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I am late to this discussion because I have been busy writing parts 
of an introductory college biology textbook, including some passages 
about evolution.

I am not surprised that so many high school biology teachers are 
unwilling or unable to wade into the thick of things and teach 
evolution as it should be taught. Many teachers are terribly afraid 
of conflict over evolution. It's partly poor preparation (they don't 
have the background to argue with committed creationist students) and 
partly that teachers aren't paid well enough for us to expect them to 
go out of their way to dive into a conflict they can so easily avoid.

I'll give an example: A friend of mine was exploring the Smithsonian 
exhibits relevant to evolution when she was confronted and actually 
cornered by a family of creationists who engaged her and then 
attempted to persuade her that evolution was wrong. She says she 
argued with them until she was close to tears. And that was only for 
45 minutes or so. What if a teacher with less education than my 
friend (masters in biochemistry) had to deal with that for days on 
end?

As far as the poor preparation, I disagree with Randy Moore, who was 
quoted at the end of the New York Times piece as saying that teachers 
are well prepared but just reject what they have been taught. First 
of all, some biology teachers were taught biology at Christian 
colleges that teach creationism. You can major in biology at Oral 
Roberts University and go on to become a biology teacher. Such 
teachers are not rejecting what they were taught.

Even the majority of teachers who go to secular colleges and 
universities don't necessarily get a good grounding in evolutionary 
biology. Most biology majors today specialize in cell and molecular 
biology and the won't get much more exposure to evolution than what's 
in the handful of chapters in a single introductory textbook. 
Although many of these introductory textbooks are excellent on the 
subject of evolution, far too many emphasize molecular level material 
such as antibiotic resistant bacteria, while skimming over the 
history of life on earth and the speciation of familar plants and 
animals. Basically, macroevolution is treated as an abstraction.

As an aside, a large proportion of college students who study the 
life sciences are in pre health and medicine programs, which, with a 
few exceptions, de-emphasize evolution. Of the many anatomy and 
physiology textbooks in use, I know of only one that even mentions 
that the human body is the product of evolution. Most A&P 
publishers/authors are too afraid of losing market share to take a 
functional, evolutionary approach.

Anyway, to return to my point. I think that the idea that antibiotic 
resistance is an adequate explanation for the evolution of whole new 
species of beetles, let alone humans, is unpersuasive to large 
numbers of moderately rational people. Creationists quite rightly 
argue that the ability of bacteria with some specific genes to out 
compete bacteria lacking those genes  is not by itself a persuasive 
explanation for the appearance of elephants or great white sharks. 
Inadequate preparation in evolutionary biology leaves even successful 
cell and molecular biology trained teachers vulnerable to  arguments 
that create doubt and confusion in their minds about what they have 
been taught. Coupled with the lack of support they get from the rest 
of the high school, why should they become enmeshed in tense and 
unsatisfactory arguments  about this topic with their students? 
Hats off to the 28%!

My own current favorite biology textbook is Sadava, 9th edition.

Jennie Dusheck
Co-author, Asking About Life, a college biology textbook

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