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Awful in this day and age.  Though I recall in my high school, one of the
most competitive in NYC, that evolution was the last chapter in the text and
we just never got to it by
semesters end. Poor planning or design? Maybe if the text had been written,
as it should be, suffused with evolution this would not have occurred.

Martin

On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 3:13 PM, Erich Rose <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
>
> *****************************************************************************
>
> Here in Austin, Texas when I asked my daughter if they were learning
> anything about geology, fossils or evolution she told me her science teacher
> just skipped the chapter completely.  This was a high school freshman class
> in a very well respected school.
>
> Texas schools are in dire need of better support and direction.
> Unfortunately neither are coming from our elected state leaders, boards, or
> anyone else in a position to make change.
>
> Erich Rose
>
> Erich Rose Design
> 807 The Living End
> Austin, TX 78746
> 512-626-9930; [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 8, 2011, at 1:18 PM, Martin Weiss wrote:
>
> > ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> > Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
> institutions.
> >
> *****************************************************************************
> >
> > AAARRRGGGHH!
> > Makes you want to weep.
> >
> > Martin
> > Sorry but i left out he citation
> > Science 28 January 2011:
> > Vol. 331 no. 6016 pp. 404-405
> > DOI: 10.1126/science.1198902
> > EDUCATION FORUM
> > SCIENCE EDUCATION
> > Defeating Creationism in the Courtroom, But Not in the Classroom
> > Michael B. Berkman and Eric Plutzer*
> > If you like a copy let me know and i will send you a pdf.
> >
> > Martin
> >
> >
> > February 7, 2011
> > On Evolution, Biology Teachers Stray From Lesson Plan
> > By NICHOLAS BAKALAR
> > Teaching creationism in public schools has consistently been ruled
> unconstitutional in federal courts, but according to a national survey of
> more than 900 public high school biology teachers, it continues to flourish
> in the nation’s classrooms.
> >
> > Researchers found that only 28 percent of biology teachers consistently
> follow the recommendations of the National Research Council to describe
> straightforwardly the evidence for evolution and explain the ways in which
> it is a unifying theme in all of biology. At the other extreme, 13 percent
> explicitly advocate creationism, and spend at least an hour of class time
> presenting it in a positive light.
> >
> > That leaves what the authors call “the cautious 60 percent,” who avoid
> controversy by endorsing neither evolution nor its unscientific
> alternatives. In various ways, they compromise.
> >
> > The survey, published in the Jan. 28 issue of Science, found that some
> avoid intellectual commitment by explaining that they teach evolution only
> because state examinations require it, and that students do not need to
> “believe” in it. Others treat evolution as if it applied only on a molecular
> level, avoiding any discussion of the evolution of species. And a large
> number claim that students are free to choose evolution or creationism based
> on their own beliefs.
> >
> > Eric Plutzer, a co-author of the paper, said that the most enthusiastic
> proponents of creationism were geographically widely spread across the
> country.
> >
> > More high school students take biology than any other science course, the
> researchers write, and for about a quarter of them it will be the only
> science course they take. So the influence of these teachers looms large.
> >
> > Randy Moore, a professor of biology at the University of Minnesota, was
> unsurprised by the study’s conclusions. “These kinds of data have been
> reported regionally, and in some cases nationally, for decades. Creationists
> are in the classroom, and it’s not just the South,” he said. “At least 25
> percent of high school teachers in Minnesota explicitly teach creationism.”
> >
> > “Students are being cheated out of a rich science education,” said Dr.
> Plutzer, a professor of political science at Penn State University. “We
> think the ‘cautious 60 percent’ represent a group of educators who, if they
> were better trained in science in general and in evolution in particular,
> would be more confident in their ability to explain controversial topics to
> their students, to parents, and to school board members.”
> >
> > But Dr. Moore is doubtful that more education is the answer. “These
> courses aren’t reaching the creationists,” he said. “They already know what
> evolution is. They were biology majors, or former biology students. They
> just reject what we told them.
> >
> > “With 15 to 20 percent of biology teachers teaching creationism,” he
> continued, “this is the biggest failure in science education. There’s no
> other field where teachers reject the foundations of their science like they
> do in biology.”
> >
> > ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
> > Martin Weiss, PhD
> > Science Interpretation, Consultant
> > New York Hall of Science
> > mweiss at nyscience.org
> > 347-460-1858
> >
> > MORE IN SCIENCE (5 OF 35 ARTICLES)
> > Stress of Sliding Plates Builds Near Chile
> > Read More »
> > Close
> >
> >
> > --
> > –
> >
> >
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-- 
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Martin Weiss, PhD
Science Interpretation, Consultant
New York Hall of Science
mweiss at nyscience.org
347-460-1858

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For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

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