The Virginian-Pilot
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The U.S. history standards for Virginia's public schools are poorly organized, inconsistent and, in some cases, politically biased. So says the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in a report released Wednesday.
The Washington-based education think tank gave Virginia a "C" for its K-12 history standards and accompanying curriculum frameworks, which provide more detail about what students should learn.
"We certainly have a lot of respect for the Fordham Foundation, and we're going to take a hard look at their findings," said Charles Pyle, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Education.
Fordham praised the standards for containing a "good deal of historical material, some of it of quite high quality."
Depth and rigor, on the other hand, are uneven, the report said. The organization also criticized what it called a "lack of chronological focus" and a tendency to politicize content.
The early grades, for example, introduce basic concepts but "devote arguably disproportionate space to Native American history," according to the report. The organization also noted that the standards cover the culture, government and trade of ancient Mali but don't mention how the African kingdom profited from the slave trade.
Virginia fared well compared with other states. The average grade was a "D."
Adopted in 2008, the latest version of Virginia's history standards will be up for review by 2015, Pyle said. Smaller edits can be made before then if the department sees an error that needs to be addressed.
"The Board of Education has tried to provide teachers with additional room for flexibility and creativity while still maintaining rigor and specificity in our history standards," Pyle said. "It's a balance."
Hattie Brown Garrow, (757) 222-5562, hattie.brown@pilotonline.com
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Just a thought,
Maybe the educators should consider buying textbooks from sources other than the lowest bidder somewhere in Texas. I have noticed from the comments, though, the political bias is only noticed by the person of opposite political thought. Wonder why?
Turning Back the Clock
That's OK. McDonnell, Cuccinelli and Republicans in the House of Delegates want to turn the clock back to 1860 so students can simply ignore the last ten chapters of their history text books.
What I read of the full report was actually enlightening
I followed the link for the full report,provided with the story, then reviewed their assessment of the states I have lived in. While I admit that a sampling of six states limits my data, I was not left with the impression that the report had a political bias.
The main failure of most programs seems that the curriculum is shallow and only skims the surface of history. Historical explaination and context are absent and speaks in generaliities lacking specifics.
Example: Saying the Emancipation Proclaimation freed the slaves is incomplete history. The E.P. only freed southern slaves. Those in northern states, the ones Lincoln had the ability to actually free, were excluded. So the reality that very few slaves were freed is not taught.
History Score
Sad comment on a state that had so much of the U.S. early history happen inside its borders. I think what we need is to throw more money at the teachers and more unions (sarcasm).
I am not surprised
for I have long complained about the leftwing bias in our history books. Republican presidents, except for Lincoln, are either protrayed as dunces,evil or ignored. Democratic presidents are protrayed as noble, enlightened and good. Famous white Americans like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Vanderbuilt, Morgan, Rockefeller are ignored in favor of Maggie Walker. My third grader has to study six figures in American history "in depth". They are three black, and three white. What the actual contributions to history doesn't matter, as long as they are politically correct. The theme of American history is that the United States is a racist, bigoted country.
Home school then
Do it yourself if you can do it better. Or send your child to a private school that fits with your views. It's okay of course to analyze what your child is learning, but the bigger question is what do you do about it? Have the big house, 2 cars in favor of paying for a "better" education?
Mali!
I remember my son studying Mali ad nauseum in an early elementary grade. It was given the same importance as ancient Greek, Roman and Egypt cultures. Ha!
I hope you complained to the
I hope you complained to the principal, school board, and state.
And I was taught that Africa
And I was taught that Africa didn't have a proud history when I was a kid, only Europeans. Consider your kid fortunate.
Useless Report
I don’t know which side of the political spectrum these people are on but all they are going to do is grade based on how well the curriculum aligns with their particular bias.