Those who believe in the theory of evolution often complain that public school science textbooks do not present enough information on their theory. They say that students’ science test scores are falling because of this lack of teaching evolution.
Evolutionary theory appears in nearly all subjects and grades in one form or another. Why? One reason may be fear. When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, some Americans panicked at the thought of losing the space race. A few dedicated humanists decided that America was behind because it was not teaching evolution as much as the Soviets were. The federal government began involvement in producing public school textbooks in the late 1950s. Since then, the number of words devoted to evolution in the textbooks has skyrockets. The decline in the number of words after 1963 was because there was less content in general. The percentage of text devoted to evolution remained about the same.
After Evolution Invaded the Textbooks
The following charts show the moral and scholastic declines in America since the government began funding textbooks in the late 1950s. Click each thumbnail to view the chart in its entirety.
