Here is David Blight, Beth English, and Jim Grossman at The New Republic: Under the grossly misleading title “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” the White House last week issued an executive order that would undermine the integrity of writing […]
K-12 education
Prestigious New England boarding school offers free ride to families making under $150,000 a year
This is very cool. The prestigious Deerfield Academy, located in the historic village of Deerfield, Massachusetts (the home of the 1704 Indian raid made famous by John Demos’s book The Unredeemed Captive ), is offering free tuition and boarding to […]
The Author’s Corner with Jesse Chanin
Jesse Chanin is a postdoctoral fellow at Tulane University’s Coalition for Compassionate Schools. This interview is based on her new book, Building Power, Breaking Power: The United Teachers of New Orleans, 1965-2008 (University of North Carolina Press, 2024). JF: What […]
Boston Seminar: Day 1
I’m in Boston this week with a great group of history and social studies teachers from Roanoke, Virginia. We are exploring the colonial and revolutionary history of the city. The week-long seminar was made possible by the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of […]
The American Historical Association responds to the Florida African American history standards
Here is AHA Executive Director Jim Grossman: The Florida Board of Education approved new standards of instruction in African American history on July 19, 2023. A firestorm of protest erupted immediately from a range of public figures (including the vice president of […]
John McWhorter on the Florida African American history curriculum
I took a little heat for my take on the Florida African American history controversy. Last month I wrote: The standards were much better than I expected. If I was a high school teacher in Florida I could easily work […]
Daniel K. Williams is the new Director of Teacher Programs at The Ashbrook Center at Ashland University
A big congratulations to Current contributing editor Daniel K. Williams who was just appointed the Director of Teacher Programs at The Ashbrook Center at Ashland University. Dan is leaving his post at the University of West Georgia to assume the […]
Ban phones in classrooms
After twenty-five years in the college history classroom, it is hard to argue with Jonathan Haidt’s recent piece at The Atlantic. A taste: Think about how hard it is for you to stay on task and sustain a train of […]
“…the only way to reboot civic learning is if we adults can name and shake our addiction: It’s hate, rage and division.”
Here is Harvard political scientist Danielle Allen at The Washington Post: New national educational test results arrived this month — this time for civics — and again the news is bleak. We all know the storyline. The pandemic hit hard. Students lost […]
How U.S. history textbook publishers are catering to Florida’s “anti-woke” laws
Here is a taste of Sarah Mervosh’s piece at The New York Times: In an attempt to cater to Florida, at least one publisher made significant changes to its materials, walking back or omitting references to race, even in its […]
A defender of liberalism and academic freedom opposes Ron DeSantis’s “anti-woke” agenda
Here is a clip from the end of Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s “State of the State” yesterday: I’ll let writer and political scientist Yascha Mounk, a defender of liberal values and academic freedom, take it from here. His recent piece […]
The Conference on Faith and History secondary school teaching initiative is hosting a virtual panel this week
The Conference on Faith and History is sponsoring a virtual panel on secondary school history teaching this Friday, September 30. If you teach history feel free to join the conversation. More info below. More info: Paul Thompson will be hosting […]
Salon covers Hillsdale College’s outsized influence on K-12 education
Yesterday the left-leaning Salon stated a three-part series on Hillsdale College’s influence on local school boards. Here is a taste of Part 1: The mood in Costa Mesa on Feb. 2 was more love bomb than fire bomb: yet another […]
Reuters uncovers threats made to school board members
It is getting scary out there. Here is Reuters: Reuters documented the intimidation through contacts and interviews with 33 board members across 15 states and a review of threatening and harassing messages obtained from the officials or through public records requests. […]
North Dakota bans critical race theory in K-12 schools. How should the state’s history teachers respond?
North Dakota governor Doug Burgum just signed a bill that bans the teaching of critical race theory in K-12 schools. Here are a few of the pertinent sections: Each school district and public school shall ensure instruction of its curriculum […]
Apparently a lot of anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers are running for local school boards
Some are saying it’s a new front in the culture wars. Back in August, CNN ran a story about about a group called “Back to School-PA” that is throwing money at anti-mask candidates. In Delaware, a group called “Stand Up […]
What is going on in the Central York (Pa) School District?
Watch: The list of materials include: A pro-“Black lives matter” blog post from a New Testament professor at Biola University’s Talbot School of Theology. Biola is a conservative evangelical school in Los Angeles. An anti-racism article at the website of […]
Chris Rufo of the Manhattan Institute and Ralph Richard Banks of Stanford debate critical race theory
Some of you may remember Chris Rufo as the guy who triggered Donald Trump’s opposition to critical race theory. Ralph Richard Banks is a Stanford University law professor. Joan Coaston, the host ofThe New York Times‘s podcast “The Argument,” moderated […]
For the first time in American history, advocates of patriotic education are claiming their curriculum is based on fact
This is a fascinating essay by Timothy Messer-Kruse of Bowling Green State University. It covers Josh Hawley’s “Love America Act” and Hillsdale College’s 1776 Curriculum. For most of the last two centuries, patriotic schooling was not a partisan issue. Both […]
A Missouri legislative committee held a hearing on teaching race and racism. No Black parents, teachers, or scholars testified
Seriously? Here is Summer Ballentine at the Associated Press: A Missouri legislative committee on Monday held a hearing on how educators teach K-12 students about race and racism without hearing from any Black Missourians. No Black parents, teachers or scholars […]