Update: Kansas Approves Standards Critical of Evolution

The Kansas state board of education on Nov. 8 overhauled its state science standards in a way that encourages more criticism of the theory of evolution, in a much-anticipated decision that appalled many of the nation’s leading scientific organizations.

By a 6-4 vote, the board approved a draft of the document that says, among other things, that certain aspects of the theory used to explain changes in living things are “controversial.” It references a “lack of natural explanations for the genetic code,” and “discrepancies in the molecular evidence,” which scientists cite as evidence for evolutionary theory.

Many scientists strongly dispute those and similar statements made in the standards, saying that board members exaggerated supposed holes or unanswered questions in the theory. Evolution is the scientific concept that living things, including humans, have evolved over time through a process of random...