Rural Iowa. Photo by Josh Berendes on Unsplash.
References to climate change and evolution have been removed from a proposed revision of Iowa's state science standards — apparently after the committee charged with reviewing and revising the standards completed its work.
In the proposed revision of the standards, the word "evolution" was scrubbed, although not completely, from the standards: for example, "Biological Evolution" became "Biological Change Over Time," "evolutionary relationships" became "relationships," and "simultaneous coevolution" became "simultaneous change." A reference to the 4.6-billion-year age of the earth was removed. Similarly, "climate change" became "climate trends," while references to impacts of human activity on the environment became references to impacts on the environment.
NCSE Deputy Director Glenn Branch told KCRG News in Cedar Rapids (January 14, 2025) that the adoption of the revised standards would not prevent teachers from discussing evolution and climate change, "[b]ut it would make it harder for teachers who don't feel comfortable because they haven't had sufficient preparation for doing so or because they fear community backlash." He added, "These changes send a misleading signal, a downright false signal that there's something wrong with talking about evolution and climate change in science classrooms."
Referring to the committee charged with reviewing and revising the standards, KCRG News reported that it "obtained a copy of the documents that committee sent to the department of education, and it doesn't match the documents released Tuesday to the public." KCRG News later (January 15, 2025) reported that at a public forum, two members of the committee said that the problematic revisions were not present in the document prepared by the committee. The department refused to answer questions about the source of the revisions.
The proposed revision of the state science standards is undergoing public comment until February 3, 2025; NCSE encourages Iowans concerned about the integrity of science education in their state to voice their opinions.
