Evolving school creationism, culture clashes, poor sex ed, ed tech in 2015, scholarly knowledge, and more: Required Readings, 12.20.15

A biologist has published a phylogenetic analysis of seventy-five distinct anti-evolution bills and policies.

World cultures studies gone wrong: An assignment on Islam and Arabic calligraphy led to the closing of schools in one Virginia county after community members called for the beheading of a Virginia teacher. And a Texas mother is upset after her second-grader received a temporary henna tattoo during a lesson on different cultures (parents were notified in an email beforehand).

Why schools teach abstinence-only sex ed despite evidence that it not only is ineffective but also may be harmful to students’ health.

The year in education technology: the top 10 stories from Wired Campus.

A holiday package of items on scholarly publishing and information sharing: thoughts on Academic.edu, the knowledge supply chain, the Beyond Downloads project, and how researchers fake their data.

How to make school work for poor kids (hint: it’s not by adding standardized tests).

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