National History Standards Essay ⋆ Education Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

In 1994 the National Center for History in the Schools (NCHS) released the “National Standards for History,” a 250-page document outlining methods and content for teaching U.S. and world history in elementary and secondary schools. The NCHS spent over two years developing the standards, which include recommendations from thirty-five national education organizations. This entry describes what led up to the report and summarizes its recommendations as well as criticisms and revisions of the standards.

Origins

The National Standards for History was developed from the National Education Goals adopted by President George H. W. Bush and the National Governors’ Association in 1990. His successor, President Bill Clinton, signed that report into law in 1994 as the GOALS 2000, Educate America Act. GOALS 2000 was the culmination of an education reform agenda announced by President Bush in 1991, which called for national standards in the subjects of English, mathematics, science, history, and geography. The education reform agenda enjoyed broad support from both politicians and the American public.

The National History Standards Project began in 1992 with funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, led by Lynne Cheney, and the U.S. Department of Education, led by Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander. The project’s goal was to develop an understanding of the purpose of history education in the school curriculum, successful methods for history instruction, the specific historical knowledge students should acquire, and the thought processes students should learn. The thirty-member National Council for History Standards, consisting of leaders from organizations like the American Historical Association and the National Council for Social Studies, worked with the participants of the National Assessment of Education Progress in United States History to ensure that the new National Standards for History were aligned with that organization’s work.

Standards

The National Standards for History is a curriculum guide for students in elementary and secondary school. The standards are divided into ten historical eras beginning with the migration of Asian peoples to North America and ending with the modern United States. For each era, between two and four standards describe the themes, content, and methodologies that students should master at each grade level. The specific details of assignments, activities, and content are left to individual instructors or school systems to determine.

One of the goals of the National Standards for History was to create a history curriculum that was focused not on rote learning of dates, facts, and names, but on ideas and issues in each historical era. The leaders of the NCHS also strove to make the standards as inclusive as possible, working to ensure that the roles of women and minorities in U.S. history received a more equal footing with the traditional figures that dominate the teaching of U.S. history, such as George Washington and James Madison.

In addition to defining the historical content students should master, the standards also address the types of historical thinking that students should master by the end of high school. The standards categorize historical thinking skills into five areas: Chronological Thinking, Historical Comprehension, Historical Analysis and Interpretation, Historical Research Capabilities, and Historical Issues— Analysis and Decision-Making. The Thinking Standards are presented to assist teachers in developing lesson plans that teach not only historical content, but also the skills to understand and use that content.

Criticism And Response

The National Standards for History met fierce criticism from both politicians and educators when they were released in 1994, particularly from former National Endowment for the Humanities head Cheney. Much of the political criticism reflected the so-called “culture wars” between conservative and liberal political figures during the 1990s and focused on the standards’ expanded attention to women and minorities. Criticism from educators included complaints that the standards focused too much on small details and not enough on larger events or themes. Some educators were also concerned by the appearance of presentism, the practice of making judgments of past events or cultures based on the values or morals of the present time, as in the case of elementary school students declaring that Christopher Columbus committed genocide.

Cheney led the criticism of the National Standards for History by arguing that the standards were an example of political correctness and focused on the negative aspects of American and European history. As examples, Cheney claimed that the standards mention McCarthyism nineteen times while ignoring heroes like Ulysses S. Grant, who is included only once. Cheney also argued that the standards did not treat the failures of non-European cultures with the same rigor applied to the failures of the United States and European nations, stating that the standards discuss the advanced nature of Aztec civilization while ignoring issues like the Aztec practice of human sacrifice.

Other critics include William J. Bennetta, a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences, who wrote that the National Standards for History ignored the role of technology and science in the development of the United States by ignoring the contributions of individuals like the Wright brothers, Thomas Edison, and Albert Einstein while focusing on figures like Booker T. Washington, who were not of the same importance.

In response to the criticism the standards received, they were revised in 1996 to accommodate recommendations of two panels organized by the Council for Basic Education, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. After reviewing the standards, the council concluded that most of the criticisms of the standards were a result of the teaching examples included in the standards, not the standards themselves.

Bibliography:

Bennetta, W. J. (1994). Phony “standards” and fake “history.” Retrieved August 20, 2006, from http://www.textbookleague.org/55ucla.htm
H-Net. (1994). National standards for history discussion on h-net lists. Retrieved August 20, 2006, from http://www.hnet.org/percent7eteach/threads/standard.html
Nash, G. B., Crabtree, C., & Dunn, R. E. (2000). History on trial: Culture wars and the teaching of the past. New York: Random House.
National Center for History Standards. (1996). National standards for history. Retrieved August 20, 2006, from http://nchs.ucla.edu/standards/toc.html

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