Our History is what they are trying to rewrite!

“What Gets Measured Gets Treasured: SB 1724 Would Harm Our Students” 

by Donna Garner 

“What gets measured gets treasured.”  This is an oft-quoted statement among teachers. In other words, what gets tested gets taught.  It is for this reason that I am absolutely mystified about Texas SB 1724 which is authored by some of our most insightful Texas Senators – Patrick, Birdwell, Campbell, Hegar, Lucio, Paxton, and Taylor. 

 Under SB 1724, Texas high-school students would not be required to pass STAAR/End-of-Course tests in World History andWorld Geography. (Please refer to chart on SB 1724 posted below.)

It was over the curriculum standards (TEKS) for World History and World Geography that the Texas State Board of Education members waged some of their most ferocious battles back on 5.23.10.

The end result is that Texas’ World History and World Geography standards (along with the other Social Studies standards) are the most fact-based and patriotic curriculum standards (TEKS) in the entire country.  They are indeed “Type #1.”  

 

[To learn the definitions of Type #1 and Type #2, please go to: http://nocompromisepac.ning.com/profiles/blogs/type-1-and-type-2-two-completely-different-philosophies-of?xg_source=activity ]

Below, I have excerpted a few of the elements found in the World History and World Geography TEKS (as posted on the Texas Education Agency website).  Please take the time to scan over them.

As you ponder them, remember this:  Unless teachers and their students are held accountable on the World History and World Geography STAAR/End-of-Course tests to teach/learn the new Type #1 TEKS, many Texas teachers most likely will continue teaching their “old” Type #2 curriculum units  — revisionist history.

 

Also, please notice that it is in the World History and World Geography TEKS that the world’s religions are to be taught.  If we lose the STAAR/EOC “measuring stick” in these two courses, how will parents and the public know whether Texas students have been taught Type #1 or Type #2 curriculum?

 

Some of the most troubling lessons in CSCOPE (and in other curriculum materials) are those that cover World History and World Geography (e.g., students designing Communist/Marxist flags, Islamic fundamentalism, burqas, Christianity as a cult, The Middle East, Christopher Columbus as an eco-warrior, 9/11 terrorists as “freedom fighters,” portrayal of Communism as superior to Capitalism, etc.).

 

Have we grassroots citizens worked so hard to disclose these egregious Type #2 World History and World Geography revisionist history lessons only to lose the “battle” by removing the accountability of the STAAR/EOC’s that will force teachers to teach Type #1?  Yet, SB 1724, if passed, would remove that accountability for both teachers and students.

If the Texas Legislature does away with the World History and World Geography STAAR/EOC’s (SB 1724), how will parents and the public ever know whether TASA iCLOUD, regular public schools, charter schools, CSCOPE, Turkish Gulen Harmony Charter Schools, dual-credit courses, Texas Virtual Academy, online learning, Advanced Placement courses, International Baccalaureate programs, Web 2.0 Tools, and Safari Montage are actually moving our school children into Type #1? 

 

Please read:  3.19.13 — “Some Texas Legislators Being Duped” written by Donna Garner — http://educationviews.org/some-texas-legislators-being-duped-2/

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Link to SB 1724 – Legislation on STAAR/End-of-Course Tests http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=83R&Bill=SB1724

TYPE OF TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE PROGRAM	STAAR/END-OF-COURSE GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
FOUNDATION
English I English II Algebra I Biology U. S. History	Take 5 tests and must pass a minimum of 4
BUSINESS & INDUSTRY
English I English III Algebra I Biology U. S. History	Take 5 tests and must pass a minimum of 4
ARTS & HUMANITIES/STEM
English I English III Algebra I Algebra II Biology U. S. History	Take 6 tests and must pass minimum of 5
English I — diagnostic only — does not count toward graduation   State will pay costs for students to take SAT or ACT

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 Please scan over the following excellent World History and World Geography curriculum standards (excerpts taken from TEKS).  We as Texans want all Texas public school graduates to know these and much more so that they will become knowledgeable, patriotic American citizens and voters.  

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WORLD HISTORY – NEW TEKS STARTING IN SCHOOL YEAR 2011 – 2012

http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter113/ch113c.html#113.42

 

§113.42. World History Studies (One Credit), Beginning with School Year 2011-2012.

(c)  Knowledge and skills.

(3)  History. The student understands the contributions and influence of classical civilizations from 500 BC to AD 600 on subsequent civilizations. The student is expected to:

(A)  describe the major political, religious/philosophical, and cultural influences of Persia, India, China, Israel, Greece, and Rome, including the development of monotheism, Judaism, and Christianity;

(4)  History. The student understands how, after the collapse of classical empires, new political, economic, and social systems evolved and expanded from 600 to 1450. The student is expected to:

(A)  explain the development of Christianity as a unifying social and political factor in medieval Europe and the Byzantine Empire;

(B)  explain the characteristics of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy;

(E)  describe the interactions among Muslim, Christian, and Jewish societies in Europe, Asia, and North Africa;

(F)  describe the interactions between Muslim and Hindu societies in South Asia;

(I)  explain the development of the slave trade;

(K)  summarize the changes resulting from the Mongol invasions of Russia, China, and the Islamic world.

(5)  History. The student understands the causes, characteristics, and impact of the European Renaissance and the Reformation from 1450 to 1750. The student is expected to:

(A)  explain the political, intellectual, artistic, economic, and religious impact of the Renaissance; and

(B)  explain the political, intellectual, artistic, economic, and religious impact of the Reformation.

(6)  History. The student understands the characteristics and impact of the Maya, Inca, and Aztec civilizations. The student is expected to:

(A)  compare the major political, economic, social, and cultural developments of the Maya, Inca, and Aztec civilizations and explain how prior civilizations influenced their development; and

(B)  explain how the Inca and Aztec empires were impacted by European exploration/colonization.

(7)  History. The student understands the causes and impact of European expansion from 1450 to 1750. The student is expected to:

((C)  explain the impact of the Atlantic slave trade on West Africa and the Americas;

(D)  explain the impact of the Ottoman Empire on Eastern Europe and global trade;

(8)  History. The student understands the causes and the global impact of the Industrial Revolution and European imperialism from 1750 to 1914. The student is expected to:

(C)  identify the major political, economic, and social motivations that influenced European imperialism;

(D)  explain the major characteristics and impact of European imperialism; and

(E)  explain the effects of free enterprise in the Industrial Revolution.

(9)  History. The student understands the causes and effects of major political revolutions between 1750 and 1914. The student is expected to:

(A)  compare the causes, characteristics, and consequences of the American and French revolutions, emphasizing the role of the Enlightenment, the Glorious Revolution, and religion;

(D)  identify the influence of ideas such as separation of powers, checks and balances, liberty, equality, democracy, popular sovereignty, human rights, constitutionalism, and nationalism on political revolutions.

(10)  History. The student understands the causes and impact of World War I. The student is expected to:

(A)  identify the importance of imperialism, nationalism, militarism, and the alliance system in causing World War I;

(D)  identify the causes of the February (March) and October revolutions of 1917 in Russia, their effects on the outcome of World War I, and the Bolshevik establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

(12)  History. The student understands the causes and impact of World War II. The student is expected to:

(A)  describe the emergence and characteristics of totalitarianism;

(B)  explain the roles of various world leaders, including Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Hideki Tojo, Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill, prior to and during World War II; and

(C)  explain the major causes and events of World War II, including the German invasions of Poland and the Soviet Union, the Holocaust, Japanese imperialism, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Normandy landings, and the dropping of the atomic bombs.

(13)  History. The student understands the impact of major events associated with the Cold War and independence movements. The student is expected to:

(A)  summarize how the outcome of World War II contributed to the development of the Cold War;

(B)  summarize the factors that contributed to communism in China, including Mao Zedong’s role in its rise, and how it differed from Soviet communism;

(C)  identify the following major events of the Cold War, including the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the arms race;

(D)  explain the roles of modern world leaders, including Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Lech Walesa, and Pope John Paul II, in the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union;

(E)  summarize the rise of independence movements in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia and reasons for ongoing conflicts; and

(F)  explain how Arab rejection of the State of Israel has led to ongoing conflict.

(14)  History. The student understands the development of radical Islamic fundamentalism and the subsequent use of terrorism by some of its adherents. The student is expected to:

(A)  summarize the development and impact of radical Islamic fundamentalism on events in the second half of the 20th century, including Palestinian terrorism and the growth of al Qaeda; and

(B)  explain the U.S. response to terrorism from September 11, 2001, to the present.

((18)  Economics. The student understands the historical origins of contemporary economic systems and the benefits of free enterprise in world history. The student is expected to:

(A)  identify the historical origins and characteristics of the free enterprise system, including the contributions of Adam Smith, especially the influence of his ideas found in The Wealth of Nations;

(B)  identify the historical origins and characteristics of communism, including the influences of Karl Marx;

(C)  identify the historical origins and characteristics of socialism;

(D)  identify the historical origins and characteristics of fascism;

(E)  explain why communist command economies collapsed in competition with free market economies at the end of the 20th century; and

(F)  formulate generalizations on how economic freedom improved the human condition, based on students’ knowledge of the benefits of free enterprise in Europe’s Commercial Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and 20th-century free market economies, compared to communist command communities.

(19)  Government. The student understands the characteristics of major political systems throughout history. The student is expected to:

(A)  identify the characteristics of monarchies and theocracies as forms of government in early civilizations; and

(B)  identify the characteristics of the following political systems: theocracy, absolute monarchy, democracy, republic, oligarchy, limited monarchy, and totalitarianism.

(20)  Government. The student understands how contemporary political systems have developed from earlier systems of government. The student is expected to:

(A)  explain the development of democratic-republican government from its beginnings in the Judeo-Christian legal tradition and classical Greece and Rome through the English Civil War and the Enlightenment;

(B)  identify the impact of political and legal ideas contained in the following documents: Hammurabi’s Code, the Jewish Ten Commandments, Justinian’s Code of Laws, Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen;

(C)  explain the political philosophies of individuals such as John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Charles de Montesquieu, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Thomas Jefferson, and William Blackstone; and

(D)  explain the significance of the League of Nations and the United Nations.

(21)  Citizenship. The student understands the significance of political choices and decisions made by individuals, groups, and nations throughout history. The student is expected to:

(C)  identify examples of key persons who were successful in shifting political thought, including William Wilberforce.

(22)  Citizenship. The student understands the historical development of significant legal and political concepts related to the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. The student is expected to:

(A)  summarize the development of the rule of law from ancient to modern times;

(B)  identify the influence of ideas regarding the right to a “trial by a jury of your peers” and the concepts of “innocent until proven guilty” and “equality before the law” that originated from the Judeo-Christian legal tradition and in Greece and Rome;

(C)  identify examples of politically motivated mass murders in Cambodia, China, Latin America, the Soviet Union, and Armenia;

(D)  identify examples of genocide, including the Holocaust and genocide in the Balkans, Rwanda, and Darfur;

(E)  identify examples of individuals who led resistance to political oppression such as Nelson Mandela, Mohandas Gandhi, Oscar Romero, Natan Sharansky, Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, and Chinese student protestors in Tiananmen Square; and

(F)  assess the degree to which American ideals have advanced human rights and democratic ideas throughout the world.

(23)  Culture. The student understands the history and relevance of major religious and philosophical traditions. The student is expected to:

(A)  describe the historical origins, central ideas, and spread of major religious and philosophical traditions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and the development of monotheism; and

(B)  identify examples of religious influence on various events referenced in the major eras of world history.

(24)  Culture. The student understands the roles of women, children, and families in different historical cultures. The student is expected to:

(A)  describe the changing roles of women, children, and families during major eras of world history; and

(B)  describe the major influences of women such as Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, and Golda Meir during major eras of world history.

(25)  Culture. The student understands how the development of ideas has influenced institutions and societies. The student is expected to:

(C)  explain the relationship among Christianity, individualism, and growing secularism that began with the Renaissance and how the relationship influenced subsequent political developments; and

(D)  explain how Islam influences law and government in the Muslim world.

Source: The provisions of this §113.42 adopted to be effective August 23, 2010, 35 TexReg 7232.

§113.43. World Geography Studies (One Credit), Beginning with School Year 2011-2012.

(b)  Introduction.

(7)  State and federal laws mandate a variety of celebrations and observances, including Celebrate Freedom Week.

(A)  Each social studies class shall include, during Celebrate Freedom Week as provided under the TEC, §29.907, or during another full school week as determined by the board of trustees of a school district, appropriate instruction concerning the intent, meaning, and importance of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, in their historical contexts. The study of the Declaration of Independence must include the study of the relationship of the ideas expressed in that document to subsequent American history, including the relationship of its ideas to the rich diversity of our people as a nation of immigrants, the American Revolution, the formulation of the U.S. Constitution, and the abolitionist movement, which led to the Emancipation Proclamation and the women’s suffrage movement.

(B)  Each school district shall require that, during Celebrate Freedom Week or other week of instruction prescribed under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, students in Grades 3-12 study and recite the following text: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness–That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.”

(8)  Students identify and discuss how the actions of U.S. citizens and the local, state, and federal governments have either met or failed to meet the ideals espoused in the founding documents.

(c)  Knowledge and skills.

(14)  Government. The student understands the processes that influence political divisions, relationships, and policies. The student is expected to:

(B)  compare how democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, republic, theocracy, and totalitarian systems operate in specific countries; and

(15)  Citizenship. The student understands how different points of view influence the development of public policies and decision-making processes on local, state, national, and international levels. The student is expected to:

(B)  explain how citizenship practices, public policies, and decision making may be influenced by cultural beliefs, including nationalism and patriotism.

(16)  Culture. The student understands how the components of culture affect the way people live and shape the characteristics of regions. The student is expected to:

(B)  describe elements of culture, including language, religion, beliefs and customs, institutions, and technologies;

(17)  Culture. The student understands the distribution, patterns, and characteristics of different cultures. The student is expected to:

(B)  describe major world religions, including animism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Sikhism, and their spatial distribution;

(18)  Culture. The student understands the ways in which cultures change and maintain continuity. The student is expected to:

(B)  assess causes, effects, and perceptions of conflicts between groups of people, including modern genocides and terrorism;

(19)  Science, technology, and society. The student understands the impact of technology and human modifications on the physical environment. The student is expected to:

Source: The provisions of this §113.43 adopted to be effective August 23, 2010, 35 TexReg 7232.