Wednesday, February 11, 2004
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Wednesday, February 11, 2004 |
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Supt. Kathy Cox’s ‘Truth’ response was filled with misrepresentations By JOSEPH JARRELL In response to an article I wrote outlining the “dumbing down” of the high school history curriculum [The Citizen, Jan. 28, 2004], the state Department of Education has released a statement entitled “The Truth about Georgia’s New Curriculum” [by Georgia Superintendent Kathy Cox, The Citizen, Feb. 4, 2004]. Unfortunately, it contains numerous inaccuracies and misrepresentations. The following information details my response to them. Item 1: The State Department article says, “A Georgia teacher claimed that our new social studies curriculum would not serve the state’s students well.” My article dealt with the high school world history curriculum and high school U.S. history. It was not an attempt to discuss the social studies curriculum at all grade levels. I firmly believe the new high school history curriculum is seriously flawed. I have communicated with numerous others in my field from across the state who share my concerns. Item 2: “The truth is that nearly all of the laundry list of names and events listed in his letter actually are in the new curriculum, and were never in the old curriculum to begin with!” My article listed 32 items not in the new high school history curriculum. (These follow.) I never wrote that these were not included in the social studies curriculum; I stated that they would not be studied on the high school level. My statement is completely and entirely accurate. Furthermore, the article is misleading in its statement that these “were never in the old curriculum to begin with.” Below I have listed all of the 32 topics I mentioned in my original article and where a teacher would discuss each topic as a part of the present curriculum. Following are 18 topics presently included in world history and 14 topics presently included in U.S. history that are not a part of the new Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) high school world and U.S. history curriculum. After each item is the Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) topic number in which the item is presently discussed. Because the QCC is fairly general, each item may not be mentioned by name in the curriculum; however, each item is covered by teachers as a part of the topic. World History Topics taught in the present curriculum: • Teachers discuss Ancient Egypt as part of QCC World History Topic 2. • Teachers discuss Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, The Iliad, The Odyssey, development of democratic government in Greece, and the fall of the Roman Empire as part of QCC World History Topic 3. • The Buddha and Confucius are discussed as a part of QCC World History Topics 3 and 4. • Jesus is discussed as a part of QCC World History Topic 5. • Feudalism, Joan of Arc, and William the Conqueror are discussed as a part of QCC World History Topic 5. • Muhammad is discussed as a part of QCC World History Topic 6. U.S. History Topics taught in the present curriculum: • Teachers discuss the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark, Indian removal, and the Trail of Tears as part of QCC U.S. History Topic 13. • The Alamo is presently discussed as a part of QCC U.S. History Topic 15. • Daniel Webster and Henry Clay are discussed as a part of QCC U.S. History Topics 13, 14, 15, and 18. • Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, the Underground Railroad are discussed as a part of QCC U.S. History Topic 16. • Civil War, Fort Sumter, Abraham Lincoln, and Robert E. Lee are presently discussed as a part of QCC U.S. History Topic 20. To recap, the 32 topics that I listed in my article are presently taught throughout the state by high school history teachers. That is just a sampling of topics that will NOT be taught if the GPS are followed by teachers. Item 3: “Judaism, for example, was not even mentioned in the old curriculum.” QCC World History Topic 2 plainly, clearly, and specifically notes the study of “Judaism and historic development.” Item 4: “Classical civilizations, meanwhile, were covered in one sentence in the old Quality Core Curriculum.” This statement is quite misleading. There are 28 topics in the QCC World History curriculum. One of the 28 is the study of classical civilizations (Topic 3). Almost all of the 28 topics (such as Topic 3) consist of merely one sentence. However, because Topic 3 of the QCC World History curriculum is one of 28, the study of these civilizations comprises almost 4 percent of the present world history curriculum. The new curriculum does not provide for discussion of classical civilizations because the GPS specifically states that the world history curriculum will begin with AD 1500. Item 5: “In the unit on ancient Greece alone ...” There is NO unit on ancient Greece in the new high school world history curriculum. The first lines of the new high school world history curriculum state, “The student will explore world events from 1500 to the present.” There is no discussion of any ancient or medieval history in the new high school curriculum because those two periods of history occurred before 1500. Item 6: “Teachers have been provided with suggested student assignments, including ... Alexander the Great ... The Iliad and The Odyssey ... Athens and Sparta ....” These are suggestions for teachers in the lower grades. The topics are not mentioned in the new high school world history curriculum. Elementary teachers lack the subject area knowledge to teach these subjects in sufficient depth and their younger students lack the maturity required to understand some of the more complex issues included in the study of these civilizations. Item 7: “The writer contended that The Iliad and The Odyssey weren’t mentioned in the new curriculum.” Absolutely false. My clear contention, and the fact is, these items are not mentioned in the high school curriculum. Item 8: “Neither of Homer’s epic works were included in the old curriculum.” Teachers throughout the state discuss these two poems as a part of QCC World History Topic 3. Item 9: “Far from eliminating Plato, the Civil War ....” I never said these were eliminated from the curriculum. I said, and they are, eliminated from the high school curriculum. My response is not meant to be a complete dissection of the article entitled “The Truth about Georgia’s New Curriculum.” It is merely intended to specify the falsehoods, misrepresentations, and half-truths contained in the article. The QCC does need revising. Few argue otherwise. My position is that the scope (time frame) of the high school history courses should not be changed. The present (old) curriculum (Quality Core Curriculum or QCC) can be accessed on the web at www.glc.k12.ga.us/qcc. The proposed curriculum (Georgia Performance Standards) can be accessed on the web at www.glc.k12.ga.us/spotlight/gps2.htm.
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