State Board Of Education Adopts New Science Standards

The Kansas state school board has approved new science standards for public schools that treat both evolution and climate change as key concepts to be taught from kindergarten through the 12th grade.

The board voted 8-2 on Tuesday for standards developed by Kansas, 25 other states and the National Research Council.

The new guidelines are designed to shift the emphasis in science classes to doing hands-on projects and experiments and blending material about engineering and technology into lessons.

Past work on science standards in Kansas have been overshadowed by debates about how evolution should be taught. The latest standards were adopted in 2007 and treat evolution as a well-established, core scientific concept.

Kansas law requires academic standards to be updated at least once every seven years.