The Evolution of the Evolution Debate: Recent and Continuing Challenges, New Realities

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The Evolution of the Evolution Debate Recent and
Continuing Challenges, New Realities

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• National Academy of Sciences
• National Academy of Engineering
• Institute of Medicine
• National Research Council
• Jay Labov
  
• Center for Education
• National Academies
• Washington, DC
• jlabov_at_nas.edu
• http//nationalacademies.org

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Overview of Presentation

• Variety of approaches to limiting the teaching of
  evolution or introducing alternative concepts
  into science curricula.
• The Dover, PA court decision about intelligent
  design
• The Post-Dover environment?
• How might educators play a role?

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Fresh Challenges in Old Debate Over Evolution

• About 40 states are dealing with some sort of
  challenge this year 2004 to the teaching of
  evolution at the state level, local level, or
  both
• Washington Post 12/7/2004, P. A14

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Textbooks (e.g., Missouri, Texas)

• All biology textbooks sold to the public schools
  of the state of Missouri shall have one or more
  chapters containing a critical analysis of
  origins. The chapters shall convey the
  distinction between data and testable theories of
  science and philosophical claims that are made in
  the name of science. Where topics are taught that
  may generate controversy, such as biological
  evolution, the curriculum should help students to
  understand the full range of scientific views
  that exist, why such topics may generate
  controversy, and how scientific discoveries can
  profoundly affect society.
• Missouri HB35, Introduced December 1, 2004

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Protection for Teaching Alternative Explanations
(e.g., Alabama, Oklahoma)

• Section 3. Every K-12 public school teacher or
  teacher or instructor in any two-year or
  four-year public institution of higher education,
  or in any graduate or adult program thereof, in
  the State of Alabama, shall have the affirmative
  right and freedom to present scientific
  information pertaining to the full range of
  scientific views in any curricula or course of
  learning.
• Section 4. No K-12 public school teacher or
  teacher or instructor in any two-year or
  four-year public institution of higher education,
  or in any graduate or adult program thereof, in
  the State of Alabama, shall be terminated,
  disciplined, denied tenure, or otherwise
  discriminated against for presenting scientific
  information pertaining to the full range of
  scientific views in any curricula or course of
  learning.
• HB352, Introduced February 8, 2005

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Evolution Disclaimer in Cobb County, GA

• This textbook contains material on evolution.
  Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the
  origin of living things. This material should be
  approached with an open mind, studied carefully
  and critically considered.

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Changing the Definition of Science (Kansas)

• Revision to Kansas Science Education Standards,
  enacted November 8, 2005, changes definition of
  science from "seeking natural explanations for
  what we observe around us,"
• to
• "continuing investigation that uses observation,
  hypothesis testing, measurement, experimentation,
  logical argument and theory building to lead to
  more adequate explanations of natural phenomena."

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Mandating Resources for Teaching Alternative
Views (e.g., New York)

• Introduced on May 3, 2005.
• Would require that "all pupils in grades
  kindergarten through twelve in all public schools
  in the state ... receive instruction in both
  theories of intelligent design and evolution."
• Charges New York's Commissioner of Education to
  assist in developing curricula and local boards
  of education to provide "appropriate training and
  curriculum materials ... to ensure that all
  aspects of the theories, along with any
  supportive data, are fully examined through such
  course of study."
• If enacted, would take effect immediately.
  http//assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bnA08036sht

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Challenging Other Areas of Science (Michigan)

• If enacted would require the state board of
  education to revise the state science standards
  to ensure that students will be able to
• "(a) use the scientific method to critically
  evaluate scientific theories including, but not
  limited to, the theories of global warming and
  evolution and
• (b) Use relevant scientific data to assess the
  validity of those theories and to formulate
  arguments for or against those theories."

House Bill 5251, introduced Fall, 2005
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Challenges to Higher Education (California)

• Two lawsuits against the University of California
• Coalition of Religious Schools challenging UCs
  admission requirements for science, social
  studies, etc.
• UC Berkeley for its evolution website which
  provides links to religious denominations that
  claim no incompatibility between evolution and
  their faith.

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Mandating Teaching of Alternative Views Dover, PA

• Students will be made aware of gaps/
• problems in Darwins Theory and of other theories
  of evolution including, but not limited to,
  Intelligent Design.

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Procedural Statement to be Read to All Students
in Biology Classes in Dover, PA

• The Pennsylvania Academic Standards require
  students to learn about Darwins Theory of
  Evolution and eventually to take a standardized
  test of which evolution is a part.
•  
• Because Darwins Theory is a theory, it continues
  to be tested as new evidence is discovered. The
  Theory is not a fact. Gaps in the Theory exist
  for which there is no evidence. A theory is
  defined as a well-tested explanation that unifies
  a broad range of observations.
•  
• Intelligent Design is an explanation of the
  origin of life that differs from Darwins view.
  The reference book, Of Pandas and People,
  is available for students who might be interested
  in gaining an understanding of what Intelligent
  Design actually involves.
•  
• With respect to any theory, students are
  encouraged to keep an open mind. The school
  leaves the discussion of the Origins of Life to
  individual students and their families. As a
  Standards-driven district, class instruction
  focuses upon preparing students to achieve
  proficiency on Standards-based assessments.

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Judges Findings in Kitzmiller et al. vs. Dover
School Board1. Constitutionality of Mandating
Teaching of Intelligent Design

• Teaching or promoting intelligent design in
  public schools is a violation of the
  Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and
  the Constitution of Pennsylvania. The defendants
  (school board) are permanently enjoined from
  promoting Intelligent Design.
• An objective student would view the disclaimer
  advocated by the Dover school board as a strong
  official endorsement of religion, which is
  unconstitutional.
• One piece of evidence of the impermissible motive
  is that the only part of the science curriculum
  subject to the disclaimer is evolution. The
  disclaimer gives a misleading impression about
  evolution. There was a strong message of
  religious endorsement.

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Judges Findings in Kitzmiller et al. vs. Dover
School Board2. Intelligent Design as a
Scientific Approach to Understanding Evolution
and Origins

• The overwhelming evidence at trial established
  that ID is a religious view, a mere re-labeling
  of creationism, and not a scientific theory.
• ID is not supported by any peer-reviewed
  research, data or publications. It has not
  generated peer-reviewed publications, nor has it
  been the subject of testing and research.
• We find that ID is not science and cannot be
  adjudged a valid, accepted scientific theory as
  it has failed to publish in peer-reviewed
  journals, engage in research and testing, and
  gain acceptance in the scientific community.
• ID, as noted, is grounded in theology, not
  science. Though Darwins theory is not perfect
  no scientific theory is and this does not
  undermine its strength.

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Judges Findings in Kitzmiller et al. vs. Dover
School BoardConstitutionality of Mandating
Teaching of Intelligent Design in Any Setting

• We do not question that many of the leading
  advocates of ID have bona fide and deeply held
  beliefs which drive their scholarly endeavors.
  Nor do we controvert that ID should continue to
  be studied, debated, and discussed. As stated,
  our conclusion today is that it is
  unconstitutional to teach ID as an alternative to
  evolution in a public school science classroom.

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• Those who disagree with our holding will likely
  mark it as the product of an activist judge. If
  so, they will have erred as this is manifestly
  not an activist Court. Rather, this case came to
  us as the result of the activism of an
  ill-informed faction on a school board, aided by
  a national public interest law firm eager to find
  a constitutional test case on ID, who in
  combination drove the Board to adopt an imprudent
  and ultimately unconstitutional policy. The
  breathtaking inanity of the Boards decision is
  evident when considered against the factual
  backdrop which has now been fully revealed
  through this trial. The students, parents, and
  teachers of the Dover Area School District
  deserved better than to be dragged into this
  legal maelstrom, with its resulting utter waste
  of monetary and personal resources. (pp. 137-38)

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A Changing Post-Dover Landscape?

• Revised approaches to teaching intelligent design
  in non-science courses
• University of Kansas
• High School in El Tejon School District (CA)
• Kansas Standards
• Attempts to rewrite language in legislation
• Utah
• South Carolina

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Bodies of Authority Trump Each Other? Utah State
Board of Education

• At its meeting on September 2, 2005, the Utah
  State Board of Education unanimously adopted a
  position statement that described evolution as "a
  major unifying concept in science and
  appropriately included in Utah's K-12 Science
  Core Curriculum." The statement was prepared at
  the behest of board chairman Kim Burningham "by a
  group of 22 scientists, professors and community
  members, including members of the Coalition of
  Minorities Advisory Committee and the Catholic
  Diocese" in reaction to the ongoing controversy
  over evolution education across the country.
• http//deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600160726,00
  .html

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Utah State Legislature

• If enacted, SB 96 would direct the Utah State
  Board of Education to require
• "that if instruction is given to students on any
  theory regarding the origins of life, or the
  origins or present state of the human race, then
  that instruction shall stress that
• not all scientists agree on which theory is
  correct" and
• to "ensure that all policies and positions of the
  State Board of Education relating to theories
  regarding the origins of life or the origins or
  present state of the human race (i) do not
  endorse a particular theory and (ii) stress that
  not all scientists agree on which scientific
  theory is correct."
• January 2006

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Divided Over Evolution

• Most Americans believe that God was responsible
  for the creation of life on earth but divide on
  the question of whether and how life has changed
  since the creation.
• Overall, 78 say God created life on earth, while
  5 think a universal spirit or higher power was
  responsible for the creation.
• A plurality of Americans (48) say that humans
  and other living things have evolved over time,
  but nearly as many (42) say that humans and
  other living things have existed in their present
  form since the beginning of time.

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NSTA Survey Indicates Science Teachers Feel
Pressure to Teach Nonscientific Alternatives to
Evolution

• 31 of teachers responding said they feel such
  pressure.
• Most of the pressure is coming from
• students (22)
• parents (20).
• National Science Teachers Association, March 24,
  2005

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Evolution Takes a Back Seat in U.S. Classes By
CORNELIA DEAN Dr. John Frandsen, a retired
zoologist, was at a dinner for teachers in
Birmingham, Ala., recently when he met a young
woman who had just begun work as a biology
teacher in a small school district in the state.
Their conversation turned to evolution. "She
confided that she simply ignored evolution
because she knew she'd get in trouble with the
principal if word got about that she was teaching
it," he recalled. "She told me other teachers
were doing the same thing. New York Times,
February 1, 2005
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These reports and the National Science Education
Standards are now freely available as pdfs at
http//nationalacademies.org/evolution
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Charles Krauthammer in Time, August 1, 2005

• To teach faith as science is to undermine the
  very idea of science, which is the acquisition of
  new knowledge through hypothesis, experimentation
  and evidence. To teach it as science is to
  encourage the supercilious caricature of America
  as a nation in the thrall of religious authority.
  To teach it as science is to discredit the
  welcome recent advances in permitting the public
  expression of religion. Faith can and should be
  proclaimed from every mountaintop and city
  square. But it has no place in science class. To
  impose it on the teaching of evolution is not
  just to invite ridicule but to earn it.