For those who thought that victory in Dover meant the struggle against creationism and ID had been won, a national survey of American high school biology teachers suggests otherwise. 939 teachers from around the country answered questions concerning their personal beliefs in the origins of life, the amount of time spent teaching evolutionary concepts, and how they handle creationism in class.
Eighty percent responded that they spend between 3-20 hours on general evolutionary processes (natural selection, gene flow, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium) during the school year. That’s somewhere between 4 and 26 class periods. Fifty-two percent report they spend 2 hours or less on human evolution, and while the researchers lamented that statistic, I don’t find it surprising. Unfortunately, human evolution generally is not part of the state science standards and is not covered by standardized tests, so teachers do not spend valuable class time covering it.
More interesting were the responses to the personal belief questions, which mirror surveys taken of the general public over the last 25 years.
Sixteen percent of high school biology teachers accept the young earth creationist position that “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years.” And nearly 50% of those teachers “emphasize that [creationism/ID] is a valid, scientific alternative to Darwinian explanations for the origin of species,” and “many reputable scientists view these as valid alternatives to Darwinian theory.” They also spent 35% less class time covering human evolution.
What does this mean? Legal victories and vigilance over state science standards have little impact on the personal beliefs of teachers. What can make a difference, however, is how educated the teachers are. Fifty-six percent of certified high school biology teachers were not required to take a course in evolutionary biology (a staggering statistic), even those who had 40 or more college credits in biology. Those teachers who had completed at least one evolutionary biology course spent 22% more class time teaching evolution.
Scientists concerned about the quality of evolution instruction might have a bigger impact in the classroom by focusing on the certification standards for high school biology teachers. Our study suggests that requiring all teachers to complete a course in evolutionary biology would have a substantial impact on the emphasis on evolution and its centrality in high school biology courses. In the long run, the impact of such a change could have a more far reaching effect than the victories in courts and in state governments.
In high school, my biology class discussed evolution. I remember, because one of my friends sat in the hall for two weeks while the teacher covered it. As an instructor of physical anthropology, I emphasize evolution as the unifying theme in my field and teach courses devoted to human evolution. My daughter starts 9th grade next year, taking Advanced Biology, and I plan to be in close contact with the teacher. I expect my daughter to receive a well-rounded and thorough scientific education, and understanding evolutionary theory is central to that goal.
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Source: Berkman MB, Pacheco JS, Plutzer E (2008) Evolution and Creationism in America’s Classrooms: A National Portrait. PLoS Biol 6(5): e124 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060124
Tags: biology, creationism, Education, Evolution, Religion and Society
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