Creationism may not hold up in the courtroom, but a guaranteed controversial new study finds it's doing just fine in the classroom.

Research published by Penn State University indicates one in eight high school biology teachers are creationists. Thirteen percent of the 926 teachers surveyed by university researchers openly advocate creationism -- a literal interpretation of the creation story in the Book of Genesis -- in their science classes. About 60 percent said they don't teach much about the subject for fear of offending fundamentalist students or their families.

Also, according to LiveScience:

Mind you, these are public school teachers we're talking about. Decades of court rulings, including recent ones, have found teaching creationism or intelligent design as science violates the Constitution.

"The implications for us are very concerning, that there are teachers who are not teaching science, who are not teaching some of the core tenants of science," Francis Eberle, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, told LiveScience.

Wired magazine, in an analysis that evokes the famous Scopes Monkey Trial, looks at the various ways biology teachers discuss evolutionary theory without courting controversy -- by addressing it at a molecular level and avoiding discussion of how species evolve, or by teaching both evolution and creationism and letting students decide for themselves.

Email Troy Reimink at treimink@grpress.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/troyreimink.