A survey of high school biology teachers shows a significant percentage still advocate and teach creationism in the classroom, despite clear court rulings prohibiting that practice. Many more offer only a cautious, tepid introduction to evolution.
[O]nly 28 percent of those teachers consistently and “unabashedly” introduce evidence that evolution has happened, and build lesson plans with evolution as a unifying theme linking different topics in biology.
At the opposite extreme, 13 percent of teachers explicitly endorse creationism or intelligent design, and spend at least on hour of class time presenting it in a positive light. An additional 5 percent reported that they support creationism in passing or when answering students’ questions.
The remaining fraction of teachers, who Berkman and Plutzer dub the “cautious 60 percent,” avoids choosing sides. Often these teachers have not taken courses in evolutionary biology and lack confidence in their ability to answer questions from skeptical or hostile students and parents.
While proponents of teaching creationism in public school science classes have been soundly and consistently defeated in courts, they have nonetheless managed to cow our nation's biology teachers. And our students suffer as a result.
