Reply to New Virginia History and Social Studies standards

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As a middle school history teacher taking a first pass (and focusing on middle school standards), I'm not at all impressed.

Here are some of the problems that immediately jump out to me as glaring:

Latino/Hispanic American history get VERY little attention. For example, Cesar Chavez is only mentioned once, in the second grade standards. I teach many Latino students, and there's nothing about how US Cold War interventions in Central American contributed to many of my students' families coming to our community. The closest we get is USII.7 d. "examining the role of the United States in defending freedom during the Cold War, including but not limited to the Berlin Airlift, Korea and Vietnam, the roles of John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban missile crisis, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe;"

There is not a single explicit mention of class conflict for middle school, though there are oblique references in the high school standards.

"Westward Expansion" standards make it seem like it's something that happened to Indigenous people, as if they had no agency.

USII.1 The student will apply history and social science skills to examine westward expansion after
the mid-19th century by
a. explaining how technology allowed settlers to adapt to the physical features and climate of the West;
b. identifying the motivations for westward expansion;
c. examine the impact of policies, legislation, and treaties associated with growth of the nation; and
d. explaining the effect that the growth of the United States had on Indigenous Peoples.

While I understand the Governor has a political aversion to organized labor and the left, it's downright strange that the middle school standards only mention unions/labor once, in reference to the rise of public sector unions in the 1960s and 1970s. Unions are complex, but many (over 1000 documented) Americans have died in intense labor conflicts, and my students have been able to have nuanced discussion of some of those episodes.

The middle school standards on Industrialization make it seem like free market capitalism was great for everyone at the time. What of the women who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire?
USII.5 a. "explaining how capitalism and free markets helped foster developments in factory and labor productivity, transportation, communication, and rural electrification changed American life and standard of living;"
Whether the Governor likes it or not, unions played a significant role in addressing the problems with unregulated industrialism. There's no Carnegie or Rockefeller either, and students get really into comparing them to today's "Captains of Industry"/"Robber Barons" and making their own conclusions about who or what is worthy of celebration or condemnation.

The "Progressive Movement" is only mentioned once, in the 11th grade curriculum. Middle school standards mention only Prohibition and the Women's Suffrage Movement (USII.5 d).

I could go on. It's an improvement over version 2, but it still needs serious work.[/quote]

What social studies units of study do you teach that share the positive elements of the government and history of the United States?[/quote]

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