New Question: Should the US Standardize History Classes in all public schools?
For a long while, there has been arguments about whether schools should be standardizing material.
Standardized testing in school is when exams are designed and administered in the same manner for everyone. In order to pass standardized tests, all test takers have to learn the same material usually provided by the test administrator. Popular examples of such exams would be state driving tests, Advanced Placement (AP) exams, Scholastic Assessment Tests (SATs), or The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) exam.
My reasoning to transitioning to this question from my last, is because I believe that if we were to standardize classes, specifically history ones, the issues with misinformation and radicalized behavior mentioned in my previous blog posts would be minimized. Here's why:
In the United States, only 23 states have mandatory Holocaust education. That means that of the 50 states, 27 of them have people who may have never heard of the horrible events the occurred in 1930's Germany. Why is this important? Because if we don't learn from the past, we make way for events to reoccur (Phenomenon referred to as Historical Recurrence ) [#2].
[Credibility: ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc- Unaffiliated Organization and Cites multiple sources ]
Generally, People frown on standardized testing because it's original purpose was to segregate people by wealth class and race. This means that marginalized communities would be at a disadvantage to pass in comparison to areas with better schools and funding. I find this reason to be null today because a lot of our advancements in science and the community in general originated with malice or dark purposes that now serve the greater good. Treadmills were originally torture devices in the Victorian period, and now people use them for exercise.
In the modern day, standardized tests are used for better purposes, like gauging the progress of students in each state with an objective measurement which can easily be compared with each other. While you can still argue that tests aren't a good measure per individual students due to outside factors (being stressed, hungry, or tired during test taking), There's no harm in using the figures as a "broad picture" of a school district, or just to make sure that all schools are going over certain content. And anyway, these tests can simply be made pass or fail and not be made graduation requirements.
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| This wasn't great... |
Source #2- US Students historically score poorly on History tests
[Credibility: NPR is an independent, nonprofit media organization that was founded on a mission to create a more informed public. ]
As early as 1943, US schools have been reporting less than a quarter of students have been able to proficiently perform on history aptitude exams. Of course, teaching to a test doesn't ensure that students will gain an understanding of the content to the point where they can express and develop their ideas on the subject, however, standardizing lessons would at the very least ensure students gain SOME of an idea of what happened in the time before us. Personally, I consider that a step up from not having heard of historical events at all.
If as a nation we can effectively observe how people and societies behaved, especially from the perspective of different people, we would in turn produce more tolerant/empathetic generations. History is what teaches us why we have the laws we do, why conflicts happen intra/internationally, and the best ways to solve or prevent them.
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| Try and Identify these individuals + their accomplishments |
Source #3- Benefits of Learning History on the Individual
[Credibility: Nord Anglia is an international school organization. ]
Expanding on the aforementioned importance of history, this source further details the benefits of studying history. Not only is it about developing an understanding of the world and to learn from past mistakes, but to aid in individual character development, and understanding our identity.
This source specifically informs my perspective on the question at hand, because it shows multiple sides to the benefits that come with the subject. Initially, my focus was more of the consequences of not learning from History [view last blog] that I didn't consider the benefits past avoiding misinformation. In other words, this source showed me that aside from being a solution to the initial problem, there are added benefits that every person should develop on their way to adulthood.
{{ Furthermore, there are also various scopes within history aside from just learning the chronological events that led to the modern world. For example: learning creativity and observation/Analyzing skills through art history. }}
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| How many revolutions have you heard of.. probably a lot 😏 |
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