The Alabama Board of Education plans to make minor changes to its science course of study, but has no plans to remove a textbook insert, used since 1995, that calls evolution a “controversial theory.”

Board members reviewed science standards during Thursday’s work session in Montgomery. There were few changes from the 2015 version and little to no discussion of what students will actually learn.

Statewide, science test results have inched upwards over the past three years, but proficiency remains low. Spring 2023 test results show 39% of students were proficient in science, up from 37% in 2022 and 35% in 2021.

“The emphasis is on teaching science to every student every day,” Dothan Superintendent Dennis Coe told board members about the new set of standards. Coe chaired the 40-plus member course of study committee that compiled and organized the standards.

Historically, the most controversial part of Alabama’s science instruction hasn’t been what’s in the standards. It’s been the questioning of the theory of evolution and ensuring textbooks – part of the curriculum, not the standards – describe macroevolution as an unproven idea.

Alabama Superintendent Eric Mackey told board members in September that he hasn’t heard anyone talk about removing the insert. A spokesperson for the Department of Education told AL.com the “insert will be included as has been previously provided.”

The one-page insert is put in the front of every biology textbook used in the state. The third paragraph of the insert deals directly with evolution. It reads in part:

The theory of evolution by natural selection is a controversial theory that is included in this textbook. It is controversial because it states that natural selection provides the basis for the modern scientific explanation for the diversity of living things.

Longtime board member Stephanie Bell, who supported the insert in 1995, in September told board members she heard concerns about whether Alabama would continue placing an insert at the front of biology textbooks declaring evolution is a “controversial theory.”

“There’s a lot of interest in keeping the insert,” Bell said. According to reporting in The Birmingham News on Nov. 8, 1995, Bell’s proposal for the wording of the insert is the one the board adopted nearly word-for-word. The wording has changed through the years – here’s the 2001 version – and it’s unclear when the current version was adopted.

The board voted to keep the insert in 2016 when they last adopted new science textbooks.

After approving a new science course of study, which is expected to happen in December, the next step for the board is to appoint a textbook committee, which could happen as early as January. New science textbooks will be adopted in December 2024, according to the schedule posted on the department’s website.

The science standards

Alabama last updated science standards in 2015. The new standards are very similar, though a draft of the preface cuts a paragraph about the role theories have in scientific evidence and explanations. The draft science course of study is posted online for public comment until Nov. 27.

Alabama students will continue to learn science in three domains: Physical science, earth and space science and life science.

Standards are divided among grade levels – kindergarten through second grades, third through fifth grades, sixth through eighth grades, and ninth through twelfth grades.

Schools will have a full school year to consider how best to teach the new standards to students. Coe recommended the state department of education create a series of podcasts to help district officials, principals and teachers implement the new standards, which will be introduced to students during the 2025-26 school year.

The next set of standards Alabama will tackle are related to social studies. Mackey recently told board members there is a lot of interest in the social studies standards.