Betsy DeVos confirmation to be the head of the U.S. Department of Education has been shrouded in concern for the softening of lines between church and state. Evolution teeters on the edge of the debate, potentially next in line for the chopping block.

In 2013 and 2015, Montana faced anti-evolution bills that sought to emphasize critical thinking about scientific theories and allow teachers to teach alternative theories to evolution. Both were tabled, according to Open States, an independent organization that collects data on state governments.

Content standards are determined at the state level and dictate the content that students must know at different levels of public education. Curricula, which dictate how teachers teach content, are determined by local school boards.

The Montana Office of Public Instruction updated science content standards in Sep. 2016 that will be implemented by July 1, 2017, according to itswebsite. According to the new standards, sixth to eighth grade students are expected to be able to infer evolutionary relationships between living organisms and the fossil record. The previous 2006 standards required a similar understanding of evolution upon the time of graduation.

Education Week reports that Montana falls behind most other states in evolution education, citing a study that measured alignment of schools curricula to 10 of the National Science Education Standards key concepts of evolution. Montana only received credit for adequately teaching two of the 10 concepts.

Nathanael Herrera, a second year doctoral student in evolutionary genetics and a teaching assistant at the University of Montana, defines evolution as the change in the frequency of a trait in a population over time

Herrera said that most students he has taught have come to college with a solid introductory understanding of evolution, but most states, including Montana, could improve. He said location plays a role in the quality of evolution education students receive.

The typical expectation seems to be that in more liberal cities, its emphasized, Herrera said.

Herrera said there is growing acceptance of the theory in the U.S., but it is still much lower than in other countries. He said he has heard of teachers in some schools being afraid to teach evolution because of parent and community backlash. He said that this could affect whether or not a student decides to go into a science-related major at the college level, especially if the field relies heavily on the theory.

I have not had any student be unwilling to approach the subject with an open mind, he said.

UM senior Reina Sherman is studying archaeology and forensic anthropology. Having gone to high school in a small, conservative county in Oregon, she said her background in evolution was lacking by the time she got to college.

She said her high school biology teacher presented beliefs about the origin of life on a spectrum, with evolution on one end and creationism on the other. Students were told that they can fall anywhere on the spectrum. Other than that and a brief mention of Darwins finches, nothing else was said about evolution.

According to Sherman, evolution is integral to her fields of study. Before college, she said she happened upon evolution kind of by accident, through documentaries and books that she enjoyed.Indiana Jonessparked her love for science and history.

Human evolution is a much harder pill to swallow for most people, according to Sherman. She said humans dont want to think theyre monkeys, a common misinterpretation of evolution that could be solved with improved evolution education.

Were not monkeys youre right, Sherman said.

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How does Montana's evolution education compare? - Montana Kaimin