The past, present, and future.
These are all things that history can tell, along with improving your memory, knowledge in civics, and critical thinking – but unfortunately National test scores are telling us that kids in the US aren’t remembering it!
With 40% of 8th graders in the U.S. testing “below basic”, what’s even more concerning, the recent plunge in U.S. history test scores isn’t even necessarily news, as scores first began to show a decline nearly a decade ago in 2014.
So what is the root of this decline?
Secretary of Education Miguel A. Cardona says it’s the tense political climate of the last decade, stating “banning history books and censoring educators from teaching these important subjects does our students a disservice and will move America in the wrong direction”.
Across a multitude of subjects in standardized testing last year, the strongest declines were driven by students who were already low-performing, which has sparked concern within the No Child Left Behind program, implemented in the early 2000s. The program’s federal policy requires standardized testing for reading and math – but not social studies.
Kristin Mann, a history professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock stated that “It doesn’t bode well for the future of this country and for the future of democracy if we don’t start doing more instruction in social studies”. With many schools in the U.S. whittled down to 30 minutes of social studies, the National Council for the Social Studies still recommends a minimum of 45 minutes of instruction…daily.
Another source of decline could be the spread of misinformation on social media. Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, director of Tufts University’s CIRCLE center (which focuses on youth civic engagement) cited a recent TikTok against an Alaska oil project, that incorrectly produced a petition asking President Biden to “not sell Alaska”. Who knows how many TikToks or other forms of social media birth misguided information – all in the hands of children.
In what seems like a culmination of so many roots to the tree that is declining test scores – the results not only should spark concern within the U.S. Education system, but within our communities and within our homes – knowledge of history can teach a child to be conscientious, more considerate, and even more empathic.
Think about it!