I'm a retired 5th and 6th grade public school teacher in California's Central Valley. In the years I was a teacher, 1981-2017, I witnessed a marked decline in the time and support we were allocated for teaching social studies. In 1983, A Nation at Risk ushered in increasing emphasis on standards, hig…
I'm a retired 5th and 6th grade public school teacher in California's Central Valley. In the years I was a teacher, 1981-2017, I witnessed a marked decline in the time and support we were allocated for teaching social studies. In 1983, A Nation at Risk ushered in increasing emphasis on standards, high stakes testing, and accountability. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act became No Child Left Behind and then Race to the Top. Standards in reading, language, and math drove our curriculum, and since social studies wasn't tested in every grade, teachers were discouraged, sometimes mandated, by administrators to skip it. At the same time, state-adopted social studies texts (which most teachers didn't find time to use) became more narrowly focused on the glorious rich white founding fathers and the courageous white male explorers and pioneers, etc. I did my best to teach a more balanced and representative social studies anyway through reading and language arts by using my own materials and projects (including research reports and presentations on one Native American tribe per student and another on an historic American woman) but it still greatly concerns me that our public school system doesn't prioritize the teaching and learning of social studies. Is this to some extent deliberate, do you think?
Thank you for your daily letters and twice-weekly talks. I'm learning so much from you, and I'm fascinated and deeply grateful.
Back in 2012 I taught in a Maine High School transitioning to so-called state of the art computer-based grading/curricular programming. Frankenstein-esque in a number of ways, its adoption meant high school students would only need two years of social studies for graduation. Part of the ironically named proficiency-based education movement, it seemed the opposite to me.
I've been suspicious of the for-profit privatization of curricula since the late 70s when school systems dropped the term history and switched to social studies. Texas and the textbook scandals led the way. Now it's Pearson et al.
Have worked hard to avoid complicity in these plans and it has meant near disaster for my financial future. Certified to teach in three states, I would love to return to the classroom post #COVID19. Commitment to broad humanities curricula in a public high school has proved close to impossible to find, though.
Dear Professor Heather Cox Richardson,
I'm a retired 5th and 6th grade public school teacher in California's Central Valley. In the years I was a teacher, 1981-2017, I witnessed a marked decline in the time and support we were allocated for teaching social studies. In 1983, A Nation at Risk ushered in increasing emphasis on standards, high stakes testing, and accountability. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act became No Child Left Behind and then Race to the Top. Standards in reading, language, and math drove our curriculum, and since social studies wasn't tested in every grade, teachers were discouraged, sometimes mandated, by administrators to skip it. At the same time, state-adopted social studies texts (which most teachers didn't find time to use) became more narrowly focused on the glorious rich white founding fathers and the courageous white male explorers and pioneers, etc. I did my best to teach a more balanced and representative social studies anyway through reading and language arts by using my own materials and projects (including research reports and presentations on one Native American tribe per student and another on an historic American woman) but it still greatly concerns me that our public school system doesn't prioritize the teaching and learning of social studies. Is this to some extent deliberate, do you think?
Thank you for your daily letters and twice-weekly talks. I'm learning so much from you, and I'm fascinated and deeply grateful.
Sincerely,
Linda Scheller
I, sadly, think you nailed it.
Back in 2012 I taught in a Maine High School transitioning to so-called state of the art computer-based grading/curricular programming. Frankenstein-esque in a number of ways, its adoption meant high school students would only need two years of social studies for graduation. Part of the ironically named proficiency-based education movement, it seemed the opposite to me.
I've been suspicious of the for-profit privatization of curricula since the late 70s when school systems dropped the term history and switched to social studies. Texas and the textbook scandals led the way. Now it's Pearson et al.
Have worked hard to avoid complicity in these plans and it has meant near disaster for my financial future. Certified to teach in three states, I would love to return to the classroom post #COVID19. Commitment to broad humanities curricula in a public high school has proved close to impossible to find, though.