Kansas USD 383: Kansas State University Letter
We, the undersigned faculty and professional staff of Kansas State University science departments, express our continued commitment to maintaining the highest quality science education for the children of USD 383 and Kansas. We are also concerned about the negative impact the Science Standards recently passed by the Kansas State Board of Education will have on our children, our community, and Kansas State University. We are especially concerned about the continued high quality of science teaching, and the continuing recruitment efforts to bring talented workers and educators to our community. We ask that you adopt the following resolution:
USD 383 endorses the following definition of science developed by the Kansas Science Education Standards Revision Committee on March 9, 2005, a definition consistent with that of all major professional science organizations in this country:
Science is a human activity of systematically seeking natural explanations for what we observe in the world around us. Throughout history people from many cultures have used the methods of science to contribute to scientific knowledge and technological innovations, making science a worldwide enterprise. Scientists test explanations against the natural world, logically integrating observations and tested hypotheses with accepted explanations to gradually build more reliable and accurate understandings of nature. Scientific explanations must be testable and repeatable, and findings must be confirmed through additional observation and experimentation. As it is practiced in the late 20th and early 27st century, science is restricted to explaining only the natural world, using only natural cause. This is because science currently has no tools to test explanations using non-natural (such as supernatural) causes.
The Science Standards that use this definition will be used in science curricula in all appropriate USD 383 K-12 science courses.
USD 383 does not support the redefinition of science included in the Science Standards passed by the Kansas State Board of Education on November 8, 2005; this document changed the definition of science to allow non-natural (including supernatural) explanations of natural phenomena.
The reasons we urge you not to support the Science Standards passed by the Kansas State School Board that redefine science include the following:
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Adoption of these standards will diminish the quality of science teaching in USD 383 and disadvantage our children relative to their peers in states that adhere to the standard practice of science.
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The Kansas State Board of Education standards have created enormous negative publicity, which threatens to compromise K-State and local business efforts to recruit and retain highly qualified professionals to the district.
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The Kansas State Board of Education standards singled out evolution for criticism while excluding other scientific theories from such criticism. We think this is unfair and suggests there may be ulterior motives at work, such as the introduction of a particular religious viewpoint into the curriculum. In Kitzmiller v. Dover, a federal district judge has ruled actions such as this to be unconstitutional.
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There is clear concern in all quarters that U.S students are falling farther and farther behind worldwide norms. It is highly predictable that students from other countries will gain even more on U.S. students, as measured by achievement, if we accept the modified definition of science recently adopted by the Kansas State Board of Education.
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The changes made to the science standards are based on the utterly false belief that evolutionary science, and the scientific method itself, is based on an atheistic philosophy. Promoting this false conflict between science and faith erects unnecessary barriers to student learning, discourages many students from pursuing careers in the sciences, and perpetuates public misunderstandings of the nature and conclusions of science.
Signed,
Michael Herman Associate Professor Biology
Gary W. Conrad University Distinguished Professor Biology
Walter Dodds Professor Biology
Carolyn Ferguson Assistant Professor Biology
Anthony Jeorn Professor Biology
Loretta Johnson Associate Professor Biology
A. Lorena Passarelli Assistant Professor Biology
A. Spencer Tomb Associate Professor Biology
Mark Ungerer Assistant Professor Biology
John Staver Professor Education Center for Science Education
Ruth Douglas Miller Associate Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering
Keith B. Miller Research Assistant Professor Geology
Bruce Glymour Associate Professor Philosophy Director, Center for Origins
Timothy Bolton Professor Physics
Bharat Ratra Professor Physics
Michel D. Ransom Professor Agronomy Assistant Head for Teaching
Charles W. Rice Professor Agronomy
James P. Shroyer Professor Agronomy
John Tatarko Adjunct Professor Agronomy
Paul White Research Assistant Agronomy
Kimberly Kramer Assistant Professor Architectural Engineering and Construction Science
Larry Davis Professor Biochemistry
Michael Kanost University Distinguished Professor and Mead Biochemistry
Karl Kramer Adjunct Professor Emeritus Biochemistry
S. Muthukrishnan Professor Biochemistry
Thomas Roche Professor Biochemistry
Qize Wei Assistant Professor Biochemistry
Anna Zolkiewska Associate Professor Biochemistry
Michal Zolkiewski Associate Professor Biochemistry
James K. Koelliker Professor Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Kyle R. Mankin Associate Professor Biological and Agricultural Engineering
Kasutra Asano Assistant Professor Biology
Susan Brown Associate Professor Biology
Stephen K Chapes Professor Biology
Rollie Clem Associate Professor Biology
Abigail Conrad Research Professor Biology
Jack Cully Associate Professor Biology
Robin Denell University Distinguished Professor Biology Director, Johnson Center for Basic Cancer Research
Keith Gido Assistant Professor Biology
Lynn Hancock Assistant Professor Biology
David C. Hartnett University Distinguished Professor Biology
Helmut Hirt Assistant Professor Biology
Eva Horne Research Assistant Professor Biology
Ari Jumpponen Assistant Professor Biology
Donald Kaufman Professor Biology
George Marchin Associate Professor Biology
Mark Mayfield Research Assistant Professor Biology
Beth Montelone Professor Biology Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
David Rintoul Associate Professor Biology
Robert J. Robel Professor Emeritus Biology
Judith Sabah Research Associate Biology
Jyoti Shah Associate Professor Biology
Brian Spooner University Distinguished Professor Biology Director
Chris Thorpe Assistant Professor Biology
Larry Williams Associate Professor Biology Associate Director for Undergraduate Education
Gail Wilson Research Assistant Professor Biology
Samantha M. Wisely Assistant Professor Biology
Peter P. Wong Professor Biology
Larry A. Glasgow Professor Chemical Engineering
Keith Hohn Associate Professor Chemical Engineering
Peter H. Pfromm Associate Professor Chemical Engineering
Mary Rezac Professor and Head Chemical Engineering
Christer B. Aakeroy Associate Professor Chemistry
Stefan H. Bossmann Professor Chemistry
Daniel A. Higgins Associate Professor Chemistry
Duy H. Hua Professor Chemistry
Ryszard Jankowiak Professor Chemistry
Kenneth J. Klabunde University Distinguished Professor Chemistry
Christopher J. Levy Assistant Professor Chemistry
Eric A. Maatta Professor and Head Chemistry
Maria K. Paukstelis Instructor Chemistry
Sundeep Rayat Assistant Professor Chemistry
Lou Wojcinski Instructor Chemistry
Maarten van Swaay Professor Emeritus Computing and Information Sciences
Alley Stoughton Associate Professor Computing and Information Sciences
Luba Roitman Application Developer Continuing Education
Larry Scharrnann Professor Education
Richard Beeman Adjunct Professor Entomology Research Entomologist, USDA-ARS
Ming-Shun Chen Adjunct Associate Professor Entomology Research Scientist USDA-ARS
J.P. Michaud Assistant Professor Entomology
James Nechols Professor and Interim Head Entomology
Brenda Oppert Adjunct Assistant Professor Entomology Research Molecular Biologist- USDA-ARS
John Reese Professor Entomology
Susan Romero Research Associate Entomology
Greg Zolnerowich Assistant Professor Entomology
Ludek Zurek Assistant Professor Entomology
George Clark Professor Geology
Robert Cullers Professor Geology
Mary Hubbard Professor and Head Geology
Kirsten Nicolaysen Assistant Professor Geology
Jack Oviatt Professor Geology
Iris Totten Assistant Professor Geology
Matf Totten Associate Professor Geology
Ron West Professor Geology
Bradford W. Seabourn Research Chemist and Adjunct Professor Grain Science
Paul Seib Professor Grain Science
Feng Xie Research Associate Grain Science
Zhikai Zhong Research Associate Grain Science
Chen-Yen Cochrane Research Associate Professor Human Nutrition
Margaret J. Rys Associate Professor Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering
Tom Barstow Professor Kinesiology
David Dzewaltowski Professor Kinesiology
Craig Harms Associate Professor Kinesiology
David C. Poole Professor Kinesiology Anatomy and Physiology
Stewart Trost Associate Professor Kinesiology
Maria Angeles Alfonseca Assistant Professor Mathematics
David Auckly Professor Mathematics
Andrew Bennett Professor Mathematics
Robert Burckel Professor Mathematics
Todd Cochrane Professor Mathematics
Marianne Korten Assistant Professor Mathematics
Zongzhu Lin Professor Mathematics
Genevra Neumann Instructor Mathematics
Michael Roitman Assistant Professor Mathematics
Yan Soileiman Professor Mathematics
William L. Stamey Professor Emeritus Mathematics Former Dean of Arts and Sciences
Huanan Yang Associate Professor Mathematics
Kevin Carnes Associate Research Professor Physics
C. Lewis Cocke University Distinguished Professor Physics
Brett DePaola Professor Physics
Glenn Horton-Smith Assistant Professor Physics
Hongxing Jiang University Distinguished Professor Physics
Tina Kahniashvili Associate Research Professor Physics
Jingyu Lin Professor Physics
lgor Litvinyuk Assistant Professor Physics
Yurii Maravin Assistant Professor Physics
Michael O’Shea Professor Physics
Carol Regehr Assistant Scientist Physics
Pat Richard University Distinguished Professor Physics
Chris Sorensen Professor Physics
Uwe Thumm Professor Physics
Larry Weaver Professor Physics
Dean Zollman University Distinguished Professor and Head Physics
Robert Bowden Adjunct Professor Plant Pathology
Bernd Friebe Research Professor Plant Pathology
Bikram Gill University Distinguished Professor Plant Pathology Director, Wheat Genetics Resource Center
Scot Hulbert Professor and interim Head Plant Pathology
Doug Jardine Professor Plant Pathology
Judy O’Mara Plant Pathology Instructor
Xiaoyan Tang Associate Professor Plant Pathology
John E. Boyer Professor and Head Statistics
Suzanne R. Dubnicka Assistant Professor Statistics
Paul St. Amand Research Geneticist USDA Agricultural Research Service
Rachel Allbaugh Ophthalmology Resident Veterinary Medicine
James Carpenter Professor Veterinary Medicine Clinical Sciences
Lisa Freeman Professor Veterinary Medicine Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs
George Kennedy Professor Emeritus Veterinary Medicine
Donald C. Robertson Professor Veterinary Medicine Diagnostic Medicine
Chris R Ross Professor Veterinary Medicine Anatomy and Physiology
Masaaki Tamura Associate Professor Veterinary Medicine Anatomy and Physiology
Mark L. Weiss Professor Veterinary Medicine Anatomy and Physiology Associate Director, Terry C. Johnson Center for Basic Cancer Research
Kimberly D. Douglas Director Women in Engineering & Science
John Blair Professor Biology
Brad Logan Research Associate Professor Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work
Donna C. Roper Research Associate Professor Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work
Timothy H. Parker Research Assistant Professor Biology
George Strecker Professor Mathematics