The emphasis given to evolution in state science standards: A lever for change in evolution education?

AbstractThis study analyzed the science frameworks of 49 states and the District of Colombia to determine the emphasis given to evolution in these documents at the middle and secondary levels. These concepts were species evolve over time, speciation, diversity of life, descent with modification from common ancestry, evidence of evolution, natural selection, pace and direction of evolution, and human evolution. Collectively, the 50 science frameworks emphasized evolution in a manner that suggests that if the public's support for standards‐based curricula is a reality, the study of evolution will be emphasized in an unprecedented manner in the nation's schools in the near future. However, all concepts were not emphasized equally in these documents. For example, human evolution was included in only seven documents. The word evolution is absent from some standards. Despite these negatives, recent actions to improve existing standards or to adopt new standards that emphasize evolution have occurred. The metaphor “lever of change” is often used in the context of school reform. This metaphor suggests a simple system where one change can result in a desired outcome. However, in classrooms where curriculum decisions evolve constantly, multiple factors interact and reinforce one another in response to both internal and external contingencies that emerge. Educational change can not be reduced to a simple linear cause/effect situation. The change process involved is nonlinear where what goes in is not proportional to what comes out because of feedback loops and other factors that complicate results. This nonlinearity is reflected in the varied responses of teachers to specific contingencies. Yet, systems can be changed and nudged towards a structure where desired outcomes will emerge. Judicial rulings indicating that the teaching of evolution cannot be prohibited or equal time for creationism mandated, improved coverage of evolution in secondary school biology textbooks, the negative response of many leaders, scientists, organizations, and editorial writers to the 1999 decision of the Kansas State Board of Education to deemphasize and misrepresent evolution in the state's science standards, and the emphasis given to evolution in the standards reviewed for this study, all coalesce to provide needed support for administrators and teachers who are striving to create science curricula that emphasize evolution in a manner commensurate with its importance in understanding the natural world and our place within it. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 86:445–462, 2002; Published online in Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/sce.10014