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Points to consider in describing the importance of evolution in the Florida Science Standards

Dear Department of Education Board Member/Dr. Smith, Comissioner of Education, or Governor Christ,

The writers and framers were charged with producing ‘world class’ science standards, standards that would allow our students the scientific knowledge, skills and habits of mind that would allow them to succeed in the information age. As such, they looked to national and international sources to create our documents, as well as within our respective scientific disciplines to determine what is the important science for all students to know and be able to apply. “World class” standards would seem to require Florida to teach the science the rest of the world is taught, as such, portraying evolution as a unifying, foundational idea for all of biology is essential. Too, analysis of the evidence surrounding this theory from a variety of disciplines (i.e., the fossil record, the genetic basis) seems also essential if Florida is to become world class in our understanding of science.

It is important to note that the goal of science instruction is not to change students' beliefs or persuade them to accept any scientific theory or law. Instead, the goal of such instruction is to help students understand the explanations that science provides. The ultimate goal of science teaching is an understanding of science, not a shift in students’ religious beliefs.

One tool particularly important in developing a world class understanding of science is understanding the nature of science, The Nature of Science (NOS) includes the characteristics of scientific knowledge, the epistemology of science, its presuppositions, methodological assumptions, goals, and boundaries, as well as the conventions underlying the knowledge produced through science. It is, most essentially, a set of underlying principles describing what makes science “science.” It is argued that to truly understand science in a non-trivial manner, one cannot simply understand a few choice scientific concepts (e.g., photosynthesis, conservation of matter, the age of the Earth), but must also recognize the unique characteristics of the knowledge that science produces. For one to make informed personal and societal judgments as a citizen (i.e., to experience the benefits of science literacy), one must understand how science works and how those processes shape the nature of knowledge science produces (American Academy for the Advancement of Science, 1990, 1993; National Research Council, 1996). The nature of science is central to this conversation, as it allows one to understand what science is and what science is not: what science can speak to and what science can not speak to. An informed understanding of the nature of science, as outlined by any one of the national educational efforts in the US (AAAS, NRC), would allow students to understand that when metaphysical explanations are invoked to produce an explanation of a natural phenomena, that explanation is not scientific. These reform-based educational efforts also argue that science classes should be concerned with allowing students to understand science and the explanations it provides. Other venues are appropriate for the consideration of explanations that may be useful and personally meaningful, but that are outside of the realm of science. Thus creationism and its most recent incarnation, intelligent design, may be personally meaningful, interesting and enlightening, but they should not be the focus of the science classroom.

I agree with State Board of Education member, Donna Callaway, who describes in an article written in The Florida Baptist Witness (www.floridabaptistwitness.com/8144.article) that evolution is of importance in the teaching of Biology. But I disagree with her assertion that evolution is different from other science subjects that we teach. Instead, evolution is seen by biologists as equal to other theoretical constructs in the sciences (i.e., atomic theory, photosynthesis, plate tectonics, electromagnetic theory, theory, and relativity). Evolution is equal in importance and equal in degree to which it is used and applied within science. Certainly, helping students come to understand the nature of science requires that they analyze the evidence on which a theory is based. So there is real educational use in analyzing contradictory evidence for theories in a science class. But this should be done for many of the major theories in a discipline, not just evolution, as scientists do not view this as a theory that is fundamentally different from others.

I’m writing this letter to remind you that experts (in science and in the teaching of science) worked diligently to create the science standards recently out for review. In this work they had in mind both represented the essentials of each of the science disciplines. Retroactively dismantling, or reconstructing the standards outside this group of committee professional will undermine the goal of having all students in the state of Florida in becoming scientifically literate. Our students deserve the best science has to offer in science class, I urge you to allow for this.

Sincerely,

XXX