Remember Connection to Common Core as Scholars Release Critical APUSH Letter

As reported by Peter Berkowitz on Real Clear Politics and Michele Malkin, fifty-five respected academics released a letter warning of the dangers of and strongly opposing the AP US History (APUSH) framework. Here is a relevant excerpt: There are notable ideological biases inherent in the 2014 framework, and certain structural innovations that will inevitably result in
imbalance in the test, and bias in the course. Chief among these is the treatment of American national identity. The 2010 framework treated national identity, including "views of the American national character and ideas about American exceptionalism"as a central theme. But the 2014 framework makes a dramatic shift away from that emphasis, choosing instead to grant far more extensive attention to "how various identities, cultures, and values have been preserved or changed in different contexts of U.S. history with special attention given to the formation of gender, class, racial and ethnic identities."
This very problematic framework came from the College Board now headed by David Coleman who was one of the main architects of the Common Core English standards and who admitted that he and his fellow authors "unqualified" to write those standards. Despite the constant claims by Jeb Bush and other proponents that there is no connection between Common Core and social studies, please remember the following: To those who say this has nothing to do with Common Core, because Common Core is only supposed to be about English and math, please remember that the full name of the Common Core Standards is the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. As documented in our testimony, Minnesota, in what may well have been a test case for this curricular coup, when adopting new social studies standards freely admitted that the Common Core English Standards were used in the development of the social studies standards.Here Read more

Posted in Curriculum. Tagged as APUSH, CCSS ELA history literacy standards, Daivd Coleman, Minnesota Socila Studies standards, scholars letter.

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