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Believe it or not, the word "evolution" doesn't currently have a home in the official science standards for Florida's public schools. But under proposed new standards, science teachers wouldn't have to resort to guesswork to determine if the evolutionary principles they discuss fall within state guidelines.
The new standards, which members of the State Board of Education will consider for adoption early next year, are likely to rekindle the debate over science and religion, and what's appropriately taught in public schools.
Under the plan, evolution and biological diversity are together considered one of several "big ideas," firmly grounded by "multiple forms of scientific evidence."
The proposal not only deserves strong public support, but also raises the question: What took so long?
The absence of evolution from Florida's current standards, adopted more than a decade ago, is just one example of weak, vague content - a shortcoming that contributed to a humiliating grade of F that Florida received in a 2005 Fordham Institute report on state-by-state science standards.
In the same report, Massachusetts received an A, and educators say there is a clear connection between strong, specific standards and educational outcomes. Massachusetts also is consistently at the top of the national heap in science and math achievement.
Florida students, on the other hand, have not performed well on state, national and international science achievement measures. Achievement gaps persist throughout demographic subgroups, and graduating seniors are often scientifically underprepared for both college and the work force.
Since last May, almost 60 people from across Florida, many of them teachers and professors, have been framing and writing the K-12 science standards. They include benchmarks based on the "big ideas" that include evolution.
"The nature of science is about inquiry; we teach students to problem-solve and find evidence," said Mary Jane Tappen, executive director of the Office of Math and Science in the state Department of Education.
"We want to develop scientific thinkers, we want to develop students who do question and, based on the evidence they find, draw their own conclusions."
Precisely. World-class science standards include coherence, focus and rigor, and schools that lack them can't honestly contend they're world-class schools. In an increasingly complex, technological world, scientific literacy is not a luxury, but a necessity - especially if Florida expects to compete successfully in a global economy.
For science education in our state to be competitive, it must include the teaching of evolution and the explicit acknowledgment that empirical evidence over the past century and a half strongly supports it.
While some insist on making this issue a debate between science and religion, they are sadly misguided. Many top-flight scientists are people of faith, but they understand that their religious beliefs are not science - although their scientific knowledge may well deepen their faith, not undermine it.
Similarly, many widely respected theologians appreciate that scientific inquiry is, from their perspective, a tool to help glimpse the divine.
Regardless of one's personal beliefs, it's important that those who make the final decisions not operate in a policy vacuum. That's why education officials are seeking public comment on the standards that have been drafted.
Let your voice be heard.
On the Web: http://etc.usf.edu/flstandards/index.html
Go to Science and choose either the Science revision section or the Science resource section.
If you choose the revision section, you can select a unique identifier and then review each proposed standard and benchmark, and provide your comments.