NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2015/11/20
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2015-11-20 15:05.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, A disappointing vote from the Texas state board of education. And there are still seats available for NCSE's 2016 excursion to the Grand Canyon.
EXPERTISE REJECTED IN TEXAS At its meeting on November 18, 2015, the Texas state board of education voted 8-7 to reject a proposal to add "a state review panel that could include college and university scholars assigned specifically to look for factual errors" in textbooks submitted for adoption in Texas, according to the Austin American-Statesman (November 18, 2015). Although the proposal was considered on the heels of a controversy in Houston involving a geography textbook in which a photograph caption described slaves in the United States as "workers," Thomas Ratliff, the board member who suggested the new panel, said that he had it in mind ever since his election to the board in 2011. The current review process is designed to ascertain only whether textbooks are aligned to the state's standards; review panels are not charged with performing a systematic review for accuracy. "We need more experts looking at these books and catching factual errors before the fact, not after they've made it to the classroom," Ratliff commented. NCSE's Josh Rosenau expressed disappointment at the vote. "In the past, a handful of reviewers have tried to undermine the treatment of evolution and climate change in Texas's schools by offering misguided criticism of the textbooks submitted for adoption," he commented, alluding to the 2013 textbook review process in particular. Then, as NCSE reported, the board quarreled about whether to heed a review panel's criticisms of Kenneth R. Miller and Joseph Levine's popular biology textbook, published by Pearson, but decided to adopt it, contingent on the outcome of a further review by a panel of three outside experts selected by members of the board. Ultimately, the panel unanimously approved the book and it was adopted. "The resolution to the controversy over the Miller and Levine textbook in 2013 shows that the board understands the relevance of actual expertise in assessing the content of textbooks," Rosenau said. "It's a shame that it couldn't summon the will to make expert review a matter of routine." For the story in the Austin American-Statesman, visit: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/texas-education-board-could-add-extra-layer-of-tex/npQYj/ And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Texas, visit: http://ncse.com/news/texas NCSE AND THE GRAND CANYON 2016 Explore the Grand Canyon with NCSE! Reservations are still available for NCSE's next excursion to the Grand Canyon -- as featured in the documentary No Dinosaurs in Heaven. From June 30 to July 8, 2016, NCSE will again explore the wonders of creation and evolution on a Grand Canyon river run conducted by NCSE's Steve Newton and Josh Rosenau. Because this is an NCSE trip, we offer more than just the typically grand float down the Canyon, the spectacular scenery, fascinating natural history, brilliant night skies, exciting rapids, delicious meals, and good company. It is, in fact, a unique "two-model" raft trip, on which we provide both the creationist view of the Grand Canyon (maybe not entirely seriously) and the evolutionist view -- and let you make up your own mind. To get a glimpse of the fun, watch the short videos filmed in 2011, posted on NCSE's YouTube channel, and explore photographs by 2015's rafters in the expedition's Flickr group. The cost of the excursion is $2790; a deposit of $500 will hold your spot. Seats are limited: call, write, or e-mail now. And, for the second time, NCSE will offer scholarships to two lucky teachers, giving them a unique opportunity to spend eight days exploring the geology and natural history of the Canyon. (Alyson Miller and Scott Hatfield wrote about their experiences on the trip on NCSE's blog.) Your donations to the scholarship fund help to make the scholarship program possible. For information about the excursion, visit: http://ncse.com/about/excursions/gcfaq For information about No Dinosaurs in Heaven, visit: http://www.nodinos.com/ For the videos and photographs, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll7kG8dPfgM&list=UUXlZRCBefkIvRuv5zUrXEdg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSfTH9Gl2CM&list=UUXlZRCBefkIvRuv5zUrXEdg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD4xmkEbgqk&list=UUXlZRCBefkIvRuv5zUrXEdg https://www.flickr.com/groups/2898601@N22/pool/ For Miller and Hatfield's blog posts about their experiences, visit: http://ncse.com/blog/2015/08/reflections-2015-ncse-grand-canyon-rafting-trip-0016559 http://ncse.com/blog/2015/10/what-teacher-learned-grand-canyon-0016684 And for information about donating to the scholarship fund, visit: https://ncse.secure.force.com/GCscholarship 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 offering a skeptical case for climate education: http://ncse.com/blog/2015/11/skeptical-case-climate-education-0016747 * Glenn Branch pondering the first chapter of Henshaw Ward's Evolution for John Doe: http://ncse.com/blog/2015/10/evolution-john-doe-part-1-0016663 http://ncse.com/blog/2015/11/evolution-john-doe-part-2-0016664 http://ncse.com/blog/2015/11/evolution-john-doe-part-3-0016665 http://ncse.com/blog/2015/11/evolution-john-doe-part-4-0016666 * Minda Berbeco contemplating the consequences of climate change denial: http://ncse.com/blog/2015/11/what-did-exxon-know-0016744 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 x303 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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