Quote of the Day -- Plus – On Kentucky’s Social Studies Standards

“Kentucky’s new civics and U.S. History standards are mediocre, thanks to a needlessly complex coding system, critical gaps in content, and a plethora of vague or overbroad standards. Much greater clarity and specificity are needed, especially at the high school level.* Significant revisions are strongly recommended.”

Jeremy A. Stern, Ph.D., Et al., “The State of State Standards for Civics and U.S. History in 2021,” Fordham Institute, Page 146. Online here.

The Plus

The Fordham Institute is not without controversy with its reviews of various state standards, and I think they are too kind in this new report to describe Kentucky’s current social studies standards as “Mediocre,” but I must admit compared to some other states, Kentucky actually does not have the very worst standards.

But, who wants to settle for “mediocre” for our kids?

How can the Bluegrass State be willing to settle for standards that never even mention the state’s most honored son, Abraham Lincoln, or virtually all the other important presidents such as Madison, the Roosevelts and so forth? How can these standards be considered even mediocre when they never mention important inventors like Morse, Westinghouse, Edison and the Wright Brothers? Why is no mention of important places and events like Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, Normandy and any war after World War II acceptable?

So, while I think this new report gives Kentucky an unjustified mediocre rating, this makes Fordham’s recommendation that significant revisions are needed even more urgent.

You can examine the lots-of-process-but-darn-little-content Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies and check other resources such as here, here, here and here for yourself to see what else has been left out.