[Ohiogift] HS History Standards

[Will Fitzhugh]

 "If you would like to improve standards in History, look no further than The Concord Review."


Begin forwarded message:
From: Paul Horton <phorton at ucls.uchicago.edu>
Date: June 24, 2013 8:10:53 PM EDT
To: Marty Nesbitt <mnesbitt at theparkingspot.com>, Daren Briscoe <Daren.Briscoe at ed.gov>
Cc: Will Fitzhugh <fitzhugh at tcr.org>
Subject: Constructive Reflections

Marty and Daren,

Nine Lab School students have been published in The Concord Review, including students with learning challenges. Most of our money is going into STEM.

 If you would like to improve standards in History, look no further than The Concord Review. Will Fitzhugh, the journal's founder and editor since the late 80s, should be given a National Humanities Medal for his work with American students.

Natalia Ginsburg, Lab student (my student), came in Fifth in the Research Paper category at The National History Day competition in College Park, Maryland earlier this month. Arne visited the Science national competition, did he visit the National History Day competition that involves over 600,000 young people all across our great country?

I see a great deal of attention being given to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education, but very little attention is given to exemplary Humanities work. We need STEM and the Humanities. I am very aware of the program sponsored by the White House in the Humanities, but I am very concerned about the lack of budgetary balance between STEM and the Arts and Humanities.

Please read what this brilliant young woman has to say about her work writing a history research paper:

http://educationviews.org/an-interview-with-emma-scoble-reflecting-on-the-concord-review/

Please also confer with Mr. Fitzhugh about formulating research paper standards that set a much higher bar by combining research skills, content knowledge, and superior writing. Please also consult with him about the assessment of student research papers. I can assure you that his imput will be much more valuable that anything that the College Board, Pearson Education, or McGraw-Hill Education can come up with.

Teachers with high standards and integrity are looking for a vision of education that does not put for profit corporations at the front and center of change.

If you produce national rubrics and allow teachers and retired teachers to grade them, then you might get more opinion leaders among teachers to buy-in to the idea of national standards. If standardized testing is going to be used to punish teachers and students, you will get no buy-in. I would encourage you to sever your close policy connections with the corporate and vendor communities and to take a closer look at the Massachusetts Standards that are proven to be effective.

Marty asked me to be more constructive and this is my attempt to do so.

The best,


Paul Horton
State Liaison
Illinois Council for History Education
History Instructor
University High School
The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
773-702-0588
phorton at ucls.uchicago.edu
www.ucls.uchicago.edu














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