{"id":1178,"date":"2010-03-17T12:56:53","date_gmt":"2010-03-17T16:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=1178"},"modified":"2010-03-17T16:09:03","modified_gmt":"2010-03-17T20:09:03","slug":"new-study-how-do-florida-teachers-feel-about-evolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1178","title":{"rendered":"New study: How do Florida teachers feel about evolution?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida science teachers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 jobs are in jeopardy if they dare challenge biological evolution in the public school classroom, claimed state senator Ronda Storms <\/a>when she filed her Academic Freedom bill in 2008.<\/p>\n

The bill says that “in many instances educators have experienced or feared discipline, discrimination, or other adverse consequences as a result of presenting the full range of scientific views regarding chemical and biological evolution.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The problem with this claim was that no legislator who supported the bills in either the Florida House or Senate could offer any proof of such widespread discrimination. Even the senate staff\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own analysis <\/a>of the bill stated as much.<\/p>\n

According to the Department of Education, there has never been a case in Florida where a public school teacher or public school student has claimed that they have been discriminated against based on their science teaching or science course work.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We now have a way to refute claims that those teachers with anti-evolution views are being discriminated against. Even more significantly, we have some evidence that the opposite is true: teachers who support evolution instruction are the ones who face harassment and fear of unemployment. An important study \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Florida Teachers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Attitudes about Teaching Evolution<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was published in The American Biology Teacher<\/em> February 2010 issue.\u00c2\u00a0Samantha Fowler, an assistant professor of biology in the Department of Natural Sciences at Clayton State University, Georgia, and Gerry Meisels, Director of the Coalition for Science Literacy, University of South Florida, were interested in learning how Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new state science standards \u00e2\u20ac\u201c prominently featuring evolution as a Big Idea \u00e2\u20ac\u201c were being received at the classroom level. The prior version of the science standards had not even mentioned the word evolution, and so the dramatic change in 2008 [For all the gritty details about the science standards revision process go here<\/a>.]<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0from no mention by name to Big Idea was sure to grab teachers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 attention. But to what extent?<\/p>\n

Fowler and Meisels set three goals for their study:
\nAre Florida teachers really facing discrimination as claimed by the Academic Freedom bills\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 supporters?
\nHow comfortable are Florida teachers overall with teaching evolution?
\nHow comfortable are Florida elementary school teachers with teaching basic evolutionary concepts?<\/p>\n

Fowler and Meisels sent a carefully constructed and reviewed survey to teachers using contacts at the Building a Presence in Science program of the National Science Teachers Association. They received 353 useable responses. Roughly a quarter of them came from elementary school teachers, another quarter from middle school teachers, and about half from high school teachers. Suburban schools made up the bulk of responses at 66% with urban schools coming in at 21% and rural schools at 14%.<\/p>\n

It was found that 74% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they are comfortable with evolution being in the new science standards, and 20% said they are not comfortable. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Moreover, only 62% agree that they will use the new Florida science standards to justify teaching evolution,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Fowler and Meisels said. They did some number crunching and determined that as many as 532,000 Florida students who take classes where they are supposed to learn about evolution in some form have teachers who are not comfortable with evolution. Unfortunately, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what is going on in those classrooms. Are they skipping evolution? Are they teaching inaccurate information? Digging through the statistics offers some clues. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Only 72% of the teachers agreed that evolution is a central organizing principle of biology, and 17% felt that one can understand biology without learning about evolution,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Fowler and Meisels said. My guess is that there are plenty of teachers across the state who are using the old technique of just not being able to get to that chapter on evolution because they ran out of time in the course.<\/p>\n

The subject of evolution inevitably crosses paths with religious beliefs, and Fowler and Meisels made sure to include it in their study. Only two-thirds of respondents said they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Believing in God means rejecting evolution.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Additionally, 17% admitted to not believing that the earth is at least 4 billion years old. Fowler and Meisels didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mention in their text one statistic that stood out to me in their tables. They broke down all respondents into two groups: those who are comfortable with evolution and those who aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. Then the two groups\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 answers to a list of questions are compared. Only 0.4% of those who are comfortable felt that creationists are more moral than noncreationists. On the other hand, 19% of those uncomfortable with evolution agreed that creationists are more moral. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a statement on whether certain teachers have the professional knowledge they need to do their jobs but rather a statement on personal values that shakes me to my core. These are real people in our schools who feel morally superior to their fellow teachers. What can result from such an attitude? We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to get a taste of that later in this study.<\/p>\n

One statistic that does address professional knowledge is whether respondents felt they understand evolution well enough to teach it. The difference here is striking, with 94% of those who are comfortable with evolution having that understanding while only 51% of those uncomfortable with evolution did. When the numbers are further broken down by grade level taught, it can be seen that teachers at the elementary school level are the ones with the least knowledge and confidence when it comes to evolution. Only 69% on the elementary level felt they understood evolution well enough to teach it, compared with 88% in middle schools and 95% in high schools. Two other lines in the table stood out to me when it comes to elementary school teachers:
\n— Agree that the Earth is at least 4 billion years old: elementary 61%, middle 85%, high 95%.
\n— Feel that those who believe in God do not accept evolution: elementary 27%, middle 22%, high 5%.<\/p>\n

Fowler and Meisels said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now that evolution has become a Big Idea in Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s science standards beginning at the elementary level, helping these teachers become more comfortable with and knowledgeable about evolution is increasingly important.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Finally, we arrive at the paper\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s analysis of whether discrimination against teachers who don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t accept evolution is a real problem. The structured survey questions actually didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t specify whether any criticism faced by teachers was for or against evolution, but were instead generic queries into any type of censure when it comes to evolution. The results indicate that teachers tend to take much more heat from parents and students than from fellow teachers or administrators. However, Fowler and Meisels included a section in their questionnaires soliciting teachers to write comments about their personal experiences facing criticism. Overall, there was an even mix of responses from both the pro-evolution and anti-evolution sides when relating experiences about fellow teachers. But relations with school administrators were quite different. Teachers who do include evolution in the classroom wrote about many experiences with hostile school administrators. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Conversely, no comments were made about teachers being forced to teach evolution when they did not wish to do so,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Fowler and Meisels said. This strikingly lopsided response led Fowler and Meisels to the preliminary conclusion that arguments on behalf of the Academic Freedom bills had no grounding in fact. Comments they received included:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153A former principal, who held strong religious beliefs, called me in to chastise me for mentioning \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcadaptations\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 among birds \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 as was mentioned in our county environmental ed. workbook. The principal made it well known that I was to stop teaching this because it was \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwell known\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that God made the birds the way they were \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and that they did not adapt as I had taught. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcYour uncle may be a monkey,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 said the principal, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcbut mine was not.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I had a screen saver which said \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcevolution happens\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 scrolling across an image of the T-rex Sue and was told to remove it by my principal as it offended the religious sensibilities of a student. I was then told to \u00e2\u20ac\u02dctread lightly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 when I approached the topic of evolution in class \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 In the end I was not rehired at the district.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What lessons can be taken from this important and informative study? First of all, yet more study is needed since there are still a few uncertainties. Fowler and Meisels point out that there could very well be many more teachers who have some level of discomfort with evolution out there than this study has revealed due to the survey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nonrandom sampling method. But the solution to several issues this study highlights is more initial education and ongoing training for teachers. Those who lack confidence in a subject are likely to pass along that fuzzy knowledge to their students, perpetuating a vicious cycle. Better science and evolution education is even more vital for elementary school teachers, because there is a lot at stake here! Take a look at the recent study \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Eyeballs in the Fridge<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that found many current working scientists first fell in love with science very young. Also check out another study done in California <\/a>about the dismal state of science education in elementary schools there.<\/p>\n

Teachers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 knowledge and enthusiasm can have a profound impact on students, especially the youngest kids. A teacher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s negative attitude toward evolution can turn students off to the subject, and even to science overall! As Fowler and Meisels state: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Teachers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 discomfort with evolution may adversely affect students\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 learning through insufficient time spent on the topic and general verbal and nonverbal cues given by the teacher. Therefore, it is important to thoroughly explore the reasons for teachers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 discomfort so that remedies can be developed.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

(My sincere thanks to the folks at the National Center for Science Education for letting me know this study was out there!)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida science teachers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 jobs are in jeopardy if they dare challenge biological evolution in the public school classroom, claimed state senator Ronda Storms when she filed her Academic Freedom bill in 2008. The bill says that “in many instances educators … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-j0","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":484,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=484","url_meta":{"origin":1178,"position":0},"title":"“Academic Freedom Act” filed","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"March 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome back to another exciting episode of \"Days of our Florida Lives.\" In our last episode, the Florida Board of Education voted to approve a new set of state science standards, which include for the first time official inclusion of the word evolution. However, the standards were tweaked by inserting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Our Science Standards"","block_context":{"text":"Our Science Standards","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":559,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=559","url_meta":{"origin":1178,"position":1},"title":"Amendments are flying","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"April 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Tomorrow, the Florida House is expected to debate and consider amendments to House Bill 1483. There will not be a final vote that day, though. This bill in its current form is proposing a one line addition to the Florida Statutes concerning Required Instruction in the public schools. The bill\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "\"Academic Freedom\" bills '08"","block_context":{"text":"\"Academic Freedom\" bills '08","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3395,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3395","url_meta":{"origin":1178,"position":2},"title":"“Controversial Theories” bill returns to Florida senate","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A bill was pre-filed for the 2019 legislative session in the Florida senate that would impact the standards for all academic subjects, especially science. The bill proposes allowing school districts to adopt their own sets of educational standards if they are equal to or more rigorous than the state's educational\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Controversial Theories bill 2019"","block_context":{"text":"Controversial Theories bill 2019","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=36"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2951,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2951","url_meta":{"origin":1178,"position":3},"title":"“Controversial theories” science education bill filed in Florida senate","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"November 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a live one. This past Friday Sen. Dennis Baxley filed a bill in our state legislature concerning public education. Senate Bill 966\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s purpose is to revise \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards; providing that such standards are the minimum baseline core content standards for K-12 public schools.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Controversial Theories bill 2017\/18"","block_context":{"text":"Controversial Theories bill 2017\/18","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?cat=34"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3362,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3362","url_meta":{"origin":1178,"position":4},"title":"The Storms has passed","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"September 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I had neglected to check on the status of Ronda Storms' Florida House election campaign. I'm so sorry. The good news is that she lost:\u00c2\u00a0Florida House: Ronda Storms\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 comeback ends in GOP primary Republican candidate Joe Wicker said he received a concession call about 9 p.m. from opponent Ronda Storms\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=3362#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":973,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=973","url_meta":{"origin":1178,"position":5},"title":"News Release: FAS condemns antievolution bill","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"March 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Florida Academy of Sciences issued a statement this week condemning a bill introduced in the Florida Senate this session that the Academy says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153leaves the door open for the introduction in the public school curriculum of nonscientific and covertly religious doctrines.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The legislation in question is Senate Bill 2396\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}