NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2017/10/13
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2017-10-13 21:26.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, The latest on the flawed set of science standards proposed in New Mexico. Plus a survey suggests that the partisan divide over climate change is increasing in the United States, and a survey of public attitudes toward evolution in Britain and Canada shows a low level of acceptance of creationism in those countries.
THE LATEST FROM NEW MEXICO As the October 16, 2017, public hearing in Santa Fe on the new state science standards proposed for New Mexico approaches, there is no sign of the opposition to their omission of references to evolution, human responsibility for climate change, and the age of the earth abating. As NCSE previously reported, the proposed standards are modeled on the performance expectations of the Next Generation Science Standards, which have been adopted by eighteen states and the District of Columbia so far. But, as Mother Jones (September 15, 2017) observed, "the draft released by New Mexico's education officials changes the language of a number of NGSS guidelines, downplaying the rise in global temperatures, striking references to human activity as the primary cause of climate change, and cutting one mention of evolution while weakening others." On October 10, 2017, the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education voted 5-1 to recommend the adoption of the entire NGSS unedited rather than the proposed science standards, noting that "the changes do not reflect valid science information as we understand it today." According to the Albuquerque Journal (October 10, 2017), the superintendent of the Albuquerque Public Schools sent a separate letter opposing the proposed standards, highlighting "possible economic impacts if national businesses don't move to New Mexico because they believe the state's workforce is not well-educated." The Albuquerque district is the largest in the state, but it is not alone. As NCSE previously reported, the Los Alamos School Board recommended adoption of the NGSS with the addition of certain New-Mexico-specific standards rather than the proposed standards, while the Santa Fe School Board unanimously voted to recommend the adoption of the NGSS and furthermore agreed to stage a teach-in at the Public Education Department in Santa Fe on October 13, 2017. The school board and the superintendent in Las Cruces have also expressed concern about the proposed standards, reports the Las Cruces Sun-News (October 6, 2017). Opposition continues to come from the state's scientific community as well. Over sixty scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratories signed a letter that appeared as a full-page advertisement in the Santa Fe New Mexican on October 9, 2017, stressing that "There is absolutely no scientific rationale for weakening the treatment of these subjects." Previously, the faculty senate at New Mexico Tech sent a letter objecting to the divergences of the proposed standards from the NGSS and urging the adoption of the NGSS. Further statements from faculty at New Mexico's colleges and universities are expected. As NCSE previously reported, the New Mexico Science Teachers' Association, the National Education Association -- New Mexico, the LANL Foundation, the National Science Teachers Association, and the National Association of Biology Teachers have all expressed their opposition to the proposed standards, as have the state's leading newspapers, the Santa Fe New Mexican, the Las Cruces Sun-News, and the Albuquerque Journal, which memorably described them as "fly[ing] in the face of accepted science" and "breathtaking in their offensiveness." The origin of the proposed standards is still mysterious. KOB-4 in Albuquerque (October 12, 2017) asked the Public Education Department, "If we're basing our science standards off a national standard, why are we changing some of the key terminologies when it comes to climate change? Why are we eliminating some of the discussion about evolution and the earth's age? Who had input on developing the new standards and making these changes?" Secretary-Designate of Education Christopher Ruszkowski's answer was not responsive to any of the station's questions. There is still time -- if only a few days' worth -- for concerned New Mexicans to protest the proposed standards. The Public Education Department will be accepting written comments on the standards from the public through October 16, 2017 and will then hold a public hearing in Santa Fe. For the story in Mother Jones, visit: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/09/new-mexico-remove-climate-change-evolution-public-education/ For the stories in the Albuquerque Journal and the Las Cruces Sun-News, visit: https://www.abqjournal.com/1076141/aps-board-votes-to-criticize-science-curriculum-changes.html http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/education/lcps/2017/10/06/lcps-chief-criticizes-proposed-new-mexico-science-standards/741442001/ For the letter from the Los Alamos National Laboratories scientists (PDF), visit: https://ncse.com/files/FullPageScientistsAd-Final.pdf For the letter from the faculty senate at New Mexico Tech, visit: http://www.dchieftain.com/opinion/editorials/tech-faculty-senate-weighs-in-on-proposed-ped-standards/article_087c162a-aea8-11e7-a7ed-c73fe3fc67e6.html For the KOB-4 story, visit: http://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/public-eduation-department-ped-science-standards-changes-proposal/4632365/ And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in New Mexico, visit: https://ncse.com/news/new-mexico PARTISAN DIVIDE OVER CLIMATE CHANGE INCREASES "The Partisan Divide on Political Values Grows Even Wider," in the words of a headline of a Pew Research Center report dated October 5, 2017 -- and public attitudes toward climate change are evidently involved. Overall, 74% of respondents agreed with "There is solid evidence that the average temperature on Earth has been getting warmer." Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 92% agreed, but among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, only 52% agreed. As for the cause of global warming, 53% of respondents attributed it to human activity, 18% to natural patterns, and 3% indicated that they didn't know; the remaining 23% did not accept that there was solid evidence of global warming. On the Republican side, 24% of Republican and Republican-leaning independents attributed global warming to human activity, while 25% attributed it to natural patterns and 3% indicated that they didn't know; the remaining 48% did not accept global warming. On the Democratic side, 78% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents attributed global warming to human activity, while 18% attributed it to natural patterns and 2% indicated that they didn't know; the remaining 8% did not accept global warming. The results are based on a telephone survey conducted June 8 to 18, 2017, among 2504 adults in the United States, and weighted for demographics. The sampling error for the total sample is +/- 2.3%, rising to +/- 3.5% and +/- 3.2% for the Republican and Democratic portions. For the portion of the report addressing climate change, visit: http://www.people-press.org/2017/10/05/7-global-warming-and-environmental-regulation-personal-environmentalism/ And for NCSE's collection of polls and surveys on climate change, visit: https://ncse.com/library-resource/polls-climate-change POLLING EVOLUTION IN BRITAIN AND CANADA A recent survey conducted in the United Kingdom and Canada found that the majority of respondents in both countries accepted evolution, according to a September 5, 2017, press release. Respondents were told "People have different views about the origin of species and development of life on Earth. Which of the following statements comes closest to your view about the origin and development of life on Earth" and presented with five options: * Humans and other living things were created by God and have always existed in their current form -- preferred by 9% of British and 15% of Canadian respondents; * Humans and other living things evolved over time, in a process guided by God -- preferred by 22% of British and 24% of Canadian respondents; * Humans and other living things evolved over time as a result of natural selection, in which God played no part -- preferred by 49% of British and 36% of Canadian respondents; * I have another view about the origin of species and development of life on Earth which isn't included in this list -- preferred by 10% of British and 11% of Canadian respondents; and * I don't know / I do not have a view on the origin of species and the development of life on Earth -- preferred by 10% of British and 14% of Canadian respondents. The survey also investigated the influence of religious beliefs on attitudes toward evolution, attitudes toward human evolution in particular, and attitudes toward whether evolutionary processes explain consciousness. Commissioned by Newman University, the survey was conducted by YouGov on-line among 2129 British adults between May 12 and June 6, 2017, and among 2009 Canadian adults between May 17 and June 12, 2017; figures were weighted for representativeness. For the press release, visit: https://sciencereligionspectrum.org/in-the-news/press-release-results-of-major-new-survey-on-evolution And for NCSE's collection of information on polls and surveys, visit: https://ncse.com/surveypollsstudies WHAT'S NEW AT NCSE'S BLOG? Have you been visiting NCSE's blog recently? If not, then you've missed: * Emily Schoerning reporting on NCSE's recent round of microgrants funding science education: https://ncse.com/blog/2017/10/helping-students-feel-like-scientists-0018628 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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