Two miracles in Texas
Dec. 20th, 2013 09:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
essentialsaltesBecause of its size, Texas exerts a lot of influence on school textbooks, and this often has detrimental effects on the science content of textbooks, but things have been improving.
A reviewer (a chemical engineer by training) predictably complained about the evolution content in Pearson's (dba Prentice Hall) Biology.
Miracle #1: Rather than mushifying or deleting the 'offending' passages, Pearson stood up to the criticism. And produced a lovely (if rather technical (because actual biologists)) document rebutting all of the points.
I say it's a miracle, because this was something of a risk, since the text now faced further scrutiny by the Board of Education, which appointed a panel of experts.
Miracle #2: the Texas BOE appointed a panel of actual experts in biology.
And the book was approved.
A reviewer (a chemical engineer by training) predictably complained about the evolution content in Pearson's (dba Prentice Hall) Biology.
Miracle #1: Rather than mushifying or deleting the 'offending' passages, Pearson stood up to the criticism. And produced a lovely (if rather technical (because actual biologists)) document rebutting all of the points.
I say it's a miracle, because this was something of a risk, since the text now faced further scrutiny by the Board of Education, which appointed a panel of experts.
Miracle #2: the Texas BOE appointed a panel of actual experts in biology.
And the book was approved.
