“I am disappointed to learn that the changes made by the House Education Committee to Senate Bill 1 will further erode the emphasis that civics education and social studies will receive in the next two years. By suspending the state accountability index and following the federal accountability requirements, we run the risk of marginalizing civics education. With no accountability system in place for social studies, schools will naturally place a greater focus on those subjects that are part of accountability standards of No Child Left Behind. In an age where political leaders voice their frustrations over the decline in civic participation among our youngest citizens, it is counter productive to reduce the emphasis on the subject area that helps educate and train an engaged citizenry. This step will only move our schools farther away from their original civic mission. I hope that in the remaining days of the legislative session, the legislature will reverse this action and in future decisions about educational testing will place an even higher focus on civics education."
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Sec. Grayson stands up for civics and social studies
Secretary of State Trey Grayson has released this statement to the press:
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I agree. But, the issue probably goes much deeper. If the subject is not tested, in many schools it will more than likely not be taught. There are far to many schools that teach to the test, and everything else be darned. It is also why you so many schools quit teaching anything after the CATS testing. You can't hardly get to the pizza restaurants for the school buses.
ReplyDeleteI wish we could trust teachers to keep teaching after the test. The evidence does seem to show, though, that we can't rely on them to do that.
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