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Yes! And that is why the curriculum raises the hackles of ideologues. Can you just imagine what would happen if the critics got their way and the Reagan speech was included and its validity DEBATED by students, as should be the case in an AP History class? Their heads would explode! Can't ever question anything, because it's unpatriotic. That's the overriding theme in all of this nonsense.
Unfortunately we already debated this ad nauseum on the Education board, so I don't really have the patience for much more of it, especially with the much more idealogical crowd on this board. But all of your points are right on the mark about why politicians trying to change the curriculum (at least for this particular course) is so ridiculous. AP US History is not about telling one story from one specific viewpoint. As you mentioned in a follow-up post, students get that from all of their social studies courses leading up to AP history courses.
But, speeches aside, I do think it is important to teach our founding principles, include the writings of our Founders in history, and the Constitution and Declaration, and what they meant. These were historically World changing. There had been no government in history past like the American government, and the ideas and principles of "self government." This was partly what de Tocqueville referred to and what he termed "American exceptionalism." Our founding was "exceptional" in the history of man, and so is our freedom and form of government.
I agree in the sense that I would be good for people to know about the Constitution, the trouble being I suspect it would be very difficult to teach about the Constitution (1. because there is a lot of contextual material, 2. because I suspect there would be pushes to add ideological elements into it). Furthermore I think it would be counter productive to only teach the Constitution in the context of the founding, because the Constitution of today is in many ways quite different then the Constitution of the 18th century due to the fact that America has had at least 3 periods of significant Constitutional reforms.
Oh, for goodness sake! All three of my kids have studied the Constitution and other founding documents in fifth through ninth grade. Eighth grade social studies was an entire year of U.S. government, and ninth grade English at all levels required yet more careful reading of and Socratic seminars on the founding documents in alignment with the common core standards. Every high school junior and senior should be well-versed in the Constitution before they even have the option of taking AP U.S. History.
Oh, for goodness sake! All three of my kids have studied the Constitution and other founding documents in fifth through ninth grade. Eighth grade social studies was an entire year of U.S. government, and ninth grade English at all levels required yet more of the founding documents in alignment with the common core standards. Every high school junior and senior should be well-versed in the Constitution.
I can guarantee you there is a lot more to the Constitution then what you learn in K-12.
I can guarantee you there is a lot more to the Constitution then what you learn in K-12.
Of course there is, but it seems that some of the critics believe the only exposure to the Constitution our students have happens in AP U.S. History. They have spent several years by that point studying the founding documents, and it is well within their ability to use that knowledge to delve into other aspects of our nation's history.
Of course there is, but it seems that some of the critics believe the only exposure to the Constitution our students have happens in AP U.S. History. They have spent several years by that point studying the founding documents, and it is well within their ability to use that knowledge to delve into other aspects of our nation's history.
A very high percentage of republican controlled states follow the same format. They lower taxes on corporations and the rich, then they place sales taxes on the poor and middle class, and then cut education funding.
Oh, for goodness sake! All three of my kids have studied the Constitution and other founding documents in fifth through ninth grade. Eighth grade social studies was an entire year of U.S. government, and ninth grade English at all levels required yet more careful reading of and Socratic seminars on the founding documents in alignment with the common core standards. Every high school junior and senior should be well-versed in the Constitution before they even have the option of taking AP U.S. History.
What years was that?
I recall back in 2010, there was great debate about the "new" books in the history curriculum.
"The curriculum plays down the role of Thomas Jefferson among the founding fathers, questions the separation of church and state, and claims that the U.S. government was infiltrated by Communists during the Cold War"
"Discussions ranged from whether President Reagan should get more attention (yes),
whether hip-hop should be included as part of lessons on American culture (no),
and whether President of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis's inaugural address should be studied alongside Abraham Lincoln's (yes).
Of particular contention was the requirement that lessons on McCarthyism note that "the later release of the Venona papers confirmed suspicions of communist infiltration in U.S. government."
The Venona papers document communication between the Soviet Union and its spies. Historians dispute the extent to which transcripts show Soviet involvement in American government.
Also contentious were changes that asserted Christian faith of the founding fathers. Historians say the founding fathers had a variety of approaches to religion and faith; some, like Jefferson, were quite secular."
According to the Associated Press, In one of the most significant curriculum changes, the board diluted the rationale for the separation of church and state in a high school government class, noting that the words were not in the Constitution and requiring students to compare and contrast the judicial language with the First Amendment’s wording.
The board also required that the U.S. be referred to as a “constitutional republic” rather than a “democratic” one. Conservative panel members argued that the state curriculum had long been dominated by liberal ideas, and it was aiming to reverse the trend. “I think we’ve corrected the imbalance we’ve had in the past and now have our curriculum headed straight down the middle,” Republican Don McLeroy, one of seven social conservatives on the board, said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “I’m very pleased with what we’ve accomplished.”
Rod Paige, a former secretary of education under President George Bush appeared during public testimony and requested that the board delay its vote on the standards. “We have allowed ideology to drive and define the standards of our curriculum in Texas.”
Among the controversial amendments adopted, according to the Texas Education Agency: • Analyze Abraham Lincoln’s ideas about liberty, equality, union and government as contained in his first and second inaugural addresses and the Gettysburg Address and contrast them with the ideas contained in Jefferson Davis’s inaugural address. • Examine the reasons the Founding Fathers protected religious freedom in America and guaranteed its free exercise by saying that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and compare and contrast this to the phrase “separation of church and state.”
• Explain instances of institutional racism in American society. • Discuss the solvency of long term entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare.
A very high percentage of republican controlled states follow the same format. They lower taxes on corporations and the rich, then they place sales taxes on the poor and middle class, and then cut education funding.
Something to keep in mind is that after sophomore year, high school students typically have a variety of electives available to them for fulfilling their social studies requirements, and only one additional credit of social studies is necessary for graduation, of which .5 must be U.S. government and the other a semester-long elective of the student's choice. Our high school offers no fewer than twenty additional social studies courses, everything from International Relations to American History through Music to World Religions to Recent America: 1945 to Present to Street Law (I have no idea what that is about).
Most college-bound seniors take a full four years. My graduating senior, for example, took the required government course, along with western philosophy, macroeconomics, and human geography. My sophomore is planning to take government, psychology, personal finance, and human geography. What this all means is that the pissing and moaning about the AP curriculum is a giant waste of time, because it's not a required course, and most students won't even take it. That stuff about Jefferson that you think every high school graduate should know? That should have been covered by the end of freshman year, so take it up with the fifth-grade to ninth-grade social studies teachers. AP History is an elective with a special purpose: getting students prepared for the exam that will earn them college credit.
Last edited by randomparent; 02-23-2015 at 05:57 PM..
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