Threads from Henry's Web

Tag: Florida Science Standards

  • Florida and Academic Freedom Follies

    The Florida Citizens for Science blog has a post summing up the current situation with creationist bills in the Florida legislature. FCFS communication director Brandon Haught shows how the bill in the Florida Senate is essentially taken directly from the Discovery Institute’s web site.

    What is the purpose of these bills? Academic freedom is not generally considered an issue in public high schools. Curriculum is closely controlled. Supposing someone who was opposed to so-called creation science chooses to use this academic freedom to thoroughly analyze, and of course vigorously refute that position. This would be as an alternative to what is currently mandated–clear teaching of the theory of evolution in its proper scientific place. Would these folks be equally happy with that?

    Fundamentally, these laws are simply a case of people who do not understand the material trying to replace well-supported work done by experts in the subject. But there is something further. I suspect that creationists will be almost as happy if the bills are defeated. Then they can yell loudly about how “academic freedom” was defeated, and point to it as a case of “Darwinist” suppression.

    It seems there is nothing these folks won’t do to avoid having to actually do the hard work of science. Their expertise at this avoidance perhaps was learned in childhood, when they were avoiding learning things like the meaning of “theory” in science.

  • Florida Adopts Compromise Science Standards

    The Florida Board of Education voted 4-3 today to add the words “scientific theory of” before the word evolution in the standards. It was my understanding that the phrase would be added also before every scientific theory in the standards if this was done, but I don’t yet know if that is the case.

    The fact that this is regarded as a compromise illustrates how little some know about the use of the word “theory” in a scientific context. The meaning should not be changed at all, but obviously some people think that evolution is weakened in this way, and presumably hope to introduce religious alternatives. But evolution is a theory, and “theory” in a scientific context refers to an explanation of a variety of observations, not to a “weak” fact.

    We will have to keep watch on Florida’s educational community to see that teaching is not weakened due to some perceived meaning in the word “theory.”

  • Interesting Florida County Statistics

    I have been neglecting to post much on the Florida science standards issue lately. One interesting study looks at the FCAT scores for students in counties supporting and opposing the standards. You can find the article here. Be sure to keep up with the action via the Florida Citizens for Science Blog.

    Speaking of Florida Citizens for Science, I received an e-mail today which I will answer in more detail later, but which quoted the FLCFS site (Word .doc file):

    . . . The supernatural cannot be measured or tested and so is not included in any science course. Additionally, there are many people with sincere religious belief who accept the theory of evolution. It needs to be made clear here that no student is asked to “believe” evolution. Rather, evolution is to be “understood” in the same way that the heliocentric solar system is understood.

    This e-mailer then says: “A person of no faith surely posed the remark that the supernatural cannot be measured.” That’s astonishing, and shows a complete lack of understanding of theology, not to mention simply the meaning of words. If my correspondent can measure the supernatural he’s a bigger man than I am!

  • Roundup Florida Science Standards

    Wesley Elsberry has provided a roundup of his posts on the Florida science standards. Note that the vote on these will be February 19.