NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2017/04/28
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2017-04-28 14:54.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, NCSE's response to a climate change misinformation campaign is here. Alabama's antiscience resolution, now in the Senate, is emphatically denounced. The Weather Channel focuses on Idaho's state science standards. Plus a victory in Texas, but a cause for alarm in Florida.
NCSE'S COUNTER-HEARTLAND FLYERS NCSE is pleased to announce the on-line release of three flyers addressing the Heartland Institute's recent mailing of unsolicited climate change denial propaganda to science teachers across the country. "Have You Received This? Then Read This" (one page) briefly explains why using the material in the classroom would be a mistake. "Top 5 Reasons Why This Book Doesn't Belong in Classroom" (four pages) amplifies, noting that the material gets the facts wrong, misrepresents the scientific consensus, slanders the gold standard of climate science review, contradicts state science standards, textbooks, and curricula, and uses sham citations and dishonest tactics. "Heartland's Claims Against the 97% Climate Consensus" (six pages) debunks a central claim of the material -- that there is not a robust scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change -- and explains the significance of the scientific consensus. For further resources about the material, see the April 14, 2017, summary at NCSE's blog as well as a later story in Deutsche Welle (April 21, 2017) and Curt Stager's recent op-ed in The New York Times (April 27, 2017). For the flyers (all PDF), visit: https://ncse.com/classroom-resources And for the listed further resources, visit: https://ncse.com/blog/2017/04/perfect-storm-silver-linings-0018511 http://www.dw.com/en/imagine-americas-next-generation-are-climate-deniers/a-38482126 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/27/opinion/sowing-climate-doubt-among-schoolteachers.html ALABAMA'S ANTISCIENCE RESOLUTION DENOUNCED Writing on AL.com (April 27, 2017), Amanda Glaze denounced Alabama's House Joint Resolution 78, which passed the House and is now headed for the floor of the Senate. As NCSE previously reported, the resolution describes "[b]iological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning" as scientifically controversial and encourages teachers to present "scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses" of scientific theories covered in the state's science standards. Glaze focused on the conflict between the advice offered by HJR 78 and the new set of state science standards adopted in 2015, which she described as laying "the framework for Alabama students to achieve the scientific understanding and abilities they will need to prosper in the twenty-first century." "Biological evolution and global warming are mentioned in the standards," Glaze wrote, "because ... they are important scientific principles, long accepted and well understood by the scientific community. By the same token, nIo 'scientific weaknesses' of biological evolution and global warming are included in the standards." Glaze also observed that the lead sponsor of HJR 78 acknowledged that his intention was to encourage the teaching of creationism in the public schools of the state, asking, "So HJR 78 is aimed at encouraging teachers not only to miseducate their students but also to violate the law of the land. Is this a responsible legislative goal?" She concluded her column with a salute to Alabama's "wide and deep" contributions to science, adding, "Rejecting HJR 78 would send a message to Alabama's science teachers, and to the world, that the integrity of science education, and science itself, continues to matter to Alabama." A native Alabaman who earned her Ph.D. at the University of Alabama, Glaze is now Assistant Professor of Middle Grades & Secondary Science Education at Georgia Southern University. For Glaze's column at AL.com, visit: http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/04/alabama_science_literacy_threa.html For the text of Alabama's House Joint Resolution 78 (PDF), visit: http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/ALISON/SearchableInstruments/2017RS/PrintFiles/HJR78-int.pdf And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Alabama, visit: https://ncse.com/news/alabama THE WEATHER CHANNEL ON IDAHO'S SCIENCE STANDARDS A story on the Weather Channel's website (April 22, 2017) examined the controversy over the legislature's deletion of climate change from the state science standards in detail. "The Idaho Legislature recently voted to remove the requirement to teach climate science to the state’s students. How did the state get here and what happens next?" As NCSE previously reported, the legislature decided to delete five passages -- those discussing climate change and human impact on the environment -- from a proposed new set of state science standards for Idaho. The decision is temporary, since a revised set of standards will be submitted to the legislature again in 2018. The Weather Channel's reporter talked to a particularly wide group of Idahoans, including students, teachers, legislators (some of whom voted for and some of whom voted against the deletion), scientists, businesspeople in areas likely to be affected by climate change, such as agriculture, skiing, and timber, and wildlife managers. NCSE's Glenn Branch described the deletion as "unprecedented," "a lot more blatant than what other states have done," and "scientifically unwarranted and pedagogically harmful." "If [the standards] remain as they are, Idaho will have a good claim to have the least adequate state science standards in the country with regard to climate change.” The Weather Channel's story ended on a high note, quoting the Boise School District's science curriculum director as saying, "In the Boise School District we will continue to teach climate change and investigate human impacts on biodiversity even though they are not mentioned in the standards." For the Weather Channel's story, visit: http://features.weather.com/us-climate-change/idaho/ And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Idaho, visit: https://ncse.com/news/idaho VICTORY IN TEXAS In a victory for the integrity of science education in Texas, the Texas state board of education approved a revision to the state science standards that removed language that opened the door to creationism. Kathy Miller, the president of the Texas Freedom Network, commented, "The politicians on the state board have finally listened to scientists and classroom professionals who know what students need to get a 21st-century education." At issue were four standards inserted into the Texas state science standards by members of the state board of education, without input from scientists and educators, during the last revision of the standards in 2009. The objectionable standards called for students to analyze "all sides of scientific evidence" and to evaluate "sudden appearance, stasis" in the fossil record, "the complexity of the cell," and "the DNA molecule for self-replicating life." The history as well as the pedagogical and scientific problems of these standards is described in detail by Ryan Valentine of the Texas Freedom Network, Ben Pierce of Southwestern University, and John Wise of Southern Methodist University in a 2015 report. A panel of educators and scientists charged with streamlining the science standards for biology recommended the removal of the standards on the grounds that they raised issues too difficult for teachers to present and students to understand. On February 1, 2017, the board considered the panel's recommendations about the four standards, voting to remove the "all sides of evidence" standard -- the successor to Texas's notorious "strengths and weaknesses" standard. Although the board decided not to remove the fossil record standard as recommended by the panel, it accepted a version of the standard that the panel suggested as a possible alternative not as problematic as the original. And the board voted to retain the complexity standard and the DNA standard, revised to require students to "evaluate" scientific explanations of the origin of DNA and the complexity of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The February votes were only preliminary, however. At the board's April 18, 2017, meeting, as the Houston Chronicle (April 19, 2017) reported, the panel recommended slightly but importantly different versions of the complexity and DNA standards. Ron Wetherington of Southern Methodist University, a member of the panel, explained that words like "evaluate" are seen as invitations by ideologues "to explore creationism and intelligent design as explanations for the origin of life," in the Chronicle's words. In a preliminary vote on April 18, 2017, the board voted unanimously to accept the panel's proposed revisions, particularly the substitution of "examine" for "evaluate" in the complexity and DNA standards. The decision was clinched by a final vote on April 21, 2017. Welcoming the vote via Twitter, the Texas Freedom Network summed up the situation: "SBOE votes & for the 1st time in 30 years, standards are free of junk science designed to cast doubt on evolution. No, for real!" For the Texas Freedom Network's statement on the final vote, visit: http://tfn.org/tfn-hails-removal-anti-evolution-requirements-texas-public-school-science-standards/ For the Texas Freedom Network's report on the objectionable standards (PDF), visit: http://tfn.org/cms/assets/uploads/2015/11/TFNEF_Report_-_Science_TEKS_Analysis.pdf For the article in the Houston Chronicle, visit: http://www.chron.com/news/politics/texas/article/SBOE-reins-in-science-standards-hinting-at-11084752.php For the Texas Freedom Network's summary tweet, visit: https://twitter.com/TFN/status/855473690036903936 And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Texas, visit: https://ncse.com/news/texas ANTISCIENCE BILLS PROGRESS FURTHER IN FLORIDA On April 20, 2017, House Bill 989 passed the Florida House of Representatives on a 94-25 vote, while its counterpart, Senate Bill 1210, passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 16-0 vote. Both bills are aimed at empowering taxpayers to object to the use of specific instructional materials in the public schools — and as NCSE previously reported, climate change and evolution are clearly among the intended targets. Before the vote, Brandon Haught of Florida Citizens for Science was quoted in the Orlando Sentinel (April 18, 2017) as predicting that if the bills are passed, it would be a "disaster," explaining, "school boards will become inundated with demands that certain books be outright banned and that schools must discontinue using textbooks that don't mesh with a vocal minority's ideological views." Senate Bill 1210 is apparently not yet scheduled for a hearing on the floor of the Senate. If it passes the Senate, it will still be necessary for the legislature to reconcile the House and the Senate versions of the bill, which were originally identical but were subsequently modified in different ways by their respective committees. The last day of the legislative session is May 5, 2017. For information on Florida's House Bill 989 and Senate Bill 1210, visit: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=58685&SessionId=83 https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2017/01210 For the article in the Orlando Sentinel, visit: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/school-zone/os-instructional-materials-objections-science-pornography-20170414-story.html And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Florida, visit: https://ncse.com/news/florida WHAT'S NEW AT NCSE'S BLOG? Have you been visiting NCSE's blog recently? If not, then you've missed: * Ann Reid contemplating the March for Science speech she would have given: https://ncse.com/blog/2017/04/march-science-speech-i-would-have-given-0018519 For NCSE's blog, 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: 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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