National Center for Science Education

The textbook watchdog William J. Bennetta died on September 26, 2018, at the age of 79, according to a notice from the Cremation Society of Virginia.

NCSE's deputy director Glenn Branch contributed "Why Is It So Hard to Teach Climate Change?" to the October 2018 issue of Earth magazine, published by the American Geosciences Institute.

NCSE is pleased to announce that the latest issue of Reports of the National Center for Science Education is now available on-line. The issue — volume 38, number 4 — is the twelfth issue in the newsletter's new, streamlined, and full-color format.

"Parents and teachers on Monday [September 24, 2018] rallied outside an Arizona Board of Education meeting, and then took turns during the meeting blasting a proposal to remove references to evolution and climate change from state science standards," reported the Arizona Republic (September 24, 2018).

In a September 20, 2018, letter (PDF), the American Institute of Biological Sciences called on the Arizona state board of education to reject draft science standards that are to be presented to the board at its September 24, 2018, meeting.

As the latest draft (PDF) of a new set of state science standards for Arizona is apparently on its way to the state board of education for its approval, concerns about the compromised treatment of evolution remain — and have been now joined by concerns about the deletion of material about climate change.

The National Science Teachers Association issued a position statement on the teaching of climate science on September 13, 2018.

In a column (September 11, 2018) for Education Week, NCSE's executive director Ann Reid warned of the obstacles to effective climate change education — campaigns to promote doubt and denial, inadequate preparation provided for teachers, and the ideological polarization o

NCSE is delighted to congratulate Michael E. Mann on his selection to receive the 2018 Climate Communication Prize from the American Geological Union. The prize is conferred annually in recognition for communication of climate science.

The distinguished geneticist Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza died on August 31, 2018, at the age of 96, according to La Repubblica (September 1, 2018).

NCSE bids farewell to Claire Adrian-Tucci, who joined NCSE in 2016.

NCSE's Deputy Director takes exception to the idea that proposed changes to a draft of state science standards in Arizona which dilute the teaching of evolution are "unremarkable and unobjectionable."

Writing for Scientific American's blog (August 21, 2018), Craig A. Foster of the US Air Force Academy and NCSE's Glenn Branch discuss what "seems to have been the first systematic attempt to assess the American population's views on the shape of the Earth." 

Renowned climate scientist Michael E. Mann and author and illustrator Megan Herbert provide insight into their new children's book about climate change, The Tantrum That Saved the World.

The Tantrum that Saved the World, a children's book about climate change written by Michael E. Mann and Megan Herbert, is reviewed by a fifth grade teacher and her students.

"A record 60% of Americans now think that global warming is happening and that humans are at least partially responsible for the rising temperature," according (PDF) to the latest survey from the National Studies on Energy and the Environment conducted by the University of Michigan and Muhlenberg College.

In a memorandum (PDF) dated August 7, 2018, NCSE's executive director Ann Reid wrote to oppose the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed rule "Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science" and to urge the EPA to withdraw its proposal.

NCSE is seeking to hire a part-time fall intern to assist with the national launch of the Science Booster Club program.

A study showing that NCSE's Science Booster Club Program's no-conflict approach increased community science literacy and engagement was just published in JCOM Journal of Science Communication.

As the only national organization that is wholly dedicated to defending the teaching of evolution and climate change in the public schools, NCSE is the perfect place to find someone to speak to your organization or university about issues relevant to evolution and climate education and attacks on either or both.