Creationism in the Classroom

A little buzz was generated last week over a survey, published by the Public Library of Science Biology, that examined high school science teachers’ attitudes toward creationism. According to the report, roughly 13 percent of teachers present creationism and intelligent design as a viable alternative to evolution in the classroom. Other interesting tidbits:

• 25 percent devote at least one or two classroom hours to creationism and intelligent design


• 60 percent spend between one and five hours on evolution


• 2 percent do not teach evolution at all

As with most other surveys, a number of grey areas emerge within the data. For example, a number of teachers surveyed say they address creationism with the intent of essentially discrediting it, or at least discussing why it doesn’t belong in a science classroom. And some teachers who don’t believe in evolution still feel obligated to teach it. Nonetheless, the report concludes that, overall, between 12 and 16 percent of the nation’s biology teachers are “creationist in origin.”

US courts have repeatedly ruled that creationism and intelligent design are religion, not science, and therefore have no place in science classrooms. So what’s going on? Ultimately, it’s up to the individual to implement the curriculum, and science teachers have different religious views and, as the report points out, different levels of education. For example, the survey’s data suggests that teachers with more college level credits in biology devote more time to evolution than their colleagues with fewer credits.

The report then naturally recommends that all teachers be required to complete a course in evolutionary biology.

"The extra background could make a large difference" says the study’s author, Michael Berkman of Penn State. "The legal ruling and legislative victories are clearly necessary for evolution to maintain its proper place in the biology curriculum, but they are not sufficient."

Of course, compared to the 40 percent of the overall population who believe in creationism over evolution, 13 percent of science teachers seems quite low.