The Outcome Of Reconstructed History Course Material

The Catcher in the Rye. The Scarlet Letter. Huckleberry Finn. Harry Potter. The Diary of Anne Frank. Animal Farm. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Da Vinci Code. The Grapes of Wrath. These literary classics have been vital to the education of many, especially children and adolescents (Banned Books). These great novels both teach important values and educate children about world affairs and classic themes. Unfortunately, each of these novels has been banned at one point in time. In a country where freedom is so adamantly advocated, it is a wonder that an issue like censorship would even come up, that such a controversy would sink its claws into the minds of states’ boards of education across the nation.

Ever since the 1960s, the Texas textbook controversy has had an issue in America. The Texas school board is meeting to make revisions to their textbooks and curriculum. But are they also revising history? Educators across the country are watching to see the effect this issue will have on students. The choices the board members are making will affect politics, religion, monies spent thru-out the Texas school system. Christian conservatives on the state education board want curriculum changes. Parents and student would like the curriculum to remain the same, or not

This article, written in 2014, titled, Common Core Switch Could Be Costly, gives the reader an overview of what Common Core really could do to American taxpayers. A taxpayer is someone who, “pays a tax or is subject to taxation,” (dictionary.com). The cost relates to how times have changed because a lot more money is spent on trying to give children a bigger and better education. When people think about how school was 100 years ago, and then think about where life has gone to today, there is a vast difference. Technology is one thing, but the way children were taught and how many children did not even go to school is quite another. But many differ from the point of view that it was better way back when, just as Kimberly Kennedy does in her article Common Core Is Working, Don’t Break It in which she states, “We must prepare our kids for a future where technology reigns and more jobs will require college degrees,” (Kennedy). Technology is an argument in itself, but it does play a certain role in Common Core, but that will come further along. Nevertheless this article argues the fact that Common Core is helping Kentucky with scoring higher grades on tests and becoming a smarter

I believe that the root of the problem is trying to create an education system were all students will learn the same things, but where teachers have freedom to teach that subject in different ways. I have not done any research yet so I cannot say confidently that Common Core standards are good or bad, but I do believe that there are some holes and flaws in the idea and the structure and tight rules of Common Core are causing these issues making it the root of the

Since 2010, there were 45 states that have adopted the same educational standards called Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The initiative is sponsored by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers and seeks to establish consistent education standards across the states. The Common Core Standards is initiative state-led effort that established a single set of clear educational standards for kindergarten through 12th grade in English and Mathematical standards. These standards help to educate all of the students equally, they help children who move from state to state, as well as they help to prepare students for college and workplace. The common core standard helps to provide a clear understanding

According to Jason Zimba, one of the authors of the state standards for mathematics, standards are not tests or textbooks but rather are lists of learning goals that have been around in some form for decades. Compiling a common list of educational goals to be used in all states is the means of incorporating Common Core Standards into the educational system. The program is also designed to provide feedback on the effectiveness of our secondary schools, and it has done this to some degree. Common Core addresses testing that measure the knowledge and abilities required for its standards, provides texts and other instructional materials that embody the content required under Common Core, additional education for teachers that will give them the ability to teach the new material at the level required for students from myriad backgrounds and

The National Review in May of this year in an article titled, Two Moms vs. Common Core explains: “Common Core is a set of math and English standards developed largely with Gates Foundation money and pushed by the Obama administration and the National Governors Association. The standards define what every schoolchild should learn each year, from first grade through twelfth, and the package includes teacher evaluations tied to federally funded tests designed to ensure that schools teach to Common Core. Over 40 states hurriedly adopted Common Core, some before the standards were even written, in response to the Obama administration’s making more than $4 billion in federal grants conditional on their doing so. Only Texas, Alaska, Virginia, and Nebraska declined. (Minnesota adopted the English but not the math standards.)”

Over two hundred years ago, the Constitution was signed giving citizens of a newly designed nation civil liberties that no man could ever confiscate. The first of many Amendments to said document included the freedoms to religion, the press, and most importantly freedom of speech. And with the freedom of speech, arose so many great works of literature. Schools of the past then decided on the context of their libraries and of their lesson plans. However, no one ever concerns themselves with what happens to all of those other textbooks and classics that mysteriously disappear from shelves and are no longer taught in the classroom. Withholding knowledge from any student, who will soon be a full-fledged societal

Standards Addressed: The following Common Core State Standards are the focus of this exemplar: RI.7.1, RI.7.2, RI.7.3, RI.7.4, RI.7.5; W.7.1, W.7.2, W.7.4; SL.7.1; L.7.4, L.7.5

1a. According to Loewen’s introduction, high school students hate history because nobody expects much from it. Many people are bored of history because we already know the ending of all the textbook’s “stories.” The textbooks have a monotone voice, and are technically clones of each other. Apparently history professions do not even review the textbooks in order to check if they have any historical mistakes in them. Also the authors of the textbooks wrote in them like there are still no debates about any of the topics, so students are not meant to question history. The textbooks are written through “white eyes” so they are biased and full of nationalism. Textbooks do not include

“The Common Core: A Disaster for Libraries, A Disaster for Language Arts, A Disaster for American Education,” was written by Stephen Krashen and taken from Knowledge Quest January/February 2014 issue. Stephen Krashen is professor emeritus, University of Southern California. Krashen points out that the Common Core State Standards, or CCSS, is not relevant for students. He states there are other issues that should be addressed, such as food insecurity or lack of health care, before we put more finances into strict testing and more advanced technology. His thesis is that American Education is missing the real problems affecting education and that the Common Core will continue to turn schools into testing centers.

“The Common Core: A Disaster for Libraries, A Disaster for Language Arts, A Disaster for American Education,” was written by Stephen Krashen and taken from Knowledge Quest January/February 2014 issue. Stephen Krashen is professor emeritus, University of Southern California. Krashen points out that the Common Core State Standards, or CCSS, is not relevant for students. He states there are other issues that should be addressed, such as food insecurity or lack of health care, before we put more finances into strict testing and more advanced technology. His thesis is that American Education is missing the real problems affecting education and that the Common Core will continue to turn schools into test centers.

Courting controversy examines the implications that arise when teachers assign challenged books, and when parents challenge books. The author, Pat Scales, relates an experience of a teacher who added a challenged book to her reading list in support of a colleague in her district faced a challenged on the book Working by Studs Terkel. The author believes that teachers following curriculum policies should decide what is taught in the classroom, not parents. One solution put forth to squash book challenges is to offer the student an alternative novel. Yet another scenario the author relates occurred when a parent requested a recommendation for a website that labels content in books. The solution presented was twofold: encourage the parent to

Textbooks are still being written for profit, politics, and nationalism. Education boards have been around for centuries and they are the ones who decide what they want their state or nation to recognize as valid history. Modern day education boards are revising textbooks to outline many narrow minded ideas such as in Texas where, “they wanted the texts to establish that the U.S. is a ‘Christian land governed by Christian principles” (The Week), and “ Slavery under the new standards, would no longer be described as America’s original sin, and would become “the Atlantic triangular trade” (The Week), such revisions will strongly affect the views of

The No Child Left Behind Act also has a very narrow focus on curriculum. The act focuses on just math and reading scores. This could have an undemocratic effect on a large generation of students in poorly performing schools. Schools would have take away much of the broad education in order to elevate scores on just two subject areas. Students in wealthy schools with good test scores will continue to learn a full range of subjects including art, social studies and science, while the students who scored poorly on the tests, will be receiving education in only two subject areas. It is not right to put two subjects as the top priority. This means that not all students will get a complete education. This concern with literacy and math skills divides