NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2016/07/15
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2016-07-15 15:59.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, A column from Barbara Forrest.
FORREST BLASTS THE LSEA AND CLIMATE CHANGE DENIAL Writing in the Baton Rouge Advocate (July 7, 2016), Barbara Forrest rebutted a series of misleading claims about the so-called Louisiana Science Education Act of 2008. Far from wanting to improve science education, she explained, the law's backers sought "to give sympathetic teachers cover to undermine evolution and climate science by using code language such as 'critical thinking' and 'logical analysis' when teaching these subjects." In the same column, Forrest also observed that representing "the 'Climategate' scandal" as an example of the politicization of scientific inquiry is exactly backwards. "The truth is that thousands of stolen e-mails were posted on the internet and subsequently used by climate science deniers to undermine legitimate scientific research. Nine separate investigations revealed no wrongdoing by the scientists." Forrest's column comes as the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is undertaking to review the state science education standards. A June 22, 2016, press release from BESE explains that reviewers will be nominated by school districts and organizations, selected by BESE in August 2016, work through the fall, and recommend updates to the standards in March 2017. A member of NCSE's board of directors and a recipient of its Friend of Darwin award, Forrest is Professor of Philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University and the coauthor, with Paul R. Gross, of Creationism's Trojan Horse: The Wedge of Intelligent Design(2004). She testified for the plaintiffs in Kitzmiller v. Dover, the 2005 case establishing the unconstitutionality of teaching "intelligent design" creationism in the public schools. For Forrest's column in the Baton Rouge Advocate, visit: http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_02c4dec2-43ad-11e6-9db3-170d7203c515.html For the press release from BESE, visit: http://bese.louisiana.gov/documents-resources/newsroom/2016/06/22/bese-approves-process-for-science-standards-review And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Louisiana, visit: http://ncse.com/news/louisiana 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: * Guest blogger Brandon Haught describing his trip down the Grand Canyon with NCSE: https://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/how-i-spent-my-summer-0018299 * Stephanie Keep discussing a recent attempt to correct misconceptions about evolution: https://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/kind-well-said-at-least-places-washington-post-apes-humans-0018300 * Glenn Branch debunking a myth about David Starr Jordan and the Scopes trial: https://ncse.com/blog/2016/07/crossing-jordan-off-0017101 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. 1904 Franklin Street, Suite 600 Oakland CA 94612-2922 510-601-7203 fax 510-788-7971 branch@ncse.com http://ncse.com Check out NCSE's 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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