Essential Background/Context
- Before any standards were established, most states already had standardized testing requirements.
- In 2002, the federal government sparked a massive push for standardized testing through the "No Child Left Behind Act".
- These efforts were continued through the 2009 Race to the Top program.
- Massachusetts students have proven some of the best in the country in science, math, and english heavily due to MCAS, Massachusetts' statewide standardized test.
- Massachusetts planned to have a standardized test in history but pulled back in 2009 in response to the economic recession citing a $2.4 million price tag.
Thesis
Massachusetts needs to do something to improve history education due to...
- The vital importance of history in a holistic education
- The horrible state in which history is
- The undermining of history by other subjects in the academic world
Plan of Action
- Massachusetts needs to begin issuing standardized tests in history. The Commonwealth should revive the proposed American History MCAS.
- History teachers should also work to become less focused on memorization and more on teaching analytical skills that can be used in future professions.
- Finally, history educators should work to promote more diverse topics to make history more than the history of white men.