Science Report Cards

The Fordham Foundation has released a report on state science standards for public schools. This report was compiled by a board of experts in various scientific fields, including Paul Gross, Panda's Thumb contributor and co-author with Barbara Forrest of Creationism's Trojan Horse. You can scroll through the state-by-state list and see how yours did. The good news for Michigan is that on the specific subject of evolution, we received the highest score possible (3 out of 3); the bad news is that our overall score was a 'D' (48 out of a possible 100).

The two major complaints that the foundation had with the Michigan standards were the lack of detailed lists of concepts to be covered grade by grade, and the lack of adequate coverage of physics in high school. They say that the standards are poorly organized, too vague, and lack specific substantive content, particularly in chemistry and physics. So there is clearly work to be done.

One of the things that we talk about at MCFS is the need to go beyond fighting defensively against attempts to put creationism into science classrooms, to work also at the task of improving science education at all levels. To that end, MCFS board member Greg Forbes has developed a training program for science teachers to help them teach biology more effectively, while Rob Pennock works with the National Academy of Sciences to improve science standards nationwide.