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The Critic's Resource on AntiEvolution

NCSE Evolution Education Update for 2011/07/22

(by NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch)

Dear Friends of NCSE,

A progress report from Texas. A reminder that you can help to support
NCSE's archives. And a voice for evolution from the Canadian Society
for Ecology and Evolution.

PROGRESS IN TEXAS?

"Efforts to push creationist instructional materials into Texas
science classrooms were dealt a setback today," the Texas Freedom
Network reported on its blog (July 15, 2011). Materials submitted for
approval by the state board of education by International Databases
were not on the list of supplementary science materials that the Texas
education commissioner recommended for approval. Those materials, as
TFN and NCSE charged in a joint press release issued in April 2011,
reject mainstream evolutionary science and promote "intelligent
design" creationism.

TFN explained, "The commissioner's list is usually based on
recommendations from Texas Education Agency review teams made up of
teachers, scholars and other citizens. Those teams met in Austin last
month to review all of the proposed science instructional materials.
Apparently, the review teams decided that International Databases had
failed to cover the required curriculum standards appropriately." The
list is only a recommendation, however, and it is open to the state
board of education to decide, by a majority vote, to approve the
International Databases materials despite the recommendation.

There is reason to be concerned, too: the new chair of the board,
Barbara Cargill, is a member of the antievolution faction on the
board. In a recent speech to the Texas Eagle Forum, reported by TFN,
she described the 2009 debate over the content of Texas's state
science education standards as "a spiritual battle" and vowed to "work
diligently" to try to undermine the treatment of evolution in the
supplementary materials that the board will be considering on July 21
and 22, 2011. TFN will be reporting from the meeting, and NCSE's
Joshua Rosenau will be testifying in Austin to support the integrity
of science education in the Lone Star state.

For TFN's report on the setback for creationism, visit:
http://tfninsider.org/2011/07/15/setback-for-creationists-in-texas/ 

For NCSE's story about the TFN-NCSE press release, visit:
http://ncse.com/news/2011/04/creationist-materials-submitted-texas-006645/ 

For TFN's report on Cargill's remarks, visit:
http://tfninsider.org/2011/07/11/barbara-cargills-anti-science-agenda/ 

For TFN's coverage of the upcoming meeting, visit:
http://tfninsider.org/2011/07/18/tfn-insider-will-live-blog-science-debate/ 

For Rosenau's discussion on his personal blog, visit:
http://scienceblogs.com/tfk/2011/07/and_now_texas.php 

And for NCSE's previous coverage of events in Texas, visit:
http://ncse.com/news/texas 

A CHANCE TO HELP NCSE'S ARCHIVES!

NCSE's archives house a unique trove of material on the
creationism/evolution controversy, and we regard it as part of our
mission to preserve it for posterity -- as well as for occasions such
as Kitzmiller v. Dover, where NCSE's archives helped to establish the
creationist antecedents of the "intelligent design" movement. We
cordially invite you now to help NCSE's archives keep up-to-date by
purchasing books for NCSE through our wish list at Amazon.com. And
it's not just books -- gifts of needed hardware and software are
welcome, too! All of these donations are tax-deductible. We're pleased
to report that 142 items have been purchased already, and we thank the
donors for their generosity. You can view the catalogue of books in
NCSE's archives at LibraryThing.

For NCSE's wish list at Amazon.com, visit:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/39U1UMFQ22WED/ 

For the catalogue of NCSE's archives at LibraryThing, visit:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/NCSE 

And for information about NCSE's archives, visit:
http://ncse.com/resources/archives 

CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION ADDS ITS VOICE FOR EVOLUTION

The chorus of support for the teaching of evolution continues, with a
statement from the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution, which
works to promote the study of ecology and evolution in Canada and to
raise public awareness of the importance of ecology and evolution to
Canadian society.

Describing evolution as "the single most important principle of modern
biology and the foundation of any sound biology curriculum," the
statement insists, "Teaching alternative theories as though they had
equivalent scientific status is a perversion of education that damages
children's ability to understand the natural world."

The Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution's statement is now
reproduced, by permission, on NCSE's website, and will also be
contained in the fourth edition of NCSE's Voices for Evolution.

For the CSEE's statement, visit:
http://www.ecoevo.ca/en/correspondence.htm 

For Voices for Evolution, visit:
http://ncse.com/voices 

Thanks for reading! And don't forget to visit NCSE's website --
http://ncse.com -- where you can always find the latest news on 
evolution education and threats to it.

-- 
Sincerely,

Glenn Branch
Deputy Director
National Center for Science Education, Inc.
420 40th Street, Suite 2
Oakland, CA 94609-2509
510-601-7203 x305
fax: 510-601-7204
800-290-6006
branch@ncse.com 
http://ncse.com 

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http://reports.ncse.com 

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