As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s independence, Americans are reminded of the enduring ideals that made the United States the most successful experiment in liberty and self-government in human history. But how many California students understand the events that led to the American Revolution, the story of how our nationhood was won, the principles of the Declaration of Independence, or the debates that shaped our Constitution and Bill of Rights?
The truth is, we have no idea.
California schools are expected to teach history according to the state’s history-social science content standards. Yet California has no reliable way to determine whether students are actually learning any of it.
Why not? Because in 2013, California eliminated statewide testing in history and social studies when it replaced the STAR testing program with the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) to align with Common Core.
Consistent with requirements under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, CAASPP includes assessments in reading, math and science, but not history or social science. Having no high school exit exam to obtain a diploma, California allows students to complete all of their schooling without ever taking a standardized history assessment.
California’s current standards say seventh-grade students should be able to discuss how the principles in the Magna Carta were embodied in the English Bill of Rights and the American Declaration of Independence. Eleventh grade students should understand the ideological origins of the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers’ philosophy of divinely bestowed unalienable natural rights, the debates on the drafting and ratification of the Constitution, and the addition of the Bill of Rights.
These are the foundational ideas of liberty, self-government and constitutional government that make America unique. Yet as a result of the state’s decision to drop history assessments, we cannot track whether California students are learning these fundamental lessons or how far off course they might be.
The only national benchmark offers little help. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) administers national history and civics assessments every few years to a sample of American students, but doesn’t publish state-level data.
I started researching this issue when a parent in Southern California showed me a high school social studies lesson. Created by a teacher, the lesson heavily centered on contemporary socio-political issues, none of which appear in California’s history-social science content standards.
That raised an obvious question: if the standards emphasize foundational historical topics, why are some classrooms focused elsewhere?
Part of the answer lies in the fact that California educators are directed by two different sets of state guidance. In addition to the content standards, there is also California’s History-Social Science Framework, which provides lesson examples and teaching guidance rife with left-leaning socio-political themes.
For example, the Framework encourages teachers and students to “investigate the relationship between race, gender, sexuality, social class, and economic and political power,” to “ask how race has been constructed,” and to engage in “[s]tudent-led debate over issues such as climate change.”
While the majority of California educators are simply trying to navigate a minefield of competing demands, others have become active participants in advancing their personal political views. Without meaningful assessments, we can’t know whether students are mastering history or merely absorbing political agendas.
So how does California course-correct?
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First, the legislature should pass a bill to amend the state’s current standardized testing program, adding history and social studies assessments in elementary, middle and high school that are tightly aligned to the state’s content standards.
Second, the State Board of Education should revise the History-Social Science Framework to better reflect the state’s content standards, removing biased socio-political content not grounded in those standards.
In the meantime, parents, educators and school board members should take a closer look at what is happening in their history classrooms. After all, the goal is not to impose a political viewpoint on students. It is to ensure schools teach the history and civics content California has already decided students should know.
As America celebrates 250 years of independence, California should ensure the next generation understands the ideals on which our nation was founded. Until the state can assess students’ history proficiency, we’ll have no way of knowing whether our schools are succeeding or failing in that mission.
Sheridan Karras is research director at California Policy Center.