Latest Challenges to the Teaching of Evolution

Whereas I will have a thin crust pizza with anchovies.

On average, only 28% of the high school students taking the ACT , which is a national standardized test for college admission , reached a score indicating college readiness for biology and no state reached even 50%.
Only 52% of 12th graders are at or above a basic level of achievement in the sciences, and for 8th graders only 57% are at a basic level of achievement.
Average scores for 12th graders in the sciences have actually declined from 1996 to 2005 and shown no improvement for 8th graders both on overall and the life science component.
A significant gap exists in science achievement for low-income middle-school students, although the gap is slowly narrowing.

U.S. Teens Trail Peers Around World on Math-Science Test

By Maria Glod
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 5, 2007

The disappointing performance of U.S. teenagers in math and science on an international exam, in scores released yesterday, has sparked calls for improvement in public schools to help the country keep pace in the global economy.

The scores from the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment showed that U.S. 15-year-olds trailed their peers from many industrialized countries. The average science score of U.S. students lagged behind those in 16 of 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based group that represents the world's richest countries. The U.S. students were further behind in math, trailing counterparts in 23 countries.

"How are our children going to be able to compete with the children of the world? The answer is not well," said former Colorado governor Roy Romer, chairman of Strong American Schools, a nonpartisan group seeking to make education prominent in the 2008 presidential election.

The PISA test, given every three years, measures the ability of 15-year-olds to apply math and science knowledge in real-life contexts. About 400,000 students, including 5,600 in the United States, took the 2006 exam. There is also a reading portion, but results for U.S. students were thrown out because the tests were printed incorrectly.

Students in Finland received the top scores in science and math. Mexico was at the bottom.

The PISA results underscore concerns that too few U.S. students are prepared to become engineers, scientists and physicians, and that the country might lose ground to competitors. An expert panel appointed last year by President Bush is preparing to recommend ways to improve public school math instruction, with a focus on algebra.

Former West Virginia governor Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a group seeking to improve high schools, said the scores show a need for more training and support for math and science teachers. He also said the federal government should encourage states to agree on common education standards so that all students are working toward the same targets.

"This, to me, is the Olympics of academics," Wise said, "and we need to respond to it."

PISA, first administered in 2000, covers reading, math and science. But each time the test is given, it focuses in depth on one subject. Last year's exam spotlighted science, covering concepts in physics, chemistry, biology and earth and space science.

Mark S. Schneider, commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics in the Education Department, said the exam isn't designed to measure a student's recall of facts. Instead, he said, it tests a student's ability to apply knowledge using "more sophisticated concepts and deeper reasoning skills."

On the science portion, U.S. students, most of them 10th-graders, received an average score of 489 on a 1,000-point scale, 11 points below the average of the 30 countries. Canada, Japan and Korea were among the countries in which students outperformed U.S. counterparts. U.S. students were on par with peers in eight countries and outperformed those from five others.

In math, only four countries had average scores lower than the United States. Students in 23 countries had a higher average score, and those in two countries did about the same as the Americans.

The ranking of U.S. students in math and science is about the same as it was in 2003.

Several people think its a joke...

Religion bill may open door to teach creationism in schools, foes say
(Associated Press, November 7, 2009)

BOSTON " A proposal before Massachusetts lawmakers aimed at protecting students who voice religious views at public schools is being assailed by separation of church and state advocates, who say it forces religion on people.

Critics also argue it would open a backdoor for teaching creationism.

But the bill’s sponsors say opponents are misreading the measure. They say it would simply ensure existing free speech rights for religious students who they say are sometimes neglected at schools around the country.

“What we’re trying to do with this bill is create an even playing field,” said Evelyn Reilly of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which wrote the bill.

The bill has bipartisan backing and is pending before the legislature’s Joint Committee on Education.

The proposal requires school districts to create policies to allow “a limited public forum and voluntary student expression of religious views at school events, graduation ceremonies, and in class assignments, and non-curricular school groups and activities.” It also requires districts to provide a disclaimer that it doesn’t endorse the students’ views.

Ronal Madnick, president of the Massachusetts chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, said the bill amounts to a mandate for schools to make time at various events for students to share their religion or proselytize.

Students already have numerous opportunities to talk about their religion at school, such as during after-school prayer groups, he said.

But it’s wrong when they’re addressing a “captive audience,” such as at a graduation, he added.

“You can’t do it where people have to be in attendance and they have to be exposed to prayers and beliefs they don’t believe in,” Madnick said.

Tufts University chemistry professor Samuel Kounaves, vice president of Madnick’s group, said creationism could find its way into science classes because the bill will create uncertainty with teachers about how much to permit students to talk about creationism or hand out creationist materials during class.

“Things are confused right now as it is because a lot of teachers don’t know how to handle the situation,” he said. “My concern as a scientist is that science be taught in a science classroom. And I don’t think introducing religious matter in a science classroom is appropriate.”

Reilly said students already have the right to speak up about creationism during public school classes and the bill doesn’t try to create any new rights.

The bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Viriato Manuel deMacedo, said the bill does not aim to set aside special time for students to speak about religion at various school events but emphasizes that they are protected by the law if they do.

“If that’s a concern, we’ll try to clarify that,” said deMacedo, a Plymouth Republican.

DeMacedo said the bill is needed because past litigation over mixing religion and public education has made schools so jumpy about religious talk that free expression rights get squashed.

He cited various controversies over public displays of Christmas trees and a 2002 case in which Westfield high school students were suspended after passing out candy canes with a religious message. Reilly noted that in Las Vegas in 2006, a high school valedictorian’s microphone was shut off when she referred to Jesus Christ during her address.

“It’s becoming more and more prevalent that in schools there is no tolerance at all for any type of religious expression,” deMacedo said. “If it has anything to do with religion, it’s become taboo. And I don’t think that that’s generally the norm in society.”

The state Department of Education did not return a call for comment on the bill.