What can evolutionary science bring to an education setting? In an effort to find out, the President of the Evolution Institute, David Sloan Wilson, assembled a team to create a school-within-a-school program for students who had been failing. The program was designed around principles and knowledge gained from research grounded in an evolutionary perspective. From a pool of students who had failed at least two courses, half were randomly selected to participate in the program. After one year, the participating cohort of students went from failing the state assessment exam to achieving parity with the same-grade cohort of students – a very large and significant increase in the pass rate. The non-participating students showed no change.
The success of the Regents Academy was reported in a peer-reviewed article in PLoS ONE and is summarized in an easy-to-read flyer for educators, administrators, and parents interested in our approach.
Below are links to media reports about the Academy.
Scientific American (DS Wilson blog about the program)
NPR transcript Weekend Edition
Nature Magazine – covers other projects in addition to Regent’s Academy
On Being (NPR prodcast) – covers other projects in addition to Regent’s Academy
