There are Other Ways to Improve History Education
Michelle Davidson Ungurait, Curriculum Director
Investors worth their salt ask what’s to be gained before making an investment. Taxpayers and citizens are also investors, so consider this: Introducing a federally mandated history/social studies assessment will yield no gain. In fact, in those states in which social studies standards were written to guide instruction rather than to act as a blueprint for assessment, the result could backfire and end up hurting kids and teachers. Rather than introduce more tests to test-bloated schools, we ought to figure out how to bring 21st century skills and real world relevance to social studies and history education.
Some observers claim that adding history/social studies to NCLB’s mandate would restore these subjects to some golden age; with no testing, they claim, the social studies are being squeezed out of the school day. But consider this: In the years since NCLB's adoption (with no national testing in history/social studies), all of the social studies-related NAEP test scores have improved (albeit slightly), graduation requirements in social studies remain unchanged, US History AP enrollment continues to grow, and states continue to assess social studies for their state accountability systems at the pre-NCLB rates. This information flies in the face of the Chicken Littles who cluck under the banner "Assess or perish." True, elementary social studies instruction, defined as a separate subject, has lost some importance because it is not tested. But there is a way to remedy this as well.
The federal and state governments should invest in a mandate to change the current English language arts assessments to include a defined and designated non-fiction component, tied to a state’s mandated history/social studies curriculum framework. If our policy makers had the guts to take such a step, English language arts and social studies departments at every level would have to collaborate to help students become fluent in the varied literacies required in today’s world. This is the target we should aim for – not adding a new set of tests.
Author Biography
Michelle Davidson Ungurait is currently the secondary curriculum director for Guilford County Schools, North Carolina. Ungurait taught middle and high school social studies in the Davidson (Tennessee) County school system, and served as the director of social studies for the Texas Education Agency and the Tennessee Department of Education.