One-third of states get low grades on evolution

One-third of states get low grades on evolution new state-by-state evaluation finds academic standards range from excellent to reprehensible

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 26, 2000-More than one-third of the states are doing an unsatisfactory-to-disgraceful job when it comes to the standards they have developed for teaching evolution, according to a report released today by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. While most scientists view evolution as the central organizing principle of biology, a number of states avoid it and some even shun the term: the word evolution never appears in their statewide science standards for K-12 education.

These findings are reported in Good Science, Bad Science: Teaching Evolution in the States, a 51-page report by Lawrence S. Lerner that offers the first comprehensive analysis of how each state handles evolution in its science standards for the public schools. The report is the centerpiece of a symposium entitled The Teaching of Evolution in U.S. Schools: Where Politics, Religion and Science Converge. Cosponsored by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the symposium is being held today at AAAS headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Only Nine States Explicitly Deal with Human Evolution Lerner's report notes that 31 states do an adequate-to-excellent job in their treatment of evolution in science standards. That's the good news. Even among these states, however, just nine treat human evolution explicitly and another nine by implication; the rest do not cover human evolution at all.

The bad news is that 19 states do a weak-to-reprehensible job of teaching evolution, in most cases making it nearly impossible to teach the sciences properly. Ten of them never use the word evolution and three entirely avoid teaching biological evolution. Kansas goes so far as to delete all references, direct or indirect, to the age or the earth or the universe, including even radioactive decay. Those 19 states are the major focus of Lerner's report. (A list of states and the grades they received is attached.)

"Almost all science is the study of the evolution of one system or another," Lerner said. "Given the far-reaching ramifications of evolution in the life sciences - to say nothing of the other historical sciences - a complete and proper exposition of evolution is an essential component of state science standards. Shortchanging, distorting, or omitting evolution not only harms the teaching of life sciences but makes it difficult for the student to come to a clear understanding of how science works."

For many Americans, confusion still reigns on the subject of evolution. Although almost all scientists accept evolution as the central concept of biology, a 1999 Gallup poll found that 68 percent of Americans favor teaching both creationism and evolution in public schools. And half the respondents in another survey felt evolution is "far from being proven scientifically."

In addition to the analysis of evolution and state science standards, Lerner's report examines how politics and religion have helped shape the evolution debate, turning it into a controversy that is essentially nonscientific.

"We begin to see why young Americans do so poorly on international comparisons of scientific knowledge", said Chester E. Finn, Jr., President of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. "Many of them attend school in states that don't expect them to learn the essentials of biology and other scientific fields. Yet we must also recognize the political dilemma that confronts education policy makers: the public that they serve is itself not nearly so ready as the scientists to mandate that schools teach evolution and only evolution. No wonder the schools don't do as well as they should in educating their students."

Lerner's presentation today was followed by panel discussions among policymakers, scientists, educators, and members of the religious community. Topics included:
· How teachers deal with the evolution issue;
· How the anti-evolution movement is changing; and
· How the public's level of scientific understanding impacts on science education policy.

Dr. Lerner is Professor Emeritus in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at California State University, Long Beach. He has published extensively in condensed-matter physics, history of science, science and religion, and science education. He is a frequent commentator on various aspects of K-12 science education, including curriculum, standards, textbooks, and teacher education. He contributed to the development of California's landmark 1990 science framework and has advised a number of states on science standards.

TREATMENT OF EVOLUTION IN STATE SCIENCE STANDARDS

Single copies of Good Science, Bad Science: Teaching Evolution in the States are free and can be obtained by calling 1-888-TBF-7474. The full report is also available on the Foundation's web site: www.edexcellence.net. The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation is a private foundation that supports research, publications