Curriculum A National Roundup

Poll Shows Majority of Americans Favor Teaching Creationism in Public Schools

By Sean Cavanagh — September 07, 2005 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Poll results released last week show that 64 percent of Americans favor teaching creationism alongside evolution in public school classrooms, while only 26 percent oppose that approach.

Support for presenting both scientific and biblically based accounts of the origin of human life is reflected broadly across Americans of various religious and political affiliations, from conservative Republicans to liberal Democrats, according to the report released Aug. 30 by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, a research organization in Washington.

Thirty-eight percent of the respondents said that creationism—the belief that God created the universe and all living things—should be taught instead of evolution. Forty-nine percent do not agree with that position.

See Also

See the accompanying item,

Table: Views on Life’s Origins

Overall, 42 percent of Americans said that they believe humans have always existed in their present form, in what amounts to a creationist view. Forty-eight percent believe humans evolved over time, the poll found.

Of those who support evolution, 18 percent believe that the process was guided by a supreme being, and 26 percent believe it occurred through natural selection, the theory advanced by Charles Darwin and supported by the vast majority of scientists.

The poll of 2,000 adults was conducted July 7-17 by telephone and has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

It found that views of life’s origins varied greatly by religious and political affiliation and level of education. Seventy percent of white evangelical Protestants, for instance, believe humans have always existed in their present form, while only 31 percent of white Catholics share that view.

Nearly 60 percent of conservative Republicans hold to that creationist view, while only 29 percent of liberal Democrats espouse that belief. Sixty-six percent of college graduates believe in evolution, compared with 36 percent of those with a high school education or less.

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Curriculum Explainer Social Studies and Science Get Short Shrift in Elementary Schools. Why That Matters
Learn why the subjects play a key role in elementary classrooms—and how new policy debates may shift the status quo.
10 min read
Science teacher assists elementary school student in the classroom
iStock / Getty Images Plus
Curriculum Letter to the Editor Finance Education in Schools Must Be More Than Personal
Schools need to teach students to see how their spending impacts others, writes the executive director of the Institute for Humane Education.
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
Curriculum Q&A Why One District Hired Its Students to Review Curricula
Virginia's Hampton City school district pays a cadre of student interns to give feedback on curriculum.
3 min read
Kate Maxlow, director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment at Hampton City Schools, who helped give students a voice in curriculum redesign, works in her office on January 12, 2024.
Kate Maxlow is the director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment in Virginia's Hampton City school district. She worked with students to give them a voice in shaping curriculum.
Sam Mallon/Education Week
Curriculum One School District Just Pulled 1,600 Books From Its Shelves—Including the Dictionary
And the broadening book ban attempts may drive some teachers out of the classroom.
6 min read
Books are displayed at the Banned Book Library at American Stage in St. Petersburg, Fla., Feb. 18, 2023. In Florida, some schools have covered or removed books under a new law that requires an evaluation of reading materials and for districts to publish a searchable list of books where individuals can then challenge specific titles.
Books are displayed at the Banned Book Library at American Stage in St. Petersburg, Fla., Feb. 18, 2023. In Florida, some schools have covered or removed books under a new law that requires an evaluation of reading materials and for districts to publish a searchable list of books where individuals can then challenge specific titles.
Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times via AP