EVOLUTION AND EVOLUTION AND ORIGINS:ORIGINS:

The Legal History and the FutureThe Legal History and the FutureMr. William R. Fouts

Spring Valley High School, Las Vegas, Nevada

“Nothing in this presentation should be misconstrued as legal advice”CCSD teachers should contact CPD Science if

questions arise regarding evolution education: Mary E. Pike (Director), David A. Miller (Coordinator 6-12), or

Eileen Gilligan (Coordinator K-5)

A Short “Pre-test” (true/false)

1. A science teacher in a public school (U.S.) may teach creationism if he/she does it “freelance” (i.e., during an “amnesty day”).

2. A science teacher in a public school (U.S.) may belittle evolution and quietly encourage their students to believe in Biblical Literalism and a Young Earth.

3. Since evolution has its “temples” (museums), “high priests” (e.g., Darwin), and “icons” (e.g., the peppered moth), recent legal decisions have concluded that it can be considered a secular religion.

4. Since evolution education in the public schools is clearly supported by legal prece-dence, we can expect school boards and administrators to make wise decisions in the future.

A Short “Pre-test” (true/false)

FalseSee LeVake v. Independent

School District No. 656

FalseSensu Lemon vs. Kurtzman

FalseSee John E. Peloza v.

Capistrano Unified School District

FalseSee YouTube videos of Texas School Boards!

Evolution is a Substantial Part of the Nevada State Revised Standards and the

Resultant Earth and Life Sciences Curricula

May 14th, 2012

The first public draft of the Next Generation Science Standards is available

on-line — and your feedback is invited. The Next Generation Science Standards are intended to be "rich in content and practice, arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally benchmarked science education." Comments on the first draft will be accepted on-line through June 1, 2012. "Feedback collected during the comment period will be organized and shared with the leading states and writing team members. After the feedback is considered, a feedback report will be issued that will explain how feedback was handled and why."

As with the National Research Council's 2011 A Framework for K-12 Science Education, on which they are based, the first draft of the Next Generation Science Standards are not reticent about evolution and climate change. In life sciences, Natural Selection and Evolution is one of five main topics at the high school level, and Natural Selection and Adaptations is one of five main topics at the middle school level. Similarly, in earth and space sciences, Climate Change and Human Sustainability are two of six main topics at the high school level, and Weather and Climate and Human Impacts are two of six main topics at the middle school level.

In life sciences, Natural Selection and Evolution is one of five main topics at the high school level, and Natural Selection and Adaptations is one of five main topics at the middle school level.

Creationism Commotion: Georgia Church Opposes Evolution In Science StandardsJun 1, 2012 by Simon Brown in Wall of Separation | It’s safe to say that crime, child abuse and divorce all pre-date the 1960s and have absolutely no link to the missing link.Georgia doesn’t have the best track record on church-state separation, but the state is working to revise its public school science curriculum to make sure students have an understanding of natural selection and evolution.The curriculum, called “The Next Generation Science Standards,” is being developed on a national level by 25 states and the District of Columbia. The National Academies, which laid the framework for the standards, said its goal is “to ensure that by the end of 12th grade, all students have some appreciation of the beauty and wonder of science, the capacity to discuss and think critically about science-related issues, and the skills to pursue careers in science or engineering if they want to do so -- outcomes that existing educational approaches are ill-equipped to achieve.” 

ANSWERS IN GENESISSchool Standards and Science Published on December 5, 2012 in Current Issues in the World. Well, the battle for our children continues in this country (and around the world). A few months ago, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were made available to the American public for comment and recommendations. Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell (AiG–U.S.) wrote a detailed discussion of what was being written into these standards.Forty-one people, who represent 26 states, are writing the science standards. All 50 states will be able to decide if they want to adopt these standards. A recent article in WORLD magazine explained two of the key issues with these standards. “They explicitly emphasize Darwinism and climate change.”

Kansas Education Policy Report

June 13, 2012 · 11:17 am

Evolution Controversy Seeping into NextGen Science StandardsThere were surprisingly few public comments to the first draft of new science standards that are being developed by a group of 26 states, including Kansas.

But recent media reports that raised the possibility of another debate over the teaching of evolution have now put that issue front and center before the State Board of Education.

“Since I had the momentary indiscretion of sharing some personal thoughts with a reporter a few days ago, this thing has blown out of proportion again, and that was not my intent,” Board member Ken Willard (R-Hutchinson) said during Tuesday’s Board meeting. “But the positive thing that’s come from that is that, while I have not voiced my concern with the framework publicly here, I find that I am not the only one that has those concerns.”

Science Standards Petition Thank you for expressing an interest in the increase in evolution content in the new Science standards. By providing your information below, you will be:

included on the petition and kept informed by email of developments on this topic

Your caring for the children in Kentucky’s public schools is making a difference.

IMPORTANT: Fill in your information below to sign this petition, opposing the increased evolution teaching and testing . All fields with the red asterisk* are mandatory and must be completed. If you do not have an email address and would like to sign and mail a paper petition, please click HERE.

I ask the following:

Do Not implement increased evolution instruction and testing as part of the NGSS.  Specifically, change the following:

1.Discontinue the existing standardized End-of-Course Biology exam (with 25-40% of questions on Genetics/Evolution) and replace it with a standardized exam that has

no questions on evolution.  Leave the evolution testing to the local Site Council’s and Science teacher’s discretion on regular exams as they are knowledgeable of the community’s values on this subject and the evolution instruction in their classes.  Do not usurp their authority and also violate the students’ and family’s sincerely held religious beliefs.

2.  When you select the portions of the NGSS that will be used in Kentucky’s schools, do not make selections that increase evolution instruction over the existing evolution

core content in place today.

Thank you for taking my concerns into consideration.  I look forward to your response.

Parasaurolophus