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Evolutionary change over time: The history of history in US fundamentalist school publishing

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Abstract

Jenna Scaramanga and Michael Reiss, in their article, “Evolutionary stasis: creationism, evolution and climate change in the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum,” examine multiple editions of science materials produced by Accelerated Christian Education, ranging from the 1980s to the 2010s. They find that the materials offer a profoundly limited vision of science education, one dominated more by a desire to stress a particular religious message than by the goal of teaching central scientific ideas. And though the publishers altered a few ideas here and there—such as eliminating some arguments for creationism that had been discredited even among young-earth creationists—the materials overall showed a surprising “evolutionary stasis” over time.

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This manuscript was written solely by Adam Laats.

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Correspondence to Adam Laats.

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This review essay addresses issues raised in Jenna Scaramanga & Michael Reiss’s paper entitled: ‘Evolutionary Stasis: creationism, evolution and climate change in the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum’ A. Laats (2023 ). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-023-10187-y.

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Laats, A. Evolutionary change over time: The history of history in US fundamentalist school publishing. Cult Stud of Sci Educ 19, 7–14 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-024-10211-9

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