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A Statement on the African American History Strand of the new Florida Social Studies Standards
August 3, 2023
The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) is the largest professional organization devoted exclusively to the teaching and learning of social studies and represents over 10,000 social studies educators. NCSS supports the development and implementation of social studies standards as recognized practices that ensure high-quality teaching and learning in schools. Adopted standards have become the driving force of instructional programs by informing classroom practices, curriculum frameworks, textbooks and other resources, and assessment items and protocols.1 Recently, Florida’s State Academic Standards for Social Studies were revised to include a new strand for African American History. While NCSS supports the Florida Department of Education in incorporating an African American History strand as part of its overall social studies standards, it is deeply concerned by the substance, inaccuracies, and misrepresentations of this strand, which ultimately will negatively impact student achievement and social studies teacher preparation, performance, and retention. In addition, it is equally troubling that, despite the creation of the African American History Task Force in 2021, Florida’s Department of Education chose to circumvent this advisory group when creating the strand.
In June 2021, NCSS released a statement, Developing State and Local Social Studies Standards, recognizing that there “is a great deal of variance among state social studies standards regarding their scope, length, disciplinary focus, and level of content specificity.” These variances allow for standards to best represent and serve all populations across a state. Regardless of these variations, students nationwide deserve a more complete history that includes the perspectives, contributions, and experiences of the people of the United States of America and the world. For example, the inclusion of African American history must not begin with slavery. When teaching ethnic studies and/or studying marginalized groups, it is important not to start with oppression. Beginning African American history with oppression is part of a larger failure to teach Black Joy.
During a thorough review of Florida's new African American History strand, multiple inaccuracies, omissions, and misrepresentations became apparent in both the standard benchmarks and their clarifications. In making this determination, NCSS relied upon its 103 years of experience in supporting the teaching and learning of social studies. Below are four standards and our concerns with the language and intent present in the strand:
- SS.68.AA.2.3 Examine the various duties and trades performed by slaves (e.g., agricultural work, painting, carpentry, tailoring, domestic service, blacksmithing, transportation). Benchmark Clarifications: Clarification 1: Instruction includes how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.
The clarification is not a historically accepted interpretation of U.S. history. It falsely implies agency (and choice) among some enslaved humans and fails to recognize that individuals could not use these skills within the systems that were in existence. It might be better to have a standard that “Examines the achievements of enslaved peoples despite the oppression and degradation of slavery.”
- SS.68.AA.2.1 Explain early congressional actions regarding the institution of slavery (i.e., Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Three-Fifths Compromise, Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1808).
The Three-Fifths Compromise was a compromise arrived at during the Constitutional Convention. Referring to it as a congressional action diminishes the degree to which slavery was present in founding documents. The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves was a result of a compromise made at the Constitutional Convention as well, with no law banning slaves allowed until 1808. Additionally, benchmarks regarding the presence of slavery in the Constitution appear in the grades 9-12 standards, but not in the grades 6-8 standards. A possible benchmark for both the grades 9-12 and 6-8 strands might be, "Examine the compromises made at the Constitutional Convention regarding the continued practice of slavery."
- SS.912.AA.3.3 Examine the importance of sacrifices, contributions and experiences of African Americans during wartime from the Spanish-American War through the Korean War.
There is no clear expectation to explore segregated military experiences and why leaders created a segregated military. The timeline also skips from the founding to 1898. This is an opportunity to include the “sacrifices, motivations for joining the military, contributions, and experiences of African Americans during every American war.”
- SS.K.AA.1.1 Recognize African American inventors and explorers (i.e., Lonnie Johnson [inventor], Mae C. Jemison, George Washington Carver).
This standard does not help students understand the systemic challenges that individuals of color had to confront in order to make these contributions. A suggested change from “i.e.” to “e.g.” would make a list that is not to be viewed as all inclusive. The overarching standard could be revised to cast the scope further and wider by focusing on the contributions of African Americans to the United States and/or the world. For example, “Evaluate the contributions African Americans have made to American culture, history, and government/politics.”
History is complex and uncomfortable. Difficult subject matter such as racism has always been present in our nation and our world. History standards should not attempt to simplify or soften the difficult aspects of our nation's past. In order to teach a more complete history, it is important to include a range of voices—especially African American voices—on topics such as the question of African American citizenship and inclusion. An honest and accurate examination and evaluation of history provides students with the knowledge and skills necessary for academic growth and participation in a pluralistic democratic society. Lack of understanding of the past does not position students to understand the present or fully engage civically to make the country a better place.
Our position has remained consistent over the years that the standards that organizations, states, districts, and/or schools and teachers develop or adopt should be grounded in current scholarship, reflect best practices in social studies education, and be inclusive for all student backgrounds and ability levels. We support social studies standards and instructional programs which are grounded in inquiry-based learning, accepted understandings of historical content, and rigorous scholarship. We embrace educators in Florida and seek to promote their work with standards that are developmentally appropriate and that help them to create a space where the African American experience in United States history is appropriately contextualized and accurate. As stated in our Statement on Professional Ethics, it is incumbent upon social studies educators to “develop and use authentic voices and materials that do not oversimplify, distort, or manipulate the truth.” The current strand for African American History released by the Florida Department of Education impedes this essential ethical behavior of its social studies educators and, in turn, fails its students. With the implementation of this strand as is, Florida risks ill-preparing its students to productively participate in civil society.
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