social studies

Many people have told the SBOE what they can do with their proposed textbook standards for social studies.

The State Board of Education had received more than 20,000 public comments as of last week on the proposed revision of social studies curriculum standards.

That incomplete tally — the monthlong comment period ends May 19 — has swamped the 3,000 comments received during last year’s debate of science curriculum standards.

[…]

About 8,000 of the comments — 7,500 from out-of-state senders — have apparently originated with an organized effort by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas stating the standards are “not in the best interest of students,” Martinez said.

Many of the comments state general opposition or support, which board members have said is not very helpful. Instead, they have said they would prefer specific criticisms and alternative language.

I’ll grant that “You’re a bunch of idiots” isn’t particularly constructive, but it is accurate. Be that as it may, I’m not sure what the point of detailed criticism is at this stage of the game. For one thing, the SBOE has made its contempt of experts and expertise quite clear, and for another they’ve already gotten some perfectly good specific suggestions as to what to do next, which basically boil down to starting over with people who know what they’re doing. If the blunt feedback they’re getting helps them come to that realization, then it will have accomplished its objective.

A group of historians have called on the SBOE to review and rethink its recent changes to the social studies curriculum.

Historians are decrying the social studies curriculum standards crafted by the State Board of Education that they say misrepresent and distort the historical record.

About 800 college history professors from across the country have so far signed on to a letter circulated this week by seven academics from the University of Texas campuses in Austin and El Paso.

“Those of us who teach and conduct research in colleges and universities have grown concerned that social studies curriculum standards in Texas do not meet student needs,” the letter reads.

The letter says that some board revisions undermine “the study of the social sciences in our public schools by misrepresenting and even distorting the historical record and the functioning of American society.”

You can read the letter here. They are asking the Board to do the following:

• Delay the final adoption of social studies curriculum standards;
• Allow curriculum teams and a new panel of qualified, credentialed content experts from the state’s colleges and universities to review changes that the Board has made and prepare a new draft of the standards that is fair, accurate and balanced;
• Permit the public to review and comment on the new draft of the standards before final adoption; and
• Make final changes to the draft of the standards only after public consultation with classroom teachers and scholars who are experts in the appropriate fields of study.

This isn’t the first call on the Board to delay implementation of the changes and I suspect it won’t be the last. I don’t expect them to pay any attention – it should be crystal clear by now that the wingnut faction thinks they know better than any so-called “expert”, so what do they care about stuff like this? – but the more that can be done to show how out of touch they are, the better. The Texas Freedom Network has more.

I think I finally figured out why they do stuff like this.

The State Board of Education tentatively approved new standards for social studies Friday with members divided along party lines — some blasting them as a fraud and conservative whitewash, others praising them as a tribute to the Founding Fathers that rightly portrays America as an exceptional country.

The standards, which will influence history and government textbooks arriving in public schools in fall 2011, were adopted by 10 Republicans against five Democrats after weeks of debate and across a racial and ideological chasm that seemed to grow wider as the proposal was finalized Thursday.

Many of us are secure enough in our belief about the true nature of America that we want our children to be taught the basic facts about its history on the assumption that in the end they’ll realize for themselves that they live in a pretty good place. Other people, like certain members of the State Board of Education, seem to think that unless children are given only a carefully edited set of “facts” about America, they won’t grow up to be as intolerant of dissent about things like America’s greatness as they themselves are. Once I realized this was a matter of self-esteem, it all made sense to me. Perhaps if we spiked their water pitchers with Prozac for their next meeting, things will go better. It’s worth a shot, anyway. Steve Schafersman, The Texas Trib, TFN, Steve Benen, and Hair Balls have more.