to satisfy unscientifically warranted demands. "What happens in Texas doesn't stay in Texas," he observed. "Bad textbooks in Texas mean bad textbooks across the country. So this is really a victory for science education in the whole United States." For Rosenau's testimony, visit: http://ncse.com/blog/2013/11/my-testimony-before-texas-board-education-0015198 For Wetherington's debunking of the creationist criticisms, visit: http://tfninsider.org/2013/09/24/smu-prof-tears-apart-official-texas-review-of-leading-biology-textbook/ For the Associated Press's story (via US News & World Report), visit: http://www.usnews.com/science/news/articles/2013/11/22/evolution-debate-again-engulfs-texas-board-of-ed For TFN's reports on the criticism of the environmental science textbook, visit: http://tfninsider.org/2013/11/21/oil-and-gas-industry-advocates-launch-surprise-attack-on-texas-environmental-science-textbook/ http://tfninsider.org/2013/11/22/big-news-science-education-advocates-thwart-late-night-hijacking-of-texas-science-textbook-adoption/ For NCSE's report on societies urging the adoption of the textbooks, visit: http://ncse.com/news/2013/11/groundswell-support-texas-0015197 And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Texas, visit: http://ncse.com/news/texas RNCSE 33:6 NOW ON-LINE NCSE is pleased to announce that the latest issue of Reports of the National Center for Science Education is now available on-line. The issue -- volume 33, number 6 -- features Adam Laats's "The Missionary Supposition: Evolution Education and Creationist Culture" and Michael D. Barton's "Bite-Sized Darwiniana," reviewing James Randerson's collection The Origin of Darwinism. And for his regular People and Places column, Randy Moore discusses the teacher Ken Hubert. Plus a host of reviews of books (and a film) on science and religion: David L. Gosling reviews C. Mackenzie Brown's Hindu Perspectives on Evolution, Timothy H. Heaton reviews Gerald Rau's Mapping the Origins Debate, Joel W. Martin reviews Kenneth H. Olson's Lens to the Natural World, James F. McGrath reviews Peter Enns's The Evolution of Adam, Keith B. Miller reviews From the Dust: Conversations in Creation, and Justin D. Topp reviews Richard F. Carlson and Tremper Longman III's Science, Creation, and the Bible. All of these articles, features, and reviews are freely available in PDF form from http://reports.ncse.com. Members of NCSE will shortly be receiving in the mail the print supplement to Reports 33:6, which, in addition to summaries of the on-line material, contains news from the membership, a regular column in which NCSE staffers offer personal reports on what they've been doing to defend the teaching of evolution, a regular column interviewing NCSE's favorite people, and more besides. (Not a member? Join today!) For the table of contents for RNCSE 33:6, visit: http://reports.ncse.com/index.php/rncse/issue/current/showToc For information about joining NCSE, visit: http://ncse.com/join WHAT'S NEW FROM THE SCIENCE LEAGUE OF AMERICA Have you been visiting NCSE's blog, The Science League of America, recently? If not, then you've missed: * Josh Rosenau reporting from Texas on the science textbook adoption process: http://ncse.com/blog/2013/11/disco-tute-as-brave-sir-robin-0015196 http://ncse.com/blog/2013/11/my-testimony-before-texas-board-education-0015198 http://ncse.com/blog/2013/11/texas-textbook-showdown-0015203 And much more besides! For The Science League of America, visit: http://ncse.com/blog 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 Check out NCSE's new blog, Science League of America: http://ncse.com/blog Read Reports of the NCSE on-line: http://reports.ncse.com Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: http://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: http://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse http://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd http://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! http://ncse.com/join
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