Listen to scientists and teachers, not Diane Douglas, on teaching evolution in Arizona

Opinion: Even if Diane Douglas is a lame duck, she remains a threat to the integrity of science education in Arizona, a Nobel Prize winner says.

Leland Hartwell
opinion contributor
Evolution is systematically downplayed in the proposed new set of state science standards soon to be considered by the state board of education.

The scientific literacy of Arizona’s students is at risk. Evolution is systematically downplayed in the proposed new set of state science standards soon to be considered by the state board of education.

As the National Academy of Sciences — the nation’s leading scientific organization, of which we have the honor to be members — emphasizes, evolution is “thoroughly tested and confirmed ... strong and well-supported ... one of the strongest and most useful theories we have.”

Yet the proposed standards feebly describe it as “an explanation” for the unity and diversity of life.

Why common ancestry matters

The flaws of the standards extend further than misrepresenting the scientific status of evolution. Of particular concern is the omission of any mention of common ancestry: the principle that organisms have descended, with modification, from shared ancestors.

Common ancestry is at the center of the evolutionary sciences, and the evidence for it is massive. Understanding common ancestry is important not only theoretically but also practically, in fields of applied science such as agriculture, conservation and medicine.

The sources on which the proposed standards are modeled affirm common ancestry. “Working with Big Ideas of Science Education,” which supplied the Big Ideas used in the standards, correctly states, “All life today is directly descended from a universal common ancestor.”

The National Research Council’s “A Framework for K-12 Education” similarly emphasizes the importance of understanding the evidence of common ancestry as part of understanding biological evolution. And yet common ancestry is not to be found in the current draft of the standards.

Douglas believes in intelligent design

The reason for these flaws and omissions is clear.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas is on record as stating that intelligent design, a brand of creationism, ought to be taught with evolution in public school science classrooms, despite the unbroken string of federal court decisions finding that teaching creationism in the public schools is unconstitutional.

Douglas’ staff subsequently sabotaged the treatment of evolution in a prior draft of the standards. She then appointed a creationist to the committee charged with revising the portions of the standards addressing evolution.

Arizona’s science teachers, the professionals primarily responsible for implementing whatever standards the board adopts, understand the importance of evolution in science education.

Send the standards back for a rewrite

The Arizona Science Teachers Association recognizes that “evolution is a major unifying concept in science and should be emphasized in K–12 frameworks and curricula,” in part because “[t]he teaching of evolution will provide a level of scientific literacy needed to be well-informed citizens and prepared for college and STEM careers.”

These are the views, not Douglas’s, that the board ought to heed.

Douglas is on her way out, owing to her failure to secure her party’s nomination for her post. But the proposed standards to which she caused so much damage still pose a threat to the integrity of science education in Arizona’s public schools, which would linger for years to come.

When the state board of education is asked to approve these standards, it should refuse. Instead, the board should return the standards to the department of education, insisting on a revision by qualified scientists and educators to ensure that evolution — including common ancestry — is presented accurately and thoroughly.

Leland Hartwell is director and professor at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Pathfinder Center. He won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Reach him at Lee.Hartwell@asu.edu.

The piece was co-signed by Jane Buikstra, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, ASU; Noam Chomsky, University of Arizona; Stanley R. Hart, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Bert Hölldobler, School of Life Sciences; ASU; Michael Lynch, Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution, ASU: Cherry Murray, Harvard University (currently on sabbatical at the University of Arizona); George Rieke, Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, UA; Marcia J. Rieke, Astronomy, UA; Anne Stone, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, ASU; Billie Turner II, School of Sustainability, ASU.

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