It seems that the world is not heading towards an era of darkness, superstition and idiocy, as we have seen with the statements of some public figures about 5G, the coronavirus or vaccines .
At least not in all respects. When it comes to the teaching of creationism in American schools , at least we can be satisfied.
Creationism VS Evolution
Results from a study published June 10 show that the proportion of US high school biology teachers teaching creationism as a scientifically valid alternative to evolution has fallen from 32% in 2007 to 18% in 2019 .
Additionally, the amount of class time spent studying human evolution has skyrocketed by almost 90%.
According to the study authors: "We show that these changes reflect both generational replacement, on the part of teachers who are new to the profession, and changes in teaching practices among those who taught in the era before the famous Kitzmiller case." .
"Tammy Kitzmiller, and Others Against the School District of Dover" was the first direct challenge to be made in a United States federal court against a public school district that demanded an explanation of "intelligent design" as an alternative to evolution. as for the "explanation of the origin of life." The judge ruled that intelligent design is not a scientific concept, and therefore could not be taught as science in schools .
Reviewing the state of evolution in education is important because the 2007 survey was conducted in the field less than 2 years after the well-publicized Kitzmiller v. Dover. The decision in that case was unequivocal: Creationism, even in its most recent guise of intelligent design, was religious in nature and could not be taught in public school science classrooms. Kitzmiller v. Dover represented the latest in a long line of cases protecting the teaching of evolution and seemed to end any serious effort to openly introduce creationism.
Furthermore, in the last 10 years we have seen significant efforts to promote the teaching of evolution . Organizations such as the National Science Teaching Association, the National Association of Biology Teachers, and the National Academy of Sciences have developed classroom reports and resources, professional development opportunities, and more to advance the inclusion of evolution in the nation’s classrooms.