Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Biology Textbook Changes CriticizedHRW responses to testimony at the July 9, 2003, public hearing of the Texas State Board of Education.
These links will download in the form of PDF files:HWR Response to Oral Testimony
HRW Response to Written Testimony
Biology textbook changes criticized
Some say publisher is giving in to conservatives.
By Marti Maguire
San Antonio Express-News
August 8, 2003http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=1036811
The publisher of a biology textbook being considered for adoption in Texas has submitted changes in response to suggestions by the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based nonprofit that critics claim is leading a push to teach alternatives to evolution in public schools.
The move by Holt, Rinehart & Winston, made public by the Texas Education Agency on Wednesday, prompted critics to accuse the company of buckling to pressure from special interests and conservatives on the board.
"Rather than stand up for keeping good science standards in textbooks, Holt Rinehart has compromised the education of Texas students," said Samantha Smoot, executive director of the Texas Freedom Network, a group that monitors the religious right.
The network singled out a passage directing students to "study hypotheses for the origin of life that are alternatives" to several posed in the book.
In a July 9 public hearing, some board members were sympathetic to Discovery's assertion that alternatives to commonly accepted tenets of evolution should be included to comply with a state requirement that students analyze competing theories.
Bruce Chapman, president of the Discovery Institute, said he supports teaching intelligent design a theory that outside forces direct human development but insists the current suggestions only point out scientific errors.
"Students should know the scientific evidence both for and against the theory," Chapman said.
Richard Blake, a spokesman for Holt, acknowledged Discovery "is seen as having a particular point of view" but said the changes responded to valid scientific arguments.
"Publishers are obligated to respond to comments without considering where they come from," Blake said. "We see these as minor changes and clarifications and certainly nothing that challenges the role of evolution."
Because Texas is the second largest textbook market in the country, changes made by publishers here often influence textbooks nationally.
Both sides are ready for a debate leading up to trustees' final adoption of the books in November.
Another public hearing is planned for September, and publishers must submit final changes by October 3.
Proposed changes in biology textbook assailed
The Houston Chronicle
Associated Press
Aug. 8, 2003, 8:11PMhttp://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2038887
SAN ANTONIO -- Responding to suggestions from a group that critics say advocates the teaching of creation theory, a publisher has made changes in a biology textbook being considered for Texas schools.
Critics accused publisher Holt, Rinehart & Winston of caving in to pressure from special interests and conservatives on the state Board of Education.
The Discovery Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Seattle, argued at a Board of Education hearing in July that alternatives to commonly accepted theories of evolution should be included in the textbook to comply with a state requirement that students analyze competing ideas.
Some board members were sympathetic to the group's views.
The Texas Education Agency disclosed Wednesday that Holt, Rinehart & Winston had submitted changes in its biology textbook, the San Antonio Express-News reported Friday.
"Rather than stand up for keeping good science standards in textbooks, Holt Rinehart has compromised the education of Texas students," said Samantha Smoot, executive director of the Texas Freedom Network, a group that monitors the religious right.
The network singled out a passage directing students to "study hypotheses for the origin of life that are alternatives" to others posed in the book. Students also are encouraged to research alternative theories on the Internet.
Richard Blake, a spokesman for the publisher, said the changes responded to valid scientific arguments.
"Publishers are obligated to respond to comments without considering where they come from," Blake said. "We see these as minor changes and clarifications and certainly nothing that challenges the role of evolution."
The Discovery Institute has led a movement on the "intelligent design theory" -- a belief that species did not evolve by natural selection but instead progressed according to a plan or design.
Bruce Chapman, president of the institute, said he supports teaching intelligent design. But he said suggestions for changes in the book only pointed out scientific errors.
While those who favor intelligent design want to offer it as an alternative to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, critics want to keep the idea out of biology textbooks. They say the theory is nothing more than a dressed-up version of creation science, which the U.S. Supreme Court has prohibited from public schools as a violation of the separation of church and state.
The elected Board of Education has no control over textbook content but can reject books because of errors or failure to follow the state curriculum, which is mandated by the Legislature. The board will make its final decision on the biology textbooks in November.
Critics accuse publisher of changing textbook
San Angelo Standard Times
August 11, 2003http://www.gosanangelo.com/sast/special/article/0,1897,SAST_10396_2168574,00.html
SAN ANTONIO -- Responding to suggestions from a group that critics say advocates the teaching of creation theory, a publisher has made changes in a biology textbook being considered for Texas schools.
Critics accused publisher Holt, Rinehart & Winston of caving in to pressure from special interests and conservatives on the state Board of Education.
The Discovery Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Seattle, argued at a Board of Education hearing in July that alternatives to commonly accepted theories of evolution should be included in the textbook to comply with a state requirement that students analyze competing ideas.
Some board members were sympathetic to the group's views.
The Texas Education Agency disclosed Wednesday that Hold, Rinehart & Winston had submitted changes in its biology textbook, the San Antonio Express-News reported in its Friday editions.
"Rather than stand up for keeping good science standards in textbooks, Holt Rinehart has compromised the education of Texas students," said Samantha Smoot, executive director of the Texas Freedom Network, a group that monitors the religious right.
The network singled out a passage directing students to "study hypotheses for the origin of life that are alternatives" to others posed in the book. Students also are encouraged to research alternative theories on the Internet.
Richard Blake, a spokesman for the publisher, said the changes responded to valid scientific arguments.
"Publishers are obligated to respond to comments without considering where they come from," Blake said. "We see these as minor changes and clarifications and certainly nothing that challenges the role of evolution."
The Discovery Institute has led a movement on the "intelligent design theory" -- a belief that species did not evolve by natural selection but instead progressed according to a plan or design.
Bruce Chapman, president of the institute, said he supports teaching intelligent design. But he said suggestions for changes in the book only pointed out scientific errors.
While those who favor intelligent design want to offer it as an alternative to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, critics want to keep the idea out of biology textbooks. They say the theory is nothing more than a dressed-up version of creation science, which the U.S. Supreme Court has prohibited from public schools as a violation of the separation of church and state.
Because Texas is the second largest textbook market in the country, changes made by publishers here often influence textbooks nationally.
The elected Board of Education has no control over textbook content but can reject books because of errors or failure to follow the state curriculum, which is mandated by the Legislature. The board will make its final decision on the biology textbooks in November.
Another public hearing is planned for September. Publishers must submit final changes by Oct. 3.
National Science Teachers Association
News Stories
http://www.nsta.org/main/news/stories/nsta_story.php?news_story_ID=48498
Texas school officials will discuss the evolution issue at a public hearing in September. The meeting will follow months of debate after the states board of education was asked not to tamper with eleven proposed biology textbooks under consideration.
According to a report in the San Antonio-Express News on Aug. 8, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, publisher of one of the biology textbooks, recently submitted changes to its textbook to the Texas board in response to suggestions by the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based organization that critics -- who support evolution -- claim is leading a push to teach alternatives to evolution in public schools. They argue that Holt, Rinehart "has compromised the education of Texas students" instead of keeping "good science standards in textbooks." Holt says it made "minor changes and clarifications and certainly nothing that challenges the role of evolution."
Observers of the Texas textbook battles have commented that Holt and other publishers have "held the line" under considerable pressure from creationists and some board members, and that the changes so far do not compromise the integrity of the textbooks' content. Holt has assured NSTA that its position on evolution is the same asthat expressed in NSTA's position statement.
Reply to Charge That Holt "Caved In" to Creationist Pressure from the Discovery Institute
by Holt, Rinehart and Winston President Judith Fowler
TFN's charge that Holt "caved in" is based on one change Holt asked the Texas Education Agency for permission to make in response to a concern expressed by the Discovery Institute. Before discussing that charge specifically, I would like to clarify Holt's approach to all concerns expressed by all adoption-process participants in all states, not just Texas.
Our first rule is to listen objectively. Regardless of the source, Holt does not summarily reject an objection; we analyze all comments based on their own merits. It is not appropriate for a scientist or a publisher to simply dismiss comments without being open to considerations of their validity.
The comment in question from the Discovery Institute stated that in Holt's discussion of the 1953 Miller-Urey Experiment the students were not given sufficient information to enable them to truly "analyze, review and critique" the experiment, as required by the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.
Implicit in the TFN press release is the belief that this comment from the Discovery Institute was a creationist attack on the teaching of evolution and scientific explanations for the origin of life. Holt, on the other hand, interpreted the Discovery Institute's comment as referring to our pedagogy. Regardless of what motives one may wish to ascribe to them, the Institute was challenging teaching methodology, not content.
In response to the Institute's comment, we reviewed the text and decided that the complaint had merit. Accordingly, we requested permission to modify an existing question, one focused solely on the Miller-Urey experiment, and broaden it so that students would accomplish the research necessary to enable them to "analyze, review, and critique" various scientific hypotheses for the origin of life.
Original Question
Use the media center or Internet resources to learn about the conditions on Earth that scientists think existed before life formed. Identify which compounds Miller and Urey formed in their experiment. Prepare a report describing which of the compounds on early Earth would have contributed to the types of compounds Miller and Urey made.Revised Question
Use the media center or Internet resources to study hypotheses for the origin of life that are alternatives to the hypotheses proposed by Oparin and Lerman. Analyze, review, and critique either Oparin's hypothesis or Lerman's hypothesis as presented in your textbook along with one alternative hypothesis that you discover in your research.TFN's reading of Holt's revised question seems based on the ill-founded belief that Creationism is the only possible alternative to the named hypotheses. The key words hypothesis/hypotheses are repeated five times in two sentences, a clear indication to students that they are searching for alternative explanations based on objective observations and subject to verification. In fact, the Lerman hypothesis, that the precursor chemicals for life developed in bubbles over vents in the ocean floor, and the Oparin hypothesis, that the early atmosphere's lack of oxygen made the formation of life's precursors more likely, are but two of many hypotheses posed by scientists. In a quick search of the Internet, I personally found more than 30 websites that offer a myriad of scientific possibilities for the origins of life on Earth.
If you still have concerns or questions about this matter, I urge you to contact me directly. Holt places great value on its reputation as a science publisher, and I would welcome the opportunity to explain the facts, which show, quite clearly, that we have not "caved in" to ideological pressure or "weakened the study of evolution" in Holt Biology.
Last updated: 24 August 2003