Diane Douglas defends evolution alterations in new science standards
May 23, 2018, 12:45 PM | Updated: 7:26 pm
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PHOENIX — Arizona’s top education official said concerns about how references to evolution were changed in a proposed update of school science standards are misguided.
“Let’s make it very clear,” Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday. “Evolution has not been removed from the science standards in any way shape or form.”
The department replaced some references to evolution with words like “biological diversity” or added qualifiers to the word, according to a draft of the proposed changes.
“A word in a sentence changed to make the sentence more inclusive, more comprehensive, more accurate is nothing even close to removing evolution from the standards,” Douglas said.
Douglas said the science standards haven’t been changed since 2004-05 and an update was overdue. She said school standards are typically updated every 5-7 years.
The public can comment on the draft science standards until Monday. The standards are expected to be presented to the state Board of Education for consideration later this year.
Douglas said she hasn’t yet heard any complaints from parents about the proposed standards.
She said the concerns came from science association members and teachers who produced a draft of the standards, which was edited through the review process.
“May a word have been changed here or there? Yes, to improve the standards, make them more comprehensive, more complete,” she said. “And to make sure that we are appropriately teaching science.”
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Martha Maurer and the Associated Press contributed to this report.