NCSE Evolution and Climate Education Update for 2018/05/25
Submitted by Peter Burns on Fri, 2018-05-25 15:54.
National Center for Science Education
(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)
Dear friends of NCSE, The Association for Science Education expresses its opposition to the undermining of evolution in Arizona's draft science standards, while Arizona's media lays the blame at the door of the state's superintendent of public instruction. And the creationist resolution in Louisiana is out of commission.
A BRITISH REPROACH FOR DIANE DOUGLAS In a May 15, 2018, letter to Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas, the Association for Science Education -- representing the United Kingdom's community of science educators -- expressed its opposition to the changes to the Arizona draft science standards that compromised the treatment of evolution. As NCSE previously reported, staffers at the Arizona state department of education tampered with the treatment of evolution and allied topics in the standards -- not long after Douglas endorsed the teaching of "intelligent design" along with evolution at a Republican candidate forum in Tempe in November 2017, as KPHX (May 18, 2018) reported. In its letter, the ASE noted that its publication Working with Big Ideas of Science Education served as a basis for the draft standards in Arizona. "Among the fourteen Big Ideas is evolution," the ASE wrote. But the description of evolution in the draft standards differs from the description in Working with Big Ideas in ways "that deserve comment from ASE." After explaining in detail the inappropriateness of the divergences, the ASE summarized by recommending the restoration of the original description of evolution from Working with Big Ideas: "Not doing so would mischaracterize the Big Idea of Evolution and undermine the scientific literacy of Arizona's students." The ASE ended its letter by saluting "the hard work and good intentions of those who have contributed to [the standards]," adding, "Whether in London or Phoenix, Birmingham or Tucson, Manchester or Mesa, students deserve our best efforts to ensure that they receive the best science education possible." The draft standards are available for public comment on-line at the state department of education's website until May 28, 2018. NCSE strongly encourages Arizonans concerned about the integrity of science education in their state to review the standards and comment appropriately; NCSE is available to help. For the letter from ASE (PDF), visit: https://ncse.com/files/ASE_letter_to_Arizona.pdf For the KPHX story, visit: https://www.12news.com/article/news/arizona-could-roll-back-teaching-of-evolution-in-classroom/75-555209992 For information about the Arizona science standards, visit: http://www.azed.gov/standards-practices/k-12standards/k12engagement/az_sci_ss_standards-review/ And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Arizona, visit: https://ncse.com/news/arizona UPDATE FROM ARIZONA "School Superintendent Diane Douglas is apparently behind a rewrite of science standards for all Arizona school children that would delete references to evolution," reports KPHX (May 18, 2018) in Phoenix. As NCSE previously reported, staffers at the Arizona state department of education tampered with the treatment of evolution and allied topics in the standards. NCSE's deputy director Glenn Branch told KNAU (May 14, 2018) in Flagstaff, "We can [be] quite sure, I think, that the revisions are aimed deliberately at softening the treatment of evolution, and thus misleading teachers and students about the scientific standing of evolution." KPHX cited audio from a November 2017 Republican candidate forum in Tempe in which Douglas, who is seeking re-election, answered a question by saying, "Should the theory of intelligent design be taught along with the theory of evolution? Absolutely," adding, "I had a discussion with my staff, because we're currently working on science standards, to make sure this issue was addressed in the standards we're working on." While "intelligent design" is not included in the draft science standards, the treatment of evolution was compromised by the department of education staffers. For example, where the writing committee's version of a standard for the eighth grade explained, "the process of natural selection provides an explanation of how new species can evolve," the revised version refers instead to "the processes by which a species may change over time in response to environmental conditions," thus avoiding both the e-word and the idea of speciation. Writing in the Arizona Republic (May 21, 2018), Laurie Roberts quoted NCSE's Glenn Branch as saying that even if the compromised standards are adopted, "Good teachers are still going to be presenting evolution as scientists understand it, as the unifying backbone of biological science." But, Roberts added, "By calling the scientific accuracy of evolution into question, Arizona's proposed standards will give teachers cover to bring religion into the classroom." Roberts also observed that a reference to the Big Bang was deleted by the department of education staffers. She jokingly predicted that future revisions to the standards would tell Arizona's public school students "that the moon really is made of cheese, the seas are rising because of rocks that fall into the ocean, and yes, you really can fall off the end of the earth if you walk far enough. " The draft standards are available for public comment on-line until May 28, 2018. NCSE encourages Arizonans concerned about the integrity of science education in their state to review and comment; NCSE is available to help. For the KPHX story, visit: https://www.12news.com/article/news/arizona-could-roll-back-teaching-of-evolution-in-classroom/75-555209992 For the KNAU story, visit: http://knau.org/post/science-educators-raise-alarms-about-revised-k-12-standards For Laurie Roberts's column in the Arizona Republic, visit: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2018/05/21/evolution-under-attack-diane-douglas/629412002/ For information about the Arizona science standards, visit: http://www.azed.gov/standards-practices/k-12standards/k12engagement/az_sci_ss_standards-review/ And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Arizona, visit: https://ncse.com/news/arizona CREATIONIST RESOLUTION DIES IN LOUISIANA When the Louisiana state legislature adjourned sine die on May 18, 2018, Senate Resolution 33, which would have commended a former state senator "on his support and endorsement of teaching creationism in public schools," died. The resolution would have honored Bill Keith, who sponsored Louisiana's Balanced Treatment for Creation-Science and Evolution-Science Act while serving in the state senate in 1981. The law was subsequently overturned as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court's decision in Edwards v. Aguillard in 1987. It remains on the books, however. As NCSE previously reported, there have been three unsuccessful legislative attempts, most recently in 2016, to repeal it. The chief sponsor of the resolution was John Milkovich (D-District 38), who was the most outspoken opponent of the most recent effort to repeal the Balanced Treatment Act, according to the Associated Press (March 29, 2016). For the text of Louisiana's Senate Resolution 33 (PDF), visit: http://www.legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1077093 For the Associated Press's story on the most recent repeal effort, visit: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/03/louisiana_senators_refuse_to_r.html And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Louisiana, visit: https://ncse.com/news/louisiana 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 https://ncse.com Check out NCSE's blog: https://ncse.com/blog Subscribe to NCSE's free weekly e-newsletter: https://groups.google.com/group/ncse-news NCSE is on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter: https://www.facebook.com/evolution.ncse https://www.youtube.com/NatCen4ScienceEd https://twitter.com/ncse NCSE's work is supported by its members. Join today! https://ncse.com/join
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