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Darwinism Critic Applauds California School District's New Science Policy
Agape Press ^
| March 31, 2006
| Jim Brown
Posted on 04/01/2006 11:05:01 PM PST by balch3
AgapePress) - A southern California school district has voted to allow teachers to present scientific criticisms of evolution in biology class. Under a new policy adopted by the Lancaster School District, "discussions that question the theory of evolution may be appropriate as long as they do not stray from current criteria of scientific fact, hypothesis, and theory."
The school district officials' vote came after a citizens group called Integrity in Academics organized support for the policy change. Attorney Larry Caldwell, president of the group Quality Science Education for All, also backed the new guidelines. Such policies are not frequently found in public schools, Caldwell notes. "This is significant because, in too many school districts around the country, we find that any criticism of Darwinism is suppressed," he says.
Education activists have been advocating revisions in the Lancaster, California, school district with respect to the teaching of evolution for some time now. Besides the changes in the school's science education policy, the district is also looking to adopt new science textbooks: the current texts do not even mention the so-called Cambrian explosion -- a period in the fossil record marked by a geologically sudden appearance of complex multi-cellular macroscopic organisms.
This omission, despite the fact that California's science framework specifically says that the Cambrian explosion should be presented in seventh-grade science, is significant to those who claim much of the evidence and many of the weaknesses of Darwin's evolutionary theory are not adequately addressed in public school science classrooms.
Caldwell is pleased with the Lancaster schools' new guidelines allowing for the scientific questioning of Darwin's theory and the discussion of its flaws in science classrooms. He says getting a school system to adopt a science policy like the one this district has now embraced can be a difficult and daunting task.
"One of the things I was so impressed with in this district," the quality education advocate notes, "is that the assistant superintendent in charge of curriculum, Dr. Howard Sundberg, was the one who actually crafted the policy that was passed. Before he went to the board for the vote, he was able to get the science teachers in the district on board with the policy as well. And that, in my experience, is very rare."
Caldwell, who tried unsuccessfully to get a similar policy passed in Roseville, California, is urging other school systems to follow Lancaster's lead. The Lancaster School District will be adopting new biology textbooks next year.
TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; US: California
KEYWORDS: breaking1111; california; crevolist; darwinism; evolution; id; noodlyappendage; notbreakingnews; truth; wwfsmd; zomgbreakinghard
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To: balch3
The best approach is to do a very good job of teaching mathematics. Few mathematicians accept evolution (although many pretenders that 'teach' math are evolution true believers).
This is why the space program is almost totally creationists.
61
posted on
04/02/2006 3:54:08 PM PDT
by
editor-surveyor
(Atheist and Fool are synonyms; Evolution is where fools hide from the sunrise)
To: Hacksaw
"Why do people think others want to know what they are reading now?" It's a liberal thing. It keeps their brains from filling up with too much reality.
62
posted on
04/02/2006 4:01:53 PM PDT
by
editor-surveyor
(Atheist and Fool are synonyms; Evolution is where fools hide from the sunrise)
To: connectthedots
as I ahve said on numerous occasions, has absolutely no ontrolling authority over any other case.I hope you're right, because I view the Dover decision as a pyrrhic victory for science. Now we have a judge telling us what is and isn't science. As a scientist, I'm concerned that this is the first step toward something like Lysenkoism, or the suppression of "Jewish science" in Nazi Germany. The last thing scientists should want is the government telling us what constitutes true science.
63
posted on
04/02/2006 5:30:56 PM PDT
by
JoeFromSidney
(My book is out. Read excerpts at www.thejusticecooperative.com)
To: demitall
Questioning existing theories and attempting to falsify them IS solid science.
The problem, however, is that the high school level is not the appropriate place for such attempts. Moreover, applying such a standard in a high school cirriculum only to evolution and not to any other scientific explanation can create the false impression that evolution is "less certain" than the rest of science. You will find that this act of deception is often the fundamental goal of those who advocate such standards.
64
posted on
04/03/2006 8:40:32 AM PDT
by
Dimensio
(http://angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif <-- required reading before you use your next apostrophe!)
To: editor-surveyor
This is why the space program is almost totally creationists.
Are you able to support this claim with evidence?
65
posted on
04/03/2006 8:41:24 AM PDT
by
Dimensio
(http://angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif <-- required reading before you use your next apostrophe!)
The Conspiracy That Cares |
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Corrupting the World's Youth Since 1859 |
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April 3, 2006 |
The CrevoSci Archive |
Since June 25, 1999 |
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Box Scores (All values subject to change)
Year |
Threads |
Daily Avg. |
1999 |
42 |
0.12 |
2000 |
120 |
0.33 |
2001 |
256 |
0.70 |
2002 |
442 |
1.21 |
2003 |
542 |
1.48 |
2004 |
520 |
1.42 |
2005 |
1395 |
3.82 |
2006 |
481 |
5.23 |
Totals |
3798 |
1.54 |
Participants |
Banned |
% |
1150 |
129 |
11.22 |
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CrevoSci Threads for the Past Week
- 04/03/2006 Will Offspring Genetic Engineering Cause Population Explosion?
- 04/02/2006 Darwinism Critic Applauds California School District's New Science Policy
- 04/02/2006 DOOMSDAY: UT professor says death is imminent
- 04/02/2006 'Healthy skepticism bill appears to be ailing [Intelligent Design in Missouri]
- 04/02/2006 Meeting Doctor Doom(Saving the Earth with Ebola)
- 04/02/2006 Scientists cheer holocaust wish (professor who wants 90% of human race exterminated by ebola)
- 04/02/2006 Theft of Darwin fish shows fear of science [Smoky Back Room]
- 04/01/2006 Central American Songbird Provides Confirmation of Intelligent Design [Chat]
- 04/01/2006 Intelligent Design supporters say idea in 'infancy', but gaining; biologists disagree [Chat]
- 04/01/2006 More Hints at Early Origin of Stars, Galaxies (Not an April Fool's)
- 04/01/2006 Science Journal: Caveman Crooners May Have Aided Early Human Life
- 03/31/2006 Darwinian Fairytales: Selfish Genes, Errors of Heredity and Other Fables of Evolution [Smoky Back Room]
- 03/31/2006 IBM Scientists Develop New Way to Explore and Control Atom-Scale Magnetism
- 03/31/2006 Light shed on mysterious particle
- 03/31/2006 Prayer Study: Humans Fail to Manipulate God
- 03/31/2006 Testing Darwin's Teachers
- 03/30/2006 Atom Breaks Rules, Beats Friction
- 03/30/2006 Darwinian debate deviates [Science or Culture War?]
- 03/30/2006 Dutchman builds modern Noah's Ark
- 03/30/2006 Scans Show Different Growth for Intelligent Brains
- 03/30/2006 Why the intelligent design lobby thanks God for Richard Dawkins [Smoky Back Room]
- 03/29/2006 DNA could modify itself with no outside help, say biologists
- 03/29/2006 Junk DNA may not be so junky after all
- 03/29/2006 Tiny Bubbles: Oldest Evidence Yet for Methane Makers
- 03/29/2006 Why intelligent design will change everything [Smoky Back Room]
- 03/28/2006 'Galileo Was Wrong,' claims geocentrist writer
- 03/28/2006 Teacher posts evolution challenge
- 03/28/2006 Why the intelligent design lobby thanks God for Richard Dawkins
This week in CrevoSci History
- 04/02/2005 Infectious Evolution: Ancient Virus Hit Apes, Not Our Ancestors, In The Genes
- 04/02/2005 Intelligent Design's Contribution to the Debate over Evolution: A Reply to Herry Morris [Religion]
- 04/02/2005 Would you Adam and Eve it? (Alarmed teacher's union)
- 04/01/2005 A Question of Power: Darwinists on the Losing Side of History
- 04/01/2005 Academic Extinction
- 04/01/2005 Evolution's many incongruities
- 04/01/2005 Ostrich-osaurus [Bloggers]
- 04/01/2005 The Evolution of Man Scientifically Disproved [Finally!]
- 04/01/2005 Your Linemen at Work: DNA Search and Rescue Machine Imaged in Action [Bloggers]
- 04/02/2004 DINOSAUR NATIONAL MONUMENT:JURASSIC PARK OR JURASSIC JUMBLE? [Chat]
- 04/02/2004 New Fossil Links Four-legged Land Animals To Ancient Fish
- 04/01/2004 Evolving Double Standards
- 04/03/2003 UC Riverside Researchers' Discovery Of Electrostatic Spin Topples Century-old Theory
- 04/02/2003 Dinosaur Cannibal: Fossil Evidence Found in Africa
- 04/01/2003 The Five Failed Predictions of Creationism [Smoky Back Room]
- 04/03/2002 Dating Of Turin Shroad Was Incorrect [Chat]
- 04/03/2002 Giant Radio Telescope Tackles Black Holes [Chat]
- 04/03/2002 Spectacular planet show promised
- 04/02/2002 Science and Religion: Lessons from History?
- 04/01/2002 ADL Opposes Teaching of 'Intelligent Design' in Schools
- 04/03/2001 The wonder of the Eye, could only have been a creation by God
- 04/02/2001 29 Evidences for Macroevolution, Thread The Next
- 04/02/2000 The Magic of Evolutionary Speciation, Part II
- 04/02/2000 Tornado in a Junkyard: Another nail in Evolutions Coffin
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66
posted on
04/03/2006 9:03:23 AM PDT
by
Junior
(Identical fecal matter, alternate diurnal period)
To: JoeFromSidney
The last thing scientists should want is the government telling us what constitutes true science. Perhaps the last thing we want is a secondary school board telling us that one particular religious view constitutes true science?
There is a good quote in a recent Science News, vol. 168 (Nos 26 & 27), p. 414:
What is intelligent design? It's the missing link between creationism and religious instruction masquerading as biology.
Bruce Bower
67
posted on
04/03/2006 9:14:22 AM PDT
by
Coyoteman
(I love the sound of beta decay in the morning!)
To: D-fendr
yes, one would expect greater diversity now rather than earlier.
with the following caveats and exceptions...
1. many branches dead-end and die out
2. mass extinctions cause a series of narrowings in biodiversity, each mass extinction is followed by a re-expansion of biodiversity
68
posted on
04/03/2006 1:02:27 PM PDT
by
King Prout
(many complain I am overly literal. this would not be a problem if so many were not under-precise)
To: Dimensio
This is why the space program is almost totally creationists.
Are you able to support this claim with evidence? It's straight from the source, which is some guy on the internet. What could be more credible than that?
To: Coyoteman
Perhaps the last thing we want is a secondary school board telling us that one particular religious view constitutes true science?The school board was voted out. The ballot box worked.
70
posted on
04/03/2006 2:18:11 PM PDT
by
JoeFromSidney
(My book is out. Read excerpts at www.thejusticecooperative.com)
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