Teachers have to decide which material they focus on in class and what gets emphasis. To ensure that students are taught effectively they are tested at the conclusion of each year. Teachers, therefore, have a tendency to teach what will be on the standardized tests. There is no reason to teach what is not on the test; they can skip it completely and it will make no difference.
Instead of dealing with a controversial issue, Kansan teachers would be encouraged to sweep evolution right under the carpet and (more) thousands of students would progress to university-level courses without any prior exposure to the theory.
http://www.aaas.org/spp/dser/evolution/issues/aaas.htm
NSF Document
[Fix too long link. --Percy]
http://www.wheaton.edu/ACG/essays/miller1.html
By the way, evolution was not the only thing removed from the test standards in that action. Several references to environmental concerns were also deleted, including global warming and resource depletion. Also hacked out were the age of the Earth and the Big Bang. This goes beyond Creationism v. Evolution, the action was nothing less than censorship of any science that offends the far-right, in this case the Creation Science Association of Mid-America, the primary author of the offending standards.
http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/2000/PSCF9-00Miller2.html
[This message has been edited by Percipient, 06-13-2002]