In most states, students in elementary and middle school learn about history in much the same way.
Local and state history is often taught in fourth grade, for example. U.S. history is common in fifth grade. Some world history and geography, perhaps in middle school.
Now, Texas is throwing out the old model — in favor of teaching in chronological order.
Students will start with ancient history in third grade, and progress in time each year, reaching the 20th century and World War II by seventh grade. Texas, U.S. and world history will be taught through the lens of each time period, rather than taught as separate subjects.
The changes, approved by the Texas State Board of Education late Friday, will significantly shift how history is taught for millions of students in the nation’s second-largest state, and set Texas apart from the rest of the country.
The plan was approved alongside a new and highly unusual statewide book list for Texas English classes. The list puts a focus on classic literature and includes excerpts from the Bible.
The Texas plan was backed by conservative groups and Republicans on the state education board, who have a 10-to-5 majority. They say an overhaul is necessary to fix dismal history scores and give students a greater appreciation for their country and state.
“Teaching students fragments of history — names and dates and places — has failed,” said Mandy Drogin, a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank in Austin that pushed for the changes.
A chronological approach, she said, will give students a better understanding of the “arc of history” and “the why” behind historical events.
But the revamp came over the objections of historians who say that a chronological approach year over year is problematic. It has also faced criticism from Democrats and progressive groups, who say that the change was a cover to put forth a more conservative view of history, with a focus on the United States, Texas and Christianity, at the expense of world history and other religious influences.
“The approach that they are trying here is really untested,” said Brendan Gillis, the director of teaching and learning for the American Historical Association, the largest membership organization for historians, which opposed the overhaul.
The changes in Texas come amid a fierce national debate about the country’s history, as President Trump and his administration have sought to put forth a patriotic vision of the nation and its founding at nearly every level. Texas’ plan appears to borrow some concepts from classical education, which has grown popular in conservative circles. Classical schools put an emphasis on great works of literature and the foundations of Western thought, and prioritize storytelling in the teaching of history, but do not necessarily go in chronological order.
Under the new Texas plan, set to be rolled out starting in 2030, young students in kindergarten through second grade will receive a basic history and civics education that supporters say will lay a broad foundation. For example, young students will learn the story of Thanksgiving and touch on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.
After that, schools will be required to go chronologically.
Ancient history will be taught in third grade; the Middle Ages in fourth grade; and the Protestant Reformation in Europe, the British colonization of America and the American Revolution in fifth grade.
By sixth grade, students will get to the 1800s, the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction, followed by the 1900s, World War I, World War II and the civil rights movement in seventh grade. A capstone course on Texas history will be taught in eighth grade.
U.S. and Texas history would be woven into each time period — for example, examining how ideas from ancient Rome influenced early U.S. government.
Supporters say that approach will fix some problems with the way history is currently taught, jumping around in time.
But critics say it is a stretch to ask third graders to master concepts from ancient history, and that a purely chronological approach does not do enough of what historians call spiraling, or coming back to ideas in greater depth as students grow older.
The Texas plan has also faced criticism for putting an outsize focus on the United States, Texas and Christianity throughout history, which historians say could leave students unprepared for a global economy.
“Imagine a curriculum that largely omits China, India and sub-Saharan Africa, which is what these standards do,” said Steven Mintz, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “Imagine a curriculum that defines Islam largely in terms of jihad and slavery.”
He pointed to other problems with the Texas plan, which he said minimized the contributions of women and glossed over negative parts of U.S. history, such as the convict leasing system and the practice of redlining.
Democrats on the state board pushed back against both the social studies changes and the reading list, which will require the Bible along with many books written by white and male authors, in a state where a majority of public school students are Hispanic or Black. They say the two changes push Christianity, and fail to reflect the state’s diversity.
Republicans on the board agree the two changes will go hand in hand, but say they will raise the level of rigor and give students a better understanding of history.
In a news release, the state board praised the social studies plan as moving away from an old way of teaching history that “overwhelmed students” with a list of names and dates, “resulting in generations of students who do not know the greatness of America or its greatest state, Texas.”
The post Texas Has a New Way to Teach History: In Chronological Order appeared first on New York Times.
