Acceptance of evolution by educators of prospective teachers remains superficially studied despite their role in having mentored schoolteachers whose weak support of evolution is known. Here, we contrast the views of New England educators of prospective teachers (n=62; 87% Ph. D./doctorate holders in 32 specializations) with those of the general faculty (n=244; 93% Ph.D./doctorate holders in 40 disciplines), both members of 35 colleges and universities, and with college students (n=827; subsample of the 35 institutions) who were polled on: (1) the controversy evolution vs. creationism vs. intelligent design (ID), (2) their understanding of how science/evolution works, and (3) their religiosity. The educators held intermediate positions in respect to the general faculty and the students: 94% of the general faculty, 75% of the educators, and 63% of the students said they accepted evolution openly; and 82% of the general faculty, 71% of the educators, and 58% of the students thought that evolution is definitely true. Only 3% of the general faculty in comparison to 19% of the educators and 24% of the students thought that evolution and creationism are in harmony. Although 93% of the general faculty, educators, and students knew that evolution relies on common ancestry, 26% of the general faculty, 45% of the educators, and 35% of the students did not know that humans are apes. Remarkably, 15% of the general faculty, 32% of the educators, and 35% of the students believed, incorrectly, that the origin of the human mind cannot be explained by evolution; and 30% of the general faculty, 59% of the educators, and 75% of the students were Lamarckian (=believed in inheritance of acquired traits). For science education: 96% of the general faculty, 86% of the educators, and 71% of the students supported the exclusive teaching of evolution, while 4% of the general faculty, 14% of the educators, and 29% of the students favored equal time to evolution, creationism and ID; note that 92% of the general faculty, 82% of the educators, and 50% of the students perceived ID as either not scientific and proposed to counter evolution based on false claims or as religious doctrine consistent with creationism. The general faculty was the most knowledgeable about science/evolution and the least religious (science index, SI=2.49; evolution index, EI= 2.49; and religiosity index, RI=0.49); the educators reached lower science/evolution but higher religiosity indexes than the general faculty (SI=1.96, EI=1.96, and RI=0.83); and the students were the least knowledgeable about science/ evolution and the most religious (SI=1.80, EI=1.60, and RI=0.89). Understanding of science and evolution were inversely correlated with level of religiosity, and understanding of evolution increased with increasing science literacy. Interestingly, ≈36% of the general faculty, educators and students considered religion to be very important in their lives, and 17% of the general faculty, 34% of the educators, and 28% of the students said they prayed daily. Assessing the perception of evolution by educators of prospective teachers vs. the general faculty and the students of New England, one of the historically most progressive regions in the U.S., is crucial for determining the magnitude of the impact of creationism and ID on attitudes toward science, reason, and education in science.

中文翻译：

---

由于对科学/进化论的缺乏理解和高度的宗教信仰，准教师的教育者不愿接受进化论。

尽管准教师的教育者对进化论的接受仍处于肤浅的研究之中，尽管他们在指导那些对进化论的支持薄弱的学校教师方面发挥了作用。在这里，我们将新英格兰教师教育者的观点（n = 62； 32个专业的博士学位/博士学位的持有者）与普通教师的观点（n = 244； 93％的博士学位/博士的观点）进行比较。共有40个学科的拥有者），35个高校的成员以及大学生（n = 827； 35个机构的子样本）进行了以下调查：（1）争议演变与创造论与智能设计（ID） ，（2）他们对科学/进化原理的理解，以及（3）他们的宗教信仰。教育工作者在普通教师和学生方面处于中间位置：94％的普通教师，75％的教师，63％的学生说他们公开接受了进化论；82％的普通教师，71％的教育工作者和58％的学生认为进化论确实是正确的。相比于19％的教育工作者和24％的学生，只有3％的普通教师认为进化论和创造论是和谐的。尽管93％的普通教师，教育者和学生都知道进化取决于共同的祖先，但是26％的普通教师，45％的教育者和35％的学生并不知道人类是猿。值得注意的是，有15％的普通教师，32％的教育者和35％的学生错误地认为，人类的思想起源不能用进化来解释；30％的普通教师，59％的教育工作者，有75％的学生是Lamarckian（相信后天性状的遗传）。对于科学教育：96％的普通教师，86％的教育者和71％的学生支持独家教学，而4％的普通教师，14％的教育者和29％的学生支持平等的进化，创造论和身份认同时间；请注意，92％的普通教师，82％的教育者和50％的学生认为ID是不科学的，因此建议反对基于虚假主张或与创世论相一致的宗教教义的演变。普通教师对科学/进化的知识最丰富，对宗教的知识最少（科学指数，SI = 2.49；进化指数，EI = 2.49；宗教信仰指数，RI = 0.49）；与普通教师相比，教育者的科学/进化水平较低，但宗教信仰指数较高（SI = 1.96，EI = 1.96和RI = 0.83）；学生对科学/进化的了解最少，对宗教的了解也最多（SI = 1.80，EI = 1.60和RI = 0.89）。对科学和进化的理解与宗教信仰程度成反比，对进化的理解随着科学素养的提高而增加。有趣的是，≈36％的普通教师，教育工作者和学生认为宗教对他们的生活非常重要，而17％的普通教师，34％的教育工作者和28％的学生说他们每天祈祷。评估未来的教育者对新英格兰（美国历史上最先进的地区之一）与普通教师和学生的进化观念，