Texas Decides to Encourage Critical Analysis of Evolution
Filed under News, Philosophy & Science on March 28th, 2009 by Marcus FrenchThe Texas State Board of Education approved new science standards that will encourage students in public schools to scrutinize “all sides” of scientific theories, including evolution. According to the AP :
The curriculum will require that students “in all fields of science, analyze, evaluate and critique scientific explanations … including examining all sides of scientific evidence of those scientific explanations, so as to encourage critical thinking by the student.”
The Discovery Institute’s Evolution News Blog had this to say:
In a huge victory for those who favor teaching the scientific evidence for and against evolution, Texas today moved to the head of the class by requiring students to “critique” and examine “all sides of scientific evidence” and specifically requiring students to “analyze and evaluate” the evidence for major evolutionary concepts such as common ancestry, natural selection, and mutations.
“Texas has sent a clear message that evolution should be taught as a scientific theory open to critical scrutiny, not as a sacred dogma that can’t be questioned,” said Dr. John West, Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute. “Contrary to the claims of the evolution lobby, absolutely nothing the Board did promotes ‘creationism’ or religion in the classroom. Groups that assert otherwise are lying, plain and simple. Under the new standards, students will be expected to analyze and evaluate the scientific evidence for evolution, not religion. Period.”
The new requirements were contained in revised science standards approved today by the Texas State Board of Education. The science standards include language requiring students to “analyze, evaluate and critique scientific explanations…including examining all sides of scientific evidence… so as to encourage critical thinking by the student.” Equally important, the high school biology standards now require students to “analyze and evaluate” the scientific evidence for key parts of evolutionary theory, including common ancestry, natural selection, and mutations.
Discovery Institute has long endorsed the idea that evolution should be fully and completely presented to students, including its unresolved issues.
It’s encouraging to see that when it comes to Charles Darwin’s statement that “…a fair result can be obtained only by fully stating and balancing the facts and arguments on both sides of each question,” Texas education leaders are in full agreement.
Tags: ap, charles darwin, curriculum, discovery institute, education, evolution, teaching, texas
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Two antievolution bills — House Bill 2800 and House Bill 4224 — died when the Texas legislature adjourned on June 1, 2009. HB 2800 would have exempted institutions such as the Institute for Creation Research’s graduate school from Texas’s regulations governing degree-granting institutions, thus freeing the ICR to offer a master’s degree in science education despite the Texas Higher Education Coordination Board’s 2008 decision to deny the ICR’s request for a state certification of authority to offer the degree. The ICR is currently suing THECB in federal court over its decision. HB 4224 would have required the Texas state board of education to restore the controversial “strengths and weaknesses” language in the Texas state science standards. Although creationists on the board were unsuccessful in restoring the “strengths and weaknesses” language, they successfully introduced a requirement that students examine “all sides of scientific evidence.” Partly due to his attempts to undermine the treatment of evolution in the state science standards, the senate voted not to confirm Don McLeroy in his position as chair of the board; the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (May 31, 2009) editorially commented, “It is overly optimistic to say the Senate’s rejection of Don McLeroy as chairman of the State Board of Education will end the missteps and arguments that have plagued the board during the past two years. Still, we can hope.” - National Academy For Science Education
Do you have a website Bernie? Or a blog?
Marc
No Marc I just carpet-bomb other people’s blogs. I win my debates by being on the right side, knowing what I’m talking about and intimidating my opponents with questions they’ve never been asked before and by raising points they’ve never considered. For instance I keep asking Ewan why he believes the earth moves. Ever seen a creationist cornered with that question? Eventually they start ignoring me because I punch so many holes in their belief system. When that happens it smells like victory to me.