Working Group of Social Studies
Discipline Organizations
Joint Statement on NCLB - March 28, 2007

How do we measure the success of the US education system? Many would answer with “data,” i.e., evidence that indicates that our students are prepared for their roles as citizens, as members of a 21st century workforce, and as participants in our democracy. In 2001, Congress passed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, setting laudatory goals that included attaining proficiency in math and reading by 2014, narrowing the achievement gap, and having well-prepared, highly qualified teachers in every classroom. In doing so, an unintentional consequence of implementation arose, one that involved the marginalization of the core social studies disciplines— civics/government, economics, geography, and history. While NCLB identifies each of these as “core” for the highly qualified provisions of the law, they are not included in the basic program requirements, an anomaly that is resulting in an increased “civic achievement gap.”

Evidence of the civic achievement gap is rampant. Measures of knowledge and skills reveal lower scores for Blacks and Hispanics, those from single parent families, and those who are poor. Civic attitudes, as reflected in levels of political and social trust, political efficacy, and civic duty are significantly lower for those who are poor and/or of minority or immigrant status. Civic behaviors, including voting, campaign work, and community activity, follow the same pattern. In the 2004 election, voting rates indicated that 67% of white citizens, 60% of Black citizens, 47% of Hispanic citizens, and 44% of Asian American citizens voted. (1)

These indicators of civic engagement need to be addressed to the same extent as the indicators of the academic achievement gap.

The key attributes of good citizenship include knowledge of the core social studies disciplines, as well as skills, attitudes, and behaviors. Recognizing the role of US citizens in world affairs and the realities of a global economy, our students must be prepared for a culturally diverse environment that requires the capacity for economic and political cooperation. (2)

For example, since the fate of the planet is one shared by all, recognition of a common good needs to guide the human use of Earth’s environment. Responsible civic values can be applied to these matters in a dynamic manner through a mastery of the content and skills of the core subjects of the social studies. However, the narrowing of the curriculum unintentionally fostered by NCLB has resulted in fewer resources, fewer contact hours with students, and fewer opportunities for professional development in civics/government, economics, geography, and history. Since the enactment of NCLB, for example, 33% of school districts surveyed reduced time for the teaching of social studies disciplines. (3)

Data also indicate a deficiency in students’ knowledge of history. This lack of knowledge of the basic content of history and of historical thinking skills results in a loss of the nation’s memory of past ideas, events, and important personalities, and their collective impact on the development of the United States. The study of history enables students to “understand how the present world we inhabit is the result of choices people have made and convictions they have held.” (4)

Our members, who include more than 50,000 educators in the core disciplines of social studies from the pre-kindergarten to the graduate levels, urge Congress to reverse the marginalization of the social studies—and narrow the civic achievement gap—by including provisions for standards, assessment, and professional development in the reauthorization of NCLB. The future of our democracy depends on it.

Specifically, our combined membership recommends:

1. Subpart 1—Basic Program Requirements, sec. 1111. State plans, (b) (1) (C)

   Add “the core social studies disciplines—civics/government, economics, geography, and history” to this academic standards provision.

2. Subpart 1—Basic Program Requirements, sec. 1111. Academic Assessments (b) (3) (A)

   Add “the core social studies disciplines—civics/government, economics, geography, and history” to the requirements for assessments and accountability.

3. Title II professional development fund requirements include alignment with state standards and assessments. Adding “the core social studies disciplines—civics/government, economics, geography, and history” to these provisions would allow for equity in funding for these content areas.

Notes

1. Meria Levinson, "Working Paper 51: The Civic Achievement Gap" (College Park, MD: CIRCLE, The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, 2007), www.civicyouth.org/PopUps/WorkingPapers/WP51Levinson.pdf

2. Partnership for 21st Century Skills, www.21stcenturyskills.org

3. "From the Capital to the Classroom: Year 4 of the No Child Left Behind Act" (Washington, DC: Center on Education Policy, 2006), www.cep-dc.org/nclb/Year4/Press

4. National Assessment Governing Board, "US History Assessment Framework for the 1994 and 2001 National Assessment of Educational Progress" (Washington, DC: US Department of Education, 2001), p. iv, www.nagb.org/pubs/hframework2001.pdf

Working Group of Social Studies Discipline Organizations

American Historical Association, Teaching Division
Center for Civic Education
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation/Chicago
JA Worldwide^TM
National Council on Economic Education
National Council for the Social Studies
National Geographic Society
National History Day
Organization of American Historians
World History Association