{"id":1396,"date":"2008-02-08T22:18:46","date_gmt":"2008-02-08T22:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scienceblogs.com\/gregladen\/2008\/02\/08\/evolution-and-creationism-in-t\/"},"modified":"2008-02-08T22:18:46","modified_gmt":"2008-02-08T22:18:46","slug":"evolution-and-creationism-in-t","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/2008\/02\/08\/evolution-and-creationism-in-t\/","title":{"rendered":"Evolution and Creationism in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Texas Acadamy of Science has come out with a statement about creationism in Texas schools science classes, called “Texas Academy of Science Position Against the Inclusion of Creationism and Design Concepts in the Science Curricula in Texas Schools”You can get the PDF here.<\/a>Among other things, the document states:<\/p>\n

Texas science teachers have a finite amount of class time and textbook space in which to teach the many valid and foundational scientific concepts that enable students to become knowledgeable consumers, decision makers and voters. Inclusion of creationist or intelligent design concepts in science curricula would seriously diminish the effectiveness of science education by distracting teachers from covering an already overwhelming body of knowledge, and would consequently dilute student’s understanding of scientifically valid concepts and theories. Therefore, it is the position of the Texas Academy of Science that, through their policies and decisions, the State Board of Education, the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board should ensure that neither “creationism” nor “intelligent design” is added to the state’s scientific curricula.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Following is a press release from the NCSE<\/a> concerning this document:<\/p>\n

In a recent statement, the Texas Academy of Sciences expressed its support for teaching evolution — which it described as “the primary unifying cognitive framework in the biological sciences” — and its opposition to including creationism (including “intelligent design”) in the state’s scientific curricula. The Academy’s statement emphasized in particular the economic importance of science education, noting, “Modern industry requires a scientifically educated workforce. In order for Texas to remain economically competitive, it is essential that all Texans, but especially our youth[,] obtain a solid foundation in the sciences.”References in the document to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and to personnel decisions at the Texas Education Agency suggest that the Academy was prompted to issue its statement by recent controversies involving evolution education in Texas, specifically the Institute for Creation Research’s attempt to obtain certification in Texas for its graduate program in science education and the forced resignation of Chris Comer. Founded in 1892 and now boasting over 1000 members, the Texas Academy of Sciences seeks to promote scientific research among the colleges and universities of the State of Texas, to promote undergraduate research, and to enhance the professional development of its members.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Texas Acadamy of Science has come out with a statement about creationism in Texas schools science classes, called “Texas Academy of Science Position Against the Inclusion of Creationism and Design Concepts in the Science Curricula in Texas Schools”You can get the PDF here.Among other things, the document states: Texas science teachers have a finite … Continue reading Evolution and Creationism in Texas<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"1","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[207,55,151,156,87],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5fhV1-mw","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregladen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}