There are 5 reasons why millions of American idiots are evolution deniers.

There are 5 reasons why millions of American idiots are evolution deniers.

1. Americans are morons.

2. Religious brainwashing.

3. The Christian war against science education. I never met a Christian who wasn't a stupid fucking asshole.

4. Incompetent biology teachers.

5. America's State Science Standards suck (mostly because of number 3).

This post is about the State Science Standards of all 50 states.

This information is 6 years old but it's probably still very accurate.

Thomas B. Fordham Institute - The State of State Science Standards 2012

"International comparison is even more disheartening. The most recent PISA assessment, released in December 2010, showed fifteen-year-olds in the United States ranking a mediocre twenty-third out of sixty-five countries. By contrast, youngsters in Shanghai ranked first, demonstrating both China’s commitment to science education—and the various bounties that accompany it—and that nation’s capacity to deliver on its educational aspirations."

China is going to kill Idiot America.

Problem 1: An Undermining of Evolution

“Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” So wrote famed biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky in 1973.12 And so it is today. Yet controversy continues to envelop the teaching of evolution in American schools. One wonders, indeed, how much progress we’ve made in this realm since the Scopes trial in 1925. Six years ago, our science reviewers noted that:

The attack on evolution is unabated [since 2000], and Darwin’s critics have evolved a more-subtle, more dangerous approach. A decade ago, the anti-evolution movement...argued vigorously for explicit teaching of the evidence for intelligent design. ...The claim now is that evidence against “Darwinism” exists, that curriculum- makers should include it as an exercise in critical thinking, and that “freedom of speech” or “fairness” requires that they do so. The hidden agenda is to introduce doubt—any possible doubt—about evolution at the critical early stage of introduction to the relevant science.

While many states are handling evolution better today than in the past, anti-evolution pressures continue to threaten state science standards. In June 2008, for example, Louisiana passed its infamous Science Education Act, ostensibly an “academic freedoms act” meant to give teachers and students legal cover to debate the merits and veracity of scienti c theories. In practice, the measure pushes a pro-creationist agenda—and gives cover to those looking to teach intelligent design creationism. Though the act is a free-standing statute with no direct link to the Pelican State’s academic standards, it does damage by allowing for the introduction of creationist teaching supplements—thereby affecting classroom instruction without explicitly altering the state’s standards.

Louisiana is not the only state that has tried to undermine the teaching of evolution through legislation. In 2011 alone, eight anti-evolution bills were introduced in six state legislatures. (Thankfully, none made it into law.) And two similar bills were pre- led in New Hampshire for the 2012 legislative session,15 as well as one in Indiana.

Of course, most anti-evolution efforts are aimed more directly at the standards themselves. And these tactics are far more subtle than they once were. Missouri, for example, has asterisked all “controversial” evolution content in the standards and relegated it to a voluntary curriculum that will not be assessed. (Sadly, this marks a step back from that state’s coverage of evolution in 2005.) And Maryland includes evolution content in its Kindergarten through eighth-grade standards but explicitly excludes crucial points from its state assessment.

Other states have undermined the teaching of evolution by singling it out as somehow not quite as “scienti c” as other concepts of similar breadth. A common technique—used to a greater or lesser extent by Colorado, Missouri, Montana, and West Virginia—is to direct students to study its “strengths and weaknesses.”

Far too often, important evolution content is included, but minimally. Some states mention evolution just once in their standards and never revisit it. Others—including Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, and Nebraska— unnecessarily delay it until high school.

Even some of the nation’s best standards subtly undermine the teaching of evolution. In California, for example, students are told to “understand science, not necessarily [to] accept everything taught.” In New York, students learn that “according to many scientists, biological evolution occurs through natural selection.” (This is not according to “many” but, in fact, all true scientists.)

Finally, conspicuously missing from the vast majority of states’ standards is mention of human evolution—implying that elements of biological evolution don’t pertain to human life. This marks a subtle but important victory for creationists: Even states with thorough and appropriate coverage of evolution (e.g., Massachusetts, Utah, and Washington) shy away from linking the controversial term with ourselves. Only four states—Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Rhode Island—openly embrace human evolution in their current science standards. (Pennsylvania, which referenced human evolution in its previous standards, has omitted it from the more recent version.)

There are 50 states but I'm only going to choose Alabama and Louisiana and only the stuff about evolution. If people want more information about the American morons of the other states they can click this link.

ALABAMA

At the high school level, biology is mostly good and includes some biochemistry and lots of genetics and environmental material. The high school course electives—genetics, botany, and human physiology—are also substantive. That said, there is one glaring deficient with the Alabama biology standards. Evolution, which should be a front-and-center feature of genetics, is all but absent.

Alabama is clearly frightened by the “E-word”—a phobia from which most other states have recovered. The term “evolution” occurs exactly once in the basic biology course, once more in the genetics elective course, not at all in any of the other seven life science electives, and (despite those intimations) never prior to high school. Perhaps this is not surprising, given that the Alabama Department of Education of cially considers creationism, an explicitly religious and non-scientific position, to be a form of evolution.

The high school biology course has only this to say about evolution:

Describe protective adaptations of animals, including mimicry, camou age, beak type, migration, and hibernation.

Identifying ways in which the theory of evolution explains the nature and diversity of organisms

Describing natural selection, survival of the fittest, geographic isolation, and fossil record. (high school biology)

The odd implication here is that evolution and natural selection are sub-categories of the listed adaptations, rather than the center of the entire study. What are otherwise reasonable standards are marred by this agrant omission of this central tenet of the life sciences.

LOUISIANA

The Louisiana science standards are reasonably challenging and comprehensive, but they suffer from a devastating flaw: Thanks to the state’s 2008 Science Education Act, which promotes creationism instead of science, the standards (especially for biology and life science) are haunted by anti-science influences that threaten biology education in the state.

The most significant drawback to the standards covering Kindergarten through eighth grade is the omission of evolution. Indeed, the term evolution doesn’t appear at all. Instead, eighth graders are asked only to:

Compare fossils from different geologic eras and areas of Earth to show that life changes over time. (grade 8)

Asking students to understand that life changes over time is not the same thing as asking them to learn the building blocks of evolutionary theory.

Fortunately, the high school coverage of evolution is reasonably strong. Tenth graders, for example, are asked to:

Analyze evidence on biological evolution, utilizing descriptions of existing investigations, computer models, and fossil records. (high school biology)

MY COMMENT: The problem with Louisiana is the teachers who are allowed to spread lies about evolution and teach magical creationism. When Louisiana interviews a biology teacher they ask "Are you an evolution denier?" If the answer is yes they say "You're hired."