Teachers adjust to changes in evolution standards

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February 16, 2007

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Fri Feb 16, 2007, 09:40 PM CST

By Roger McKinney

rmckinney@joplinglobe.com

Baxter Springs High School biology teacher Arthur Commons has found an upside to the shifting standards that govern the teaching of evolution in the state.

“I think it sparks interest in students,” he said.

“It keeps the evolution and intelligent-design debate fresh,” Commons said in an e-mail. “Anything that causes students to think and be more interested in education and what they are being taught can be used as a positive tool.”

The Kansas Board of Education just this week adopted the fifth change in state science standards related to evolution in eight years, restoring mainstream scientific views and removing criticism of it that the previous board added.

Commons noted that the changes in the state standard have not altered the way he has taught evolution.

“Even if they don’t ‘buy into’ an explanation, they still need not be ignorant of ideas that are out there,” Commons wrote. “They also need to be aware of many fallacies being taught by both sides of the issue. Being well-informed of others’ beliefs allows students to make logical, well-thought-out decisions for themselves.”

Mary Kirkpatrick, who teaches chemistry, physics and physical science at Baxter Springs High School, said the switching by the state board makes education difficult for teachers, pupils and school boards.

“It’s a mess,” Kirkpatrick said. “It’s horrible. It makes it difficult to know what standards to teach the kids. It’s difficult for textbook selection.”

Kirkpatrick said that many times the state board’s decisions have been guided by politics and not science.

“It seems as though whoever is elected, their views are imposed,” she said.

Columbus High School biology teacher Buddy Derfelt said adjusting to the changing state standards on evolution isn’t difficult.

“Not at all,” Derfelt said. “Teachers should be able to handle whatever the state throws at them. We just follow what the state tells us to do.”

Derfelt said the evolution debate has been highlighted to such an extent that it overshadows other issues in science as well as society in general.

Asked how he teaches evolution, Derfelt said: “I follow state guidelines.”

To do otherwise wouldn’t make sense, he said, because the state assessments taken by pupils are based on the state standards. The results of the state assessments in turn are important in determining whether a school building or district meets adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Jim Foresman teaches biology and advanced genetics at Pittsburg High School and is a biotechnology instructor at the Greenbush Education Service Center.

Despite the publicity, he said, the standards haven’t changed much over the years.

“It certainly grabs headlines, then dies back down and it’s business as usual,” Foresman said.

He also said the changing standards haven’t caused him any problems.

“It’s not frustrating personally,” Foresman said. “People in other states are looking at us like, ‘What now?’”

He said he has some ideas about why evolution remains controversial.

“I think it’s a misunderstanding by a lot of people about what a theory is,” Foresman said. He said “theory” has a different meaning in the scientific community than it does in the general population.

“It’s a well-substantiated explanation,” Foresman said of scientific theories, including evolution. “As with anything in science, it can change, but certainly the foundation is pretty well intact.”

Macroevolution

An “Understanding Evolution” Web site, evolution.berkeley.edu, maintained by the University of California Museum of Paleontology and the National Center for Science Education, defines macroevolution as evolution above that of the species level, encompassing the grandest trends in evolution.