Amid a wave of educational reform, Florida’s latest academic standards for science have sparked a debate among educators and experts. Released by the Florida Department of Education, the proposed guidelines have been criticized for minimizing the teaching of evolution and omitting references to climate change. This move has led to concerns about a potential regression in the state’s public education system.
These proposed standards outline what students from kindergarten through high school should learn in science classes. They are touted to be “content-rich, coherent and grounded in facts and evidence,” according to the department. However, the specifics of which “trendy themes” and “adult ideological contests” the department aims to exclude remain unspecified.
The department is currently seeking public feedback on its website and through meetings, including a virtual session scheduled for today.
Bertha Vazquez, a veteran science educator and current director of the Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science, argues that the state is “moving backwards.” She remarked, “If it’s not broken, why the hell are we fixing it? We had smash bang good standards.”
These academic standards are critical as they guide lesson planning, standardized testing, and textbook content for Florida’s public schools. The newly proposed standards are set to replace those established in 2008, which strongly emphasized evolution as a foundational concept in biology.
In contrast, the new proposal scarcely mentions evolution. The term is notably absent from the high school life sciences standards, although related concepts appear sporadically. David Griffith of the Fordham Institute criticized the decision, stating, “No science standards can be complete without evolution.”
Vazquez warned that the lack of emphasis on evolution might result in students completing their education without exposure to this critical scientific theory, potentially leaving them unprepared for higher education. “It’s unconscionable,” she said.
While an unnamed spokesperson for the education department assured that evolution and “climate science” remain part of the curriculum, the proposed standards do not specifically address human-induced climate change. Instead, they reference “anthropogenic activities” affecting “Earth’s systems.” Glenn Branch from the National Center for Science Education highlighted this omission, pointing out Florida’s vulnerability to climate change impacts.
Branch also criticized the standards for lacking depth, noting that they resemble “fun-fact-style trivia” and contain nearly 1,000 benchmarks for high school science. This expansive yet shallow approach, he said, is “a mile wide and an inch deep.”
In a statement, Education Commissioner Henry Mack emphasized the goal of instilling a classical scientific approach in students, saying, “Science begins in wonder, not in ideology.”
The standards were developed with input from an 18-member committee, predominantly comprising school district employees and a single science education professor, contrasting with the more academically diverse committee involved in 2008.
The department continues to gather public input through a “science standards listening tour,” with a virtual hearing today and an in-person meeting scheduled in Walton County.
Original Story at www.orlandosentinel.com