Abstract:
New York State’s educational system fails to address the theory of Creationism in regards to the Living Environment Core Curriculum. The purpose of this study was to examine the theoretical points of view contained within the Living Environment Core Curriculum in New York State. This study answered the question of how Northern New York State schools deal with the controversial theories of Creationism versus Evolution through the different perspectives of 15 Living Environment Core Curriculum teachers across 15 different school districts in rural areas in Northern New York. Each school district contains one Living Environment Core Curriculum teacher. These participants were selected based on their availability, willingness to participate, and their ability to communicate verbally and in writing. This study utilized teacher action research where the researcher was the researching instrument conducting the research. A questionnaire was given to teachers who teach the Living Environment Core Curriculum in order to gather data. The data was analyzed using inductive analysis and constant comparative analysis. In order to maintain the validity of the data, triangulation was maintained throughout the study to strengthen its reliability. An audit trail was maintained throughout the research process.
Within the review of literature, Moore (2002) found that many teachers felt that Creationism should be taught in the Biology classroom along with Darwin’s theory of Evolution. These teachers felt that presenting another view gave students a better understanding of the fact that there are different theories of how humans came to exist. The results of this study show the opposite view.
