Visiting more than a dozen schools across the nation, independent journalist Katie Worth got to the root of how climate change is taught in America. The result was a book, Miseducation: How Climate Change Is Taught in America.
Marquette students and O鈥橞rien reporting interns Robyn Di Giacinto, Colleen DuVall, John Hand, Clara Janzen, and Lucie Sullivan assisted Worth with her project and book.
Worth 鈥� who reported for Frontline PBS during her time as a Fellow 鈥� found that climate denialism is implanted in millions of schoolchildren and that there鈥檚 a clear red-blue divide in climate education. More than one-third of young adults believe climate change is not caused by human activities.
Worth鈥檚 team found that there is no national curriculum for teaching climate change, meaning 鈥渁n education in modern climate science is required in some parts of the country and nonexistent in others.鈥�
And even if it is taught, about 鈥渙ne-third of American science educators teach students that 鈥榤any scientists believe鈥� global warming is natural.鈥� This matters because, according to Worth, what students believe will impact future policy on the issue.
In 2019, Worth and Hand traveled to Idaho, where they talked to teachers and legislators about the long-standing debates on climate change education in the state. They found that after lawmakers finally agreed to include climate change in the state鈥檚 academic standards, they reversed course. Specifically, legislators chose not to renew Idaho鈥檚 8,000 pages of rules and regulation, putting the newly adopted standards in jeopardy.
Of Worth鈥檚 book, Publisher鈥檚 Weekly said, 鈥淲orth makes powerful use of anecdotes, as with one student who lost his home to a forest fire, but doesn鈥檛 believe climate change is real.鈥�
Kirkus called it a 鈥渄amning report on the state of science education in America, especially regarding climate change.鈥�
December 2019:
November 2021:
