The Ongoing Challenges to Evolution Education: Schools, the Law, and Classroom Instruction

There are forces at the local, state, and national levels that have worked to delegitimize the teaching of evolution and, in some cases, to legitimize the teaching of religious theory. Despite scientific evidence, public opinion, and even legislation, these forces have continued to influence, and in some cases block, the teaching of evolution in public schools. Proponents for the teaching of religious theory in schools have been defeated in the courts many times but have continued to find new ways to insert their ideology into the U.S. education system. Strategies for avoiding controversy, confronting misinformation, and distinguishing science from faith are provided at the end of this article.