Saturday, January 29, 2011

Post No. 154a: Article of Interest: "Most High School Biology Teachers Do Not Endorse Evolution"


We came across this article earlier today in the electronic edition of The Washington Post.

Posted at 1:07 PM ET, 01/29/2011

By Valerie Strauss

"The central theme of biology is evolution, yet a new study shows that most high school biology teachers are reluctant to endorse it in class.

In the same week we learned that most American students did not do well in science on a test known as 'the nation's report card,' a study about biology teachers in public high schools was published that said...."


To read the entire article, click here.

8 comments:

  1. I heard something about this the other day. I followed your link and then I tried to follow up by going to Science Magazine (referenced for the report on the study) but I couldn't find it. You see, I was a little skeptical about the article. I haven't been to high school in a lot of years but Evolution was taught as pretty solid fact in every school I ever attended. I can't imagine it being downplayed as described.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the additional link. This gave me the specific issue of Science which, in turn, led me to more background data. There are reasons I like to look at such data. I suspect the subject is not being "downplayed", as I inferred, but that it is not being emphasized as important and necessary to understanding biology at a high school level. Ok, that's yet another inference. The actual study would probably dispel some of that inference. Or not.

    You need to email me about that other 7% regarding the subject of my blog on Saturday.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I see reason for great concern here. Not teaching evolution in science class is like not teaching anatomy to med students. Evolution is a part of biology over here. I have to be honest and say that I do not understand how someone in the US can get a biology degree and not take a class in evolution. Hopefully this study will have enough people concerned so that there will be some progress teaching guidelines.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Folks:

    Let's try putting ourselves in the shoes of the teachers. What are the two, most likely explanations for this? (There actually might be far more.) Assuming that we can identify those explanations, should we be concerned that they are motivating factors?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I see reason for great concern here. Not teaching evolution in science class is like not teaching anatomy to med students. Evolution is a part of biology over here. I have to be honest and say that I do not understand how someone in the US can get a biology degree and not take a class in evolution. Hopefully this study will have enough people concerned so that there will be some progress teaching guidelines.

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