What will debate over history in schools look like in 2026, the year we celebrate America’s 250th birthday. Over at Time, John Garrison Marks of the American Association for State and Local History has some thoughts . Here is a...
history in schools
What Florida history students may not learn if Gov. Ron DeSantis gets his way
Here is Gillian Brockell at The Washington Post: The Florida state legislature kicked off Black History Month by advancing bills that would allow parents to sue a school if any instruction caused students “discomfort, guilt or anguish.” The bills have...
Meme of the day
Learn more about Ruby Bridges here....
Are the culture wars in schools worse than ever before?
Historian of education Jonathan Zimmerman thinks so. Here is a taste of the University of Pennsylvania professor’s recent piece at Politico: Steve Bannon is right: The road to saving the nation runs through our schools. The real question is which...
Can we tell a more complete story of American history without making people feel guilty or being made to feel guilty?
Over at National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition, historian Julian Hayter talks with host Scott Simon about why some school districts are opposed to critical race theory. Here is a taste: SIMON: Do you think a lot of Americans view history...
Biden dumped Trump’s 1776 Commission, but its members are still meeting
If you are not familiar with the 1776 Commission, get up to speed here and here and here. Here is The Washington Examiner: The education advisory commission set up by former President Donald Trump will resume operations despite being disbanded by President Joe...
Texas is trying to whitewash its history
One of these days I will try to put together a list of state education boards trying to change their history curriculums so that students do not come face to face with the many sins of America’s past. Texas will...
The San Francisco Board of Education and the “Just-the-Facts-Fallacy”
Last week we called your attention to a decision by the San Francisco Board of Education’s decision to rename forty-four schools. I titled that post “When a school board ignores history.” Now Jonathan Zimmerman of the University of Pennsylvania has...
Trump establishes his “1776 Commission” on the day before the election
When Trump announced the 1776 Commission we all knew it was a campaign stunt. We should thus not be surprised that he issued an executive order today that established the aforesaid commission. Of course if Trump loses tonight, the 1776...
The American Historical Association responds to Trump’s White House American History event
Here it is: On September 17, the White House announced, “In commemoration of Constitution Day, President Trump will travel to the National Archives to participate in a discussion on the liberal indoctrination of America’s youth through the 1619 Project, Critical...
How textbooks taught white supremacy
Historian Donald Yacovone of Harvard’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research is writing a book titled “Teaching White Supremacy: The Textbook Battle Over Race in American History.” Here is a taste of Liz Mineo’s interview with Yacovone at...
White Supremacy in the History of American History Textbooks
Harvard’s Donald Yacovone has an interesting piece at The Chronicle of Higher Education on the history of American textbooks and their representation of race. Here is a taste of “Textbook Racism: How scholars sustained white supremacy“: There it sat on a...
How to Improve History Education: 1997 and Today
In his 1997 book History on Trial, UCLA historian Gary Nash reflected on his role in the crafting of the failed National History Standards. After his experience fighting this battle in the culture wars, Nash encouraged teachers, educators, professors, legislatures, and...
Donald Trump’s American History Textbooks
What did Donald Trump learn about American history during his childhood in New York? Matt Ford, a writer at The Atlantic, decided to go back and take a look at the American history textbooks assigned in Trump’s history classes. Here is...
It’s Not The “Teaching American History” Grants, But It Is Something
Here are the details from The National Coalition for History: Federal Funding Opportunity for K-12 History and Civics Grants Announced Federal Competitive Grant funding is now available for K-12 History and Civics Education professional development! The US Department of Education has...
Today’s Op-Ed in the Harrisburg Patriot-News: : “Why study history?: A bill before the Pa. Senate is only part of the answer”
Readers of The Way of Improvement Leads Home read an early draft of this piece. Here is a taste: First, every member of the Senate, before voting on this bill, should read the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s 6-12 “Academic Standards...
What Does the Trump Budget Mean for Civics, History, Archives, and Education?
The National Coalition for History sums it up pretty well: On May 23, President Trump sent his proposed fiscal year (FY) 2018 budget request to Congress. As expected, it includes devastating cuts to federal history and humanities funding including elimination...
Don’t Know Much About History
David Barton recently appeared on the Glenn Beck radio program to talk about history education. He argues that “the progressives” are to blame for lack of student knowledge in American history today. Listen here: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/323951347″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true”...
The Glenn Beck and David Barton History Roadshow is Coming to a Public School Near You
Watch: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUrgOB6Y9OE&w=640&h=360] It’s happening folks. Beck and Barton have raised a million dollars to teach kids how to use primary documents “against the progressives.” In other words, they are going to try to teach students that America was founded...
Responding to the Critics of My Piece on South Dakota and Early American History in Schools
Let me get straight to the point here. Some of you have read my piece on South Dakota’s decision to no longer require students to take early American history courses. This piece was originally run at the History News Network...