Texas may start teaching against Evolution in high schools...

[Stumblingdrunk]

As long as people know what "scientific" means, we should be OK.

If you had listened to the live feed from the BoE meeting you would know that is not the case

[Eratosthenes]

If you had listened to the live feed from the BoE meeting you would know that is not the case

Well in that case, I get to hope for some sweet, juicy lawsuits.

[Devek]

I ran across this today, lol.. I can barely skim past the first sentence in most of those posts without my brain wanting to explode.

Amazon.com: Creationism is just as racist as evolution - science Discussion Forum

[Nara]

Hmmm.. I smell Seperation of Church and State Claims incoming..

[guartz]

How to annoy Christians:

1) Teach evolution in classes
2) Wait for sneaky Christian scientists to bring up Intelligent Design and Irreducible Complexity and pretend like they are not Christians.
3) Casually mention that Irreducible Complexity doesn't take into account that parts can mutate to accommodate new parts.
4) Wait for them to finish explaining Irreducible Complexity again, since they didn't understand what just happened.
5) Tell them that Irreducible Complexity is brought on by evolution and not Intelligent Designer.
6) Watch them freak out and reveal their true identity.
7) ????
8) Profit

[0ni0n]

I wonder what will happen if someone brought the case demanding every church preach evolution during their masses and Sunday services.

[Yeager]

Well....the bill passed apparently. I heard it on the local news over the weekend.

lolTexas indeed....but I blame the bible thumping Republicans.

In before lolTexas shitstorm.

[Xno Kappa]

Fucking pitiful, this is exactly the reason why the United States education system is falling behind at such a rapid pace when compared to other developed countries. Religious fags continue to cue in against logic with their fucking fantasies.

[ertyu]

Maybe text book companies will go based off of California instead of Texas? We can only pray.

[thatwasnifty]

I look forward to the impending lawsuit.

[Kaeko]

Well....the bill passed apparently. I heard it on the local news over the weekend.

lolTexas indeed....but I blame the bible thumping Republicans.

In before lolTexas shitstorm.

To be honest, there are bigger, more glaring issues in the education system, especially in Southern states such as Texas. Changing a few lines to be more ambiguous in a science text won't change much.

I'll give you guys an idea of education in Texas. The "No Child Left Behind" Act Bush pushed was idealized by the former Houston I.S.D. supervisor, Rod Paige, who would become Bush's education chief. He is/was hailed as an educator genius for developing the TAAS test, a 'comprehensive' exam all Texas high schoolers must pass before graduating high school. It included basic math, writing, and verbal sections. Students were taught in a manner that would best prepare them to succeed in this test, given in 10th grade (11th and 12th if you failed).

The first year this exam was given, Texas scores were absolutely woeful, especially for underrepresented minority students, many of which did not know English. Paige was hailed, however, because the scores and pass rates improved year after year, showing that the TAAS and teaching the core concepts of the TAAS improved high school students' knowledge of core concepts. After 10 years, passing rates nearly doubled across the board.

The catch: it was found later upon closer review that the improved pass rates were skewed. Why? Because the test became progressively EASIER year after year. The students were not getting smarter - the test was getting easier. By the time this realization occurred, Paige was already implementing "No Child Left Behind" as Bush's top education chief. Back in Texas, we tried to revamp the test, ditching the TAAS for a new version called the TAKS, which included the 3 original sections of the TAAS at higher difficulty in addition to science and social science sections.

My year was the last year that would use the TAAS test, but we were asked to take a preliminary version of the TAKS test to gauge difficulty. My teachers in the AP classes had to give us incentives to not screw around on the exam because it didn't actually count - it was really a joke (e.g. what is the first element on the periodic table?). However, when the scores came back, the statewide pass rate was in in the 50%s. The science section in particular was in the 30% pass rate range.

There are some very good public schools in Texas - I was lucky to be in one - but overall the education system here, especially for Science, is incredibly poor. Philosophical debates on ID vs. evolution are a big waste of damn time, especially in this state. It's nice to want kids to think for themselves, but they have to know the basics first or it's not science, but a popularity contest.

[Stiker]

Actually, the biggest problem with TAAS/TAKS is that the schools teach to the tests instead of actually caring about their students actually learning anything, IMO. Until the stupid testing system gets the boot, things won't get much better no matter how many times they change the exams.

[Devek]

They can't test for problem solving and creativity.

How well do the kids know what they don't know, and can they use Google?

[Jer]

While I do think it is only going to further harm their system, I also agree that there is a lot of other things wrong. As somebody pointed out, it is not even just the Texas system that is pretty much fucked.

They can't test for problem solving and creativity.

Sure you can. Lock them in a room that is slowly filling with water and give them a matchbook, a light bulb, and a piece of tinfoil.

[Dimmauk]

To be honest, there are bigger, more glaring issues in the education system, especially in Southern states such as Texas. Changing a few lines to be more ambiguous in a science text won't change much.

I'll give you guys an idea of education in Texas. The "No Child Left Behind" Act Bush pushed was idealized by the former Houston I.S.D. supervisor, Rod Paige, who would become Bush's education chief. He is/was hailed as an educator genius for developing the TAAS test, a 'comprehensive' exam all Texas high schoolers must pass before graduating high school. It included basic math, writing, and verbal sections. Students were taught in a manner that would best prepare them to succeed in this test, given in 10th grade (11th and 12th if you failed).

The first year this exam was given, Texas scores were absolutely woeful, especially for underrepresented minority students, many of which did not know English. Paige was hailed, however, because the scores and pass rates improved year after year, showing that the TAAS and teaching the core concepts of the TAAS improved high school students' knowledge of core concepts. After 10 years, passing rates nearly doubled across the board.

The catch: it was found later upon closer review that the improved pass rates were skewed. Why? Because the test became progressively EASIER year after year. The students were not getting smarter - the test was getting easier. By the time this realization occurred, Paige was already implementing "No Child Left Behind" as Bush's top education chief. Back in Texas, we tried to revamp the test, ditching the TAAS for a new version called the TAKS, which included the 3 original sections of the TAAS at higher difficulty in addition to science and social science sections.

My year was the last year that would use the TAAS test, but we were asked to take a preliminary version of the TAKS test to gauge difficulty. My teachers in the AP classes had to give us incentives to not screw around on the exam because it didn't actually count - it was really a joke (e.g. what is the first element on the periodic table?). However, when the scores came back, the statewide pass rate was in in the 50%s. The science section in particular was in the 30% pass rate range.

There are some very good public schools in Texas - I was lucky to be in one - but overall the education system here, especially for Science, is incredibly poor. Philosophical debates on ID vs. evolution are a big waste of damn time, especially in this state. It's nice to want kids to think for themselves, but they have to know the basics first or it's not science, but a popularity contest.

Didnt the schools that had better test scores also get more money for the school? It seemed like the school cared more about the money, and less about the students actually learning.

[Jefe]

Fucking pitiful, this is exactly the reason why the United States education system is falling behind at such a rapid pace when compared to other developed countries. Religious fags continue to cue in against logic with their fucking fantasies.

It's cool 2bhatin' on religion. However, there are a multitude of factors that contribute to a shitty ed. sys. here in the good ol US of A (low standards, shitty salaries for teachers, unions, no after school programs, etc.). I've tutored children from Compton, and one of my friends was a teacher. He had the typical "I want to make a difference" mentality. Holly shit, he quit the job like after two weeks. I remember him describing the children as "a pack of wild animals" lol. He was getting paid less than me. But yeah, no money no honey.

[Neosutra]

Perhaps it isnt the education system, but rather the fact that people in Texas are just dumber?

And @ Kaeko: Not worrying about "a few lines changed" due to bigger problems is missing the entire point. It is an attack on science/education itself, and allowing just those "2 lines" in the amendments would allow for huge steps backwards in science education.

[Kaeko]

I think this amendment "compromise" is just a way for ID and creationism backers to get "their foot in the door", so it can be dangerous; however, when it comes to basic science learning, I'll accept the average Texan believing in ID over evolution if they will just learn some of the more basic ideas of science - not knowing the first element of the periodic table after 4 years of high school, for instance, is alarming.

Also, Dimmauk, yes TAKS scores can get your school more funding. An example of this is the high school I went to - our school had one of the worst TAAS/TAKS failure rates in H.I.S.D. (bottom 10% I believe) and our drop out rate was well above average as well, so our funding there was low. Basically you aced the thing or you failed miserably, no middle ground. There are other ways to generate the funding; however, such as getting people to take AP exams (schools are given bonuses by # of APs they give), and national merit scholars (huge bonuses here, I believe our school was 3rd in nation in public school national merits). There was no middle ground in our school. Take the AP-honors versions of the courses or be left behind.

Where I went is a good example of the school bending over backwards for the top 25% of the class and just leaving behind the rest of the students. For instance, I remember having scheduling issues my senior year and was placed in a non-AP version of a course (computer science, but was called B.C.I.S.). We were supposed to learn how to use Microsoft excel, pp, and word but we didn't even do that. My midterm was watching the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report and writing a 1 page plot summary. Lots of things are screwed up in the education system - the evolution debate hits more close to home because of what I do, but seriously there are bigger issues.

[Penthesilea]

if they will just learn some of the more basic ideas of science - not knowing the first element of the periodic table after 4 years of high school, for instance, is alarming.

it's He right?

[Skjie]

it's He right?

I'm going to assume you're trolling.