Monfredo: Need More Emphasis On History & Civics In Our Schools
Sunday, September 11, 2016
OUR VIEW
The perils of forgetting our history
“A nation that forgets its past has no future.”
— Winston Churchill
How easily we’ve slipped in educating a generation that has not forgotten, but is missing the opportunity to fully understand and appreciate the lessons of our past.
When standards-based education reform came to Massachusetts, we had assumed the emphasis on core academics would not detract from other, equally important, subjects.
The MCAS tests, required for math, English and science, would mark a floor, not a ceiling. Teachers and administrators had their own, higher standards for achievement, we assumed, and a broader idea of a complete education.
We considered fears that what wasn’t tested wouldn’t be taught to be an insult to the professionalism of the state’s educators.
It now appears we were wrong, at least when it comes to many school administrators.
School districts have cut back on art, music and elective courses in order to concentrate on math and English. New tests have been added in the years since the MCAS was launched in the early ’90s. The state now requires science testing. Federal laws require yearly testing in every grade, so the time spent on tests has multiplied, from 30 hours a year in 2000 to 95 hours a year today.
Just one test has been dropped over those years. The state’s 1993 Education Reform Act called for a test in U.S. history as a graduation requirement. But that requirement was postponed again and again, and in 2009 the Patrick administration cancelled it altogether, citing the expense of administering it.
But the cost of that decision can’t be measured in dollars alone.
It turns out that which isn’t tested really isn’t taught - at least not with the requisite seriousness. School districts across Massachusetts have reduced course offerings in history, civics and geography. Certified social studies teachers are being replaced by teachers with other specialties and other interests. Try as they might, can teachers whose first love isn’t history inspire children to study the past in the same manner? Or is it a disservice to all students? Whether they were born in the U.S. or just arrived last week, students need to be taught their nation’s history, study its founding documents, and learn how its government and politics work.
Massachusetts’ neglect of history shows in its scores.
Bay State students regularly lead the nation in scores on standardized tests for math, English and science. But on one long-running test of U.S. history and civics, Massachusetts hasn’t finished in the top 10 in nearly 30 years.
In this turbulent election year, we’re even more aware of the importance of a citizenry educated in the nation’s laws and principles.
A recent World Values Survey found a disturbing trend, with the share of Americans who think the U.S. should have a “strong leader” who does not have to “bother with parliament and elections” rising from 24 percent in 1995 to 32 percent today. Young people were more likely to agree than older respondents, which could be a reflection of the decline in the teaching of history and civics.
Parents, students and teachers agree that Massachusetts schools need more teaching and less testing.
State officials should seek a waiver from the federal government to cut back on annual testing in English, math and science. But they should introduce tests in U.S. history and civics, in at least three grades.
The commonwealth’s and the nation’s founders believed nothing was as important to the success of our democratic republic than the active engagement of citizens who understood its history and institutions. Teaching those things must be a core function of our schools, not an afterthought
Related Slideshow: Central MA’s Top High Schools 2015
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