[Evolidaho] Fwd: [AIBS-Evolution-l]Evolution education update: October 26, 2007

[Resources for teaching evolution]

----- Original Message -----
From: Holly Menninger <hmenninger at aibs.org>
Date: Friday, October 26, 2007 11:40 am
Subject: [AIBS-Evolution-l]Evolution education update:  October 26, 2007
To: evolution-l at aibs.org

>  From the National Center for Science Education:
>
> Dear Friends of NCSE,
>
> A draft of Florida's state science standards -- containing the e-
> word -- is
> open for public comment.  Meanwhile, the McGill Journal of
> Educationfeatures a host of articles on teaching evolution, all
> freely available
> on-line.  And selected content from a recent issue of
> Reports of the NCSE
> is now available, too.
>
> EVOLUTION IN THE FLORIDA STATE SCIENCE STANDARDS
>
> The Florida Department of Education released a draft revision of
> the state
> science standards on October 19, 2007, and the e-word --
> "evolution" -- is
> not only included but also prominent.  In contrast, the
> 1999 version of the
> standards received a score of 0/0 for its treatment of evolution
> in the
> Fordham Foundation's report The State of State Science Standards 2005,
> which observed, "The E-word is sedulously avoided. ... There is
> little in
> the way of useful guidance for teachers or others toward appropriate
> content in the biological sciences and especially in the history
> of life
> and the basic mechanisms of change."
>
> The Orlando Sentinel (October 20, 2007) reported, "The draft
> standards are
> based on those used in other countries with top science-
> education programs
> and the recommendations of national education and science
> groups.  They
> reduce the number of topics students are taught and push for a deeper
> understanding of key 'big ideas,' one of which is 'evolution and
> diversity.'"  Joe Wolf, the president of Florida Citizens
> for Science, told
> the newspaper that if the standards were adopted as they stand,
> "the kids
> will have a better understanding of science, which is what it's
> all about."
>
> There is a sixty-day period during which the public is welcome
> to comment
> on the standards, following which the Florida Board of Education is
> expected to consider whether to adopt the draft in January
> 2008.  It is
> already clear that creationists are ready to try to undermine
> the treatment
> of evolution in the standards; the Sentinel quoted a local
> televangelist as
> contending, "Evolution is an educated guess ... That we came
> from an ape is
> absolutely ridiculous."  But Florida Citizens for Science's
> Wolf countered,
> "In the scientific community, it's not an issue."
>
> The state's newspapers are already applauding the appearance of
> evolutionin the standards.  Noting that the standards
> clearly state that "evolution
> is the fundamental concept underlying all of biology and is
> supported by
> multiple forms of scientific evidence," Florida Today (October
> 23, 2007)
> editorially remarked, "the board should approve the frank
> teaching rules,
> which are part of a broader revamp to strengthen science
> education in
> public schools.  Florida's children need strong science
> skills to compete
> for jobs in a global workforce, and evolution is a critical part
> of that
> package."
>
> In its editorial, the Tallahassee Democrat (October 23, 2007)
> also stressed
> the economic importance of the integrity of science
> education:  "World-class science standards include
> coherence, focus and
> rigor, and schools that lack them can't honestly contend they're
> world-class schools.  In an increasingly complex,
> technological world,
> scientific literacy is not a luxury, but a necessity --
> especially if
> Florida expects to compete successfully in a global
> economy.  For science
> education in our state to be competitive, it must include the
> teaching of
> evolution and the explicit acknowledgment that empirical
> evidence over the
> past century and a half strongly supports it."
>
> And in its editorial, entitled, "Florida takes educational leap
> into 21st
> century," the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (October 24, 2007) wrote,
> "Florida's public education system has finally evolved to the
> point where
> evolution can be taught.  Welcome to the real world,
> Florida," adding,
> "Proposed science standards say public school students need to
> learn about
> evolution, one of the 'big ideas' that need to be taught as part of
> in-depth, hands-on learning.  It's all part of a plan to
> improve science
> education, which is woefully lacking in Florida, and get
> students ready for
> a technology-based workplace."
>
> For the Fordham Foundation's report on Florida's 1999 standards,
> visit:http://www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/publication.cfm?id=352&pubsubid=1137#1137
>
> For the Orlando Sentinel's story, visit:
> http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/orl-
> science2007oct20,0,4249640.story
> For the website and blog of Florida Citizens for Science, visit:
> http://www.flascience.org/
> http://www.flascience.org/wp/
>
> For the opportunity to comment on the draft standards, visit:
> http://tools.fcit.usf.edu/ScienceReview/
>
> And for the cited editorials, visit:
> http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071023/OPINION/710230322/1004
> http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071023/BREAKINGNEWS/710230343
> http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-
> editgsevolutioncappnoct24,0,4688088.story
> MCGILL JOURNAL OF EDUCATION SPECIAL ISSUE ON TEACHING EVOLUTION
>
> A special issue of the McGill Journal of Education (vol. 42, no. 2)
> focusing on evolution education is now freely available on-
> line.  In their
> preface, the issue's editors, Jason Wiles of McGill University
> and Anila
> Asghar of Johns Hopkins University, write:
>
> ***
>
> the teaching and learning of evolution has faced difficulties
> ranging from
> pedagogical obstacles to social controversy.  These include
> two distinctive
> sets of problems:  one arising from the fact that many
> evolutionaryconcepts may seem, at least initially,
> counterintuitive to students, and
> the other deriving from objections rooted in religion. 
> Despite the
> overwhelming acceptance of evolution among scientists and despite
> evolution's centrality to modern biology, virtually all national polls
> indicate approximately one-half of North Americans reject
> evolution --
> suggesting that they think scientists, textbooks, and teachers
> are simply
> wrong.
>
> ***
>
> Three themes are emphasized throughout the issue:  "the
> need for improved
> teacher training in pedagogical techniques and content knowledge with
> regard to evolution, the need for effective classroom tools for
> teachingevolution, and the need to confront specific issues
> related to social
> controversies surrounding evolution education."
>
> Contributors include Randy Moore, discussing the results of a
> survey on
> what high school students are taught about evolution and
> creationism; Anila
> Asghar, Jason R. Wiles, and Brian Alters (a member of NCSE's
> board of
> directors), examining Canadian pre-service elementary teachers'
> conceptionsof biological evolution and evolution education;
> Robert T. Pennock,
> explaining how evolutionary computing and artificial life can
> aid in the
> teaching of evolution; Judy Scotchmoor and Anastasia Thanukos,
> discussingthe pedagogical aims and methods of the Understanding
> Evolution website;
> Jeff Dodick, explaining how to teach about evolutionary change
> within the
> framework of geological time; and NCSE's executive director
> Eugenie C.
> Scott, answering the question "What's wrong with the 'teach the
> controversy' slogan?"
>
> Also included are two opinion pieces -- Craig E. Nelson's "Teaching
> evolution effectively:  A central dilemma and alternative
> strategies" and
> Massimo Pigliucci's "The evolution-creation wars:  Why
> teaching more
> science just is not enough" -- and two book reviews, one by NCSE
> deputydirector Glenn Branch of Brian Alters's Teaching
> Biological Evolution in
> Higher Education:  Methodological, Religious, and
> Nonreligious Issues
> (Sudbury [MA]:  Jones and Bartlett, 2005) and one by Andrew
> J. Petto (the
> editor of Reports of the National Center for Science Education)
> of Marc W.
> Kirschner and John C. Gerhardt's The Plausibility of Life: 
> ResolvingDarwin's Dilemma (New Haven [CT]:  Yale University
> Press, 2005).
>
> For the special issue of the journal, visit:
> http://mje.mcgill.ca/issue/view/54
>
> CATCHING UP WITH RNCSE
>
> Selected content from volume 26, number 6, of Reports of the National
> Center for Science Education is now available on NCSE's website,
> includingJim Lippard's account of the 2005 schism of the young-
> earth creationist
> ministry Answers in Genesis, Nick Matzke's report about the latest
> creationist textbook to come down the pike, Kevin Padian's
> review of Donald
> Prothero's After the Dinosaurs:  The Age of Mammals,
> Lawrence S. Lerner's
> review of Darwin's Nemesis (a festschrift for the godfather of
> "intelligentdesign" creationism), and Carrie Sager's droll
> review of Ray Comfort and
> Kirk Cameron's creationist trivia game -- "a Ken Ham-endorsed, William
> Dembski-approved cornucopia of bad science and fundamentalist
> propaganda,"she writes.
>
> If you like what you see, why not subscribe to RNCSE? The next
> issue to go
> to press will feature articles on the ongoing contretemps at
> Grand Canyon
> National Park; articles by Joe Felsenstein and Mark Perakh discussing
> Dembski's arguments about natural selection and his failure to
> answer his
> critics; articles on evolution education policy in the abstract
> and in the
> concrete; and the usual slew of reviews, including Lauri Lebo
> reviewingMatthew Chapman's 40 Days and 40 Nights, Gary S. Hurd
> reviewing Fazale Rana
> and Hugh Ross's Origins of Life, and Tim M. Berra reviewing
> Stanley Rice's
> Encyclopedia of Evolution -- "broad, interesting, relevant, and
> informative... I wholeheartedly recommend this book," he
> concludes.  Why
> wait?  Subscribe today!
>
> For selected content from RNCSE 26:6, visit:
> http://www.ncseweb.org/newsletter.asp?curiss=59
>
> To subscribe to RNCSE, visit:
> http://www.ncseweb.org/membership.asp
>
>
> Thanks for reading!  And as always, be sure to consult
> NCSE's web site:
> http://www.ncseweb.org
> where you can always find the latest news on evolution education and
> threats to it.
>
>
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