REVOLUTION IN EVOLUTION

In the 1930s on through the 1940s, the mention of the word evolution was a rarity until a woman writer, Elle Smith, wrote in her book, "Exploring Biology," that, "Plants and animals have been changing and are now changing … evolution or continuing change of plants and animals has taken place." This was an exceptional statement concerning plants and animals at that time, Skoog said. During the 1930s and 1940s a gradual increase could be seen in the coverage of evolution, but overall the topic continued to be marginalized, Skoog noted.

"It is the loneliest feeling in the world to find yourself standing up when everybody else is sitting down."

Skoog noted that the 1950s were a very conservative period of time for the nation as well as for biology textbooks and the topic tended to be in one of the last chapters. During this McCarthy Period, evolution only appeared in 14 textbooks. "This period of time was not a positive one for evolution until Sputnik came along," Skoog said. Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite launched late 1950s by the Soviets, led the United States to be concerned about falling behind in science education. "This concern sparked an interest in evolution again," said Skoog.

In the 1960s, the activities and influence of the Biological Science Curriculum Study (BSCS) resulted in several textbooks emphasizing evolution. "In previous decades, the discussion of evolution was usually restricted to one or two chapters," said Skoog. "The BSCS curriculum tended to develop, define and discuss the concept of evolution, in an integrated manner throughout textbooks." Skoog found that during the 1960s, biology textbooks gave unprecedented emphasis to evolution.

As a result of this dramatic increase in emphasis, antievolutionists became very active in the 1970s. "The reverse trend occurred and there was a decrease in the overall coverage of the 44 topics," explained Skoog. Word changes in these textbooks resulted in many statements becoming less definite, more cautious, and thus less controversial, than those appearing in earlier editions, said Skoog. "Overall, the textbooks of this period revealed a dramatic decrease in the emphasis given to evolution," he said.

Skoog's research on textbooks in the 1980s found that not much had changed since the 1970s. "Of the six high school biology textbooks published in the early 1970s and revised in the 1980s, the coverage of evolution declined in four and remained the same in two," Skoog explained. Five biology textbooks published in the 1980s, but not the 1970s, tended to cover evolution less extensively than textbooks published 10 years ago, he said.

A revolution for evolution calmed the wind. An unusual change occurred in the 1990s, Skoog explained. For the first time since 1961, that State Board of Education in Texas required that evolution be included in the biology textbooks adopted for use in the 1991-1992 academic year. "Also, judicial rulings during the last 20 years made it evident that legislative and policy mandates that ban evolution or mandate creationism in science textbooks were unconstitutional," said Skoog. "As a result, antievolutionist strategies changed, and they started to focus more on local decisions in individual school districts."

Recently, Skoog has taken his knowledge and funneled it toward testing standards and classrooms. In a soon-to-be-published manuscript, Skoog looks at the emphasis given to concepts of evolution in available state science framework documents for middle and secondary levels. "The state standards documents were the focus of this study because of their potential to produce curricular changes," Skoog explains.

Skoog found that the 50 science frameworks emphasized evolution, however, all concepts were not emphasized equally in these documents. Of the middle and secondary level science frameworks, 92 percent included the overall concept that species change over time as well as the concept of natural selection, said Skoog. "This data provides strong evidence that key concepts or elements concerned with evolutionary theory are receiving a significant emphasis in state policy documents, " he explained.

Skoog concluded that evidence exists that standard-based initiatives to improve schools are reaching into classrooms and gaining the support from teachers. "Because decisions about curriculum and instruction tend to be made locally and by teachers, this support is important, " he said.

Skoog's present interest involves conducting workshops designed to help educators prepare students for state-mandated science tests where student knowledge of evolution will be tested.

Evolution's latest struggle involves its competitors and their fight for equal coverage in the world of knowledge. Whether it is creationism or intelligent design theory, the State Boards of Education will play God in these decisions.

As evolution weaves its way in and out of standards and classrooms not far behind is the echo of the ever-changing society and its opinions. "The evidence is clear that the coverage given to evolution in the biology textbooks of this nation for most of the past century has not been commensurate with its status in the biological sciences," said Skoog. "Our growing evidence of our common humanity and our likeness to other creatures will lift the dark cloud that has hung over the nation's science classrooms and has kept evolution from its rightful place in the curriculum."