⚠️CAUTION: CHANGE AHEAD⚠️ | | | In recent days, you may have seen folks lighting their hair on fire on social media along these lines: "OMG they're removing Texas history from schools!" Maybe you've heard about potential changes from other sources or, more likely, you have no idea what I'm talking about. The messaging from all quarters hasn't been especially clear, so I'm here to (hopefully) bring some clarity. Let's jump right in because I want y'all to understand it then make your opinion known. Here are the basics: | | | - Texas law mandates civics education - bedrock stuff like the founding of the American and Texas republics, what a republic is, the ills of communism, and how freedoms evolved over the centuries.
- Texas students currently have two years of classroom time dedicated, on paper anyway, to Texas history: 4th and 7th grade.
- The State Board of Education (SBOE) will vote on Wednesday on whether to move dedicated Texas history to the 8th grade or eliminate a dedicated year entirely.
| | | My knee-jerk reaction was to oppose any change at all. 7th grade Texas history is a fixture - it's what we all know. But my history conversations with people of all ages over the years stood directly at odds with my desire to maintain the status quo. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" does not apply here. It IS broke. I wondered if it's fixable or if the options on the table for the SBOE vote could break it further. I played back all of the recent public testimony. I read the proceedings of the committee responsible for drawing up options, squinted at their convoluted charts. I talked with some dedicated 7th grade teachers and with staff at the Texas Education Agency. Results: an understanding of the three options and their potential ramifications. Each of these options is an armature to build curricular standards around: | | | | | 4th and 7th Grade Texas History Will Remain As-Is | | | This is how we've done things for ages. Kiddos enter 4th grade with paltry history knowledge from previous grades. They haven't had U. S. history yet to understand how Texas fits in or stands apart. 7th grade history is meant reinforce 4th grade, but is there much to reinforce? Teachers tell me not much time in 4th grade Texas history classrooms is actually spent on Texas history. It's not on the annual proficiency test for 4th or 7th grade, so there ya go. The disappointing reality of the model we use now is that we have one year of actual Texas history instruction. To do it right and impart understanding, dedicated teachers scramble to loop in relevant happenings in America and Europe that triggered or inspired events in the Texas story. Kids who learn history that's isolated from tipping points and triggering events don't learn to think critically about the events of the past. They can't solve the puzzle because they never learned how - they see the pieces but don't know that they fit together. With rare exceptions, that's what our current method produces. By jamming the panorama of our history into just one year, we're basically asking 7th grade teachers to prepare a proper Texas chili in a microwave. | | | | | Texas Woven Into Grades 3 To 7, Texas Emphasis in 8th Grade But No Dedicated Texas Year | | | This is the model favored by the committee doing the recommending to the full Board of Education. The basic premise is this: teach people and events in kinder through 2nd grade, intensify and expand it in grades 3-5, repeat that in grades 6-8. Yes it revisits themes and events, increasing the chances that kids will latch on to the knowledge when they're ready. Yes, it touches on Texas history throughout the journey with a bit more in 8th grade. But I don't like this model. It's similar to the microwave we're trying to cook chili in now, with the civics content wiggled in but without a dedicated year of Texas history. | | | | | Texas Woven Through 3 - 7, With Dedicated 8th Grade Texas History | | | This is the model I have the most confidence in. If 1 and 2 are microwaves in our chili analogy, Option 3 is a slow-cooker. Why? Because it gives kids a way of understanding our cascade of human stories beyond critical theory bumper sticker binaries and rote memorization. It includes the basics of Western Civilization, so kids can learn to put civilizational clashes, governments, failures, freedoms, and redemption into context. It tracks key historical events in Texas, the U.S. and the world across five grades... Then after all of that context, it culminates in an 8th grade full year of Texas history. Example of why I like #3: In the other models, Lorenzo de Zavala is a guy on a list of Texans teachers are required to mention in some way. In this model, Zavala can be a man who was influenced by Enlightenment Ideals, who witnessed the fruits of American republicanism firsthand, who was inspired to join the Texian cause when Mexico abandoned those principles, who became the vice president of a republic. He can be described in this way to an 8th grader in the Option 3 Universe because "Enlightenment" and "republic" are already in that 8th grader's lexicon. Zavala's story, even told in brief, has more depth and dimension. Everything from the Clovis People to the Texas Revolution to our petroleum boom is spread across five years, interweaved and interleaved, with a mesh of context holding it together. That webbing of Western Civ, U. S. and world history will give students a way of fully understanding what they're taught in that 8th grade Texas history year. If it's implemented well, our students will be conversant in history and its gradients, rather than rote facts or slogans. I can only imagine how a kiddo packing knowledge like that will perform in high school and college history courses. | | | Indeed, this represents a big change from our current chunky, disjointed way of doing things. It will feel odd to hear "8th grade Texas history," instead of 7th grade. I know some of you will think I'm high for advocating for change. Like I said, I found the proposed changes jarring at first, too. I listened to opposing viewpoints from people I respect, all meritorious in various ways. At the end of the day, though, my analysis led me to believe that kids can learn more (and higher quality) Texas history with Option 3. You don't have to agree with my choice but I ask that if you want SBOE to maintain the status quo, you give a better reason than "that is how we've always done it." When we took 7th grade Texas history, we did so in a world devoid of TikTok, YouTube, AI, smartphones, and mainstreamed critical theory in education. Texas honors tradition, but thrives on innovation. | | | The full State Board of Education will take up the issue this week. On Monday afternoon, they'll discuss it. On Wednesday morning, they'll discuss it again and likely vote on a framework. You have an elected Board member. They have an email address. Let your Board member know which of the above framework options you think serves Texas kids best. | | | Drop them a line and let them know if you advocate for Option 1, 2, or 3. This won't be sudden change. It's a process. Although it's important that you contact your Board member right now, before the vote, the development of the curricular standards around the chosen framework will take some time. I promise to keep y'all posted on how it evolves. Thank you for taking a minute to email your board member. And thanks for hearing me out. Whether or not we agree on how to do it, I know we all agree that Texas kids need a shot at a true understanding of our past. God & Texas, Michelle | | | |
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