Professional Documents
Culture Documents
I
n 2004, the school board in Dover, Teaching Evolution: Law, Policy,
Pennsylvania, voted to require and Practice
its 9th grade science teachers
Unlike John Scopes (see Figure 1), the
to read a statement questioning
Tennessee biology teacher convicted
the validity of evolutionary theory.
of teaching evolution (a conviction
“Because Darwin’s Theory is a theory,”
upheld in the 1925 case of Tennessee v.
teachers were instructed to say, “it
John Scopes), the plaintiffs and teachers
continues to be tested as new evidence
in Dover prevailed in the courts when
is discovered. The Theory is not a
the Dover classroom disclaimer was
fact. Gaps in the Theory exist for
declared unconstitutional. Consistent
which there is no evidence.” Students
with earlier cases in other states,
in Dover High School were also
the court in Kitzmiller v. Dover found
encouraged to explore the concept
that ID—like other more explicitly
of intelligent design (ID), described
religious alternatives to evolution—
in the statement as “an explanation
must be excluded from public school
of the origin of life that differs from
classrooms as a violation of the
Darwin’s view.” Multiple copies of
Constitution’s Establishment Clause
the ID text Of Pandas and People were
[10,11]. Judge John E. Jones III’s
made available, and the school board doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060124.g001 ruling could not have been stronger:
stated that “Students are encouraged
the Dover school board’s actions were
to keep an open mind. The school Figure 1. John Scopes
of “breath-taking inanity” and an
leaves the discussion of the Origins of On May 7, 1925, John T. Scopes was arrested
for teaching evolution at Rhea County High “utter waste of monetary and personal
Life to individual students and their
School in Dayton, Tennessee. When the resources [1].”
families”[1]. famous “monkey trial” ended, Scopes was Victories in cases like Kitzmiller are
By promoting ID and questioning convicted of violating a Tennessee law that
made it a crime to “teach any theory that important to the scientific community,
evolution, Dover’s elected school
denies the story of the Divine Creation of man which devotes time and resources to
board aligned itself with national as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead exclude the teaching of nonscientific
public opinion, which consistently that man is descended from a lower order
of animals.” Since that time, teachers have
alternatives to evolutionary theory.
shows a majority favors teaching
been on the front lines of the battles between These victories have paid dividends
Biblical creationism in addition to evolutionary biology and alternatives such as in policies at the state and local level.
evolution [2]. Moreover, a 2005 intelligent design and creationism. Although the United States has no
poll conducted by the Pew Forum
national curriculum guidelines or
on Religion and Public Life reports is not true. To refer the students to
that 38% of Americans would prefer ‘Of Pandas and People’ as if it is a Citation: Berkman MB, Pacheco JS, Plutzer E (2008)
that creationism was taught instead scientific resource breaches my ethical Evolution and creationism in America’s classrooms:
of evolution [3]. But the Dover obligation to provide them with A national portrait. PLoS Biol 6(5): e124. doi:10.1371/
journal.pbio.0060124
public school teachers, citing ethical scientific knowledge that is supported
obligations, were unmoved by public by recognized scientific proof or Copyright: © 2008 Berkman et al. This is an
pressure and refused to comply with open-access article distributed under the terms
theory” [1]. of the Creative Commons Attribution License,
their board’s directive. The high which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
To scientists, the teachers’ position
school’s science teachers issued a reproduction in any medium, provided the original
is noncontroversial. Alternative author and source are credited.
statement arguing:
approaches to evolution like ID are
Abbreviations: ID, intelligent design; NSES, National
“…if I as the classroom teacher read a “hoax” at best and “faith” at worst Science Education Standards
the required statement, my students [4,5]; in neither case do they have
will inevitably (and understandably) any place in a science curriculum. Michael B. Berkman is Professor of Political Science,
Julianna Sandell Pacheco is a Ph.D. candidate in
believe that Intelligent Design is a The National Academy of Sciences Political Science, and Eric Plutzer is Professor of
valid scientific theory, perhaps on calls evolution “the central concept Political Science and Academic Director of the Penn
par with the theory of evolution. That State Survey Research Center in the Department of
of biology” [6], and three respected Political Science, The Pennsylvania State University,
national organizations have provided University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of
model high school curriculum America.
Essays articulate a specific perspective on a topic of
broad interest to scientists.
guidelines with evolution as a unifying * To whom correspondence should be addressed.
theme [7–9]. E-mail: mbb1@psu.edu