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Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Social Studies: Can’t Get No Respect?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The latest national report cards in U.S. history and civics are being released this morning. The previous report cards (in 2001 and 1998, respectively) showed American students were not exactly social studies standouts.
Back then, less than a fifth of the kids tested in fourth, eighth and 12th grades proved to be “proficient” (the level experts say they should reach) or better in U.S. history and just a fourth hit the mark in civics.
If I were to guess what this year’s report might show, I’d say there’s a slim chance students fared any better on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and they might have even done worse.
With all the emphasis the federal No Child Left Behind Act has placed on students’ reading and math skills in recent years, teachers — particularly in elementary schools — have been forced to give other subjects short shrift.
Social studies may even take the proverbial back seat in Georgia’s new high school diploma requirements. Under the proposal currently being considered, students will have to earn four credits in all the other major academic disciplines (math, English and science). But they’ll still only need three credits in social studies.
Given all this, I can’t help wondering if social studies teachers these days feel a bit like Rodney Dangerfield: “No respect. I don’t get no respect!”
UPDATE: Well, turns out my prediction wasn’t too far off the mark. The percentage of students scoring in the “proficient” range in U.S. history at each grade level was basically the same as the previous exam. That stagnant pattern also held true in civics. Although, on each test, some improvement was made in the percentages of students scoring at the “basic” level.
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