It isn’t really news to those of us in the history field that schools today are cutting back on history lessons in favor of the math and reading skills that appear on standardized tests. But I was happy to see this issue get some national mainstream exposure on CNN’s “Perry’s Principles” in an article called “Subject Matters: Why students fall behind on history“.
The article states that many students know memorized facts such as the year the Declaration of Independence was signed, but are unable to put historical facts into a larger context. Many have trouble placing events in the correct decade and identifying other characteristics of that decade. Others confuse events that happened a century apart.
Some teachers make the effort to find ways to include history while teaching test skills – for instance, assigning a history text as a way to build literacy and comprehension skills.
We in the history field need to make it easier for teachers to accomplish this by creating curriculum and other teaching resources that include history in a way that still allows teachers to prepare students for standardized tests. I know many museums write curriculum that conforms to your state’s history standards, but are you taking into account the literacy and math standards also? Are you finding creative ways to weave history into the required No Child Left Behind requirements?
I would love to hear from both teachers and museum educators on ways you have addressed this continuing problem – please discuss in the comments section!
