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K–12 Education, Teaching & Learning

Support K–12 History Education in Oklahoma

  • WHAT? Participate in the public review of new 2024 draft Oklahoma Standards for Social Studies.
  • WHEN? Public comments will be accepted through Tuesday, January 21, 2025.
  • WHY? To support strong history teaching in public schools and democratic processes in school governance
  • HOW? By providing public comment through the state Department of Education website.

The American Historical Association (AHA) encourages Oklahomans invested in history education to participate in the public review of the draft Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies published on December 19, 2024. The State Department of Education will collect feedback submitted through its website until Tuesday, January 21, 2025, before bringing a revised version to the State Board of Education at its February meeting.

In July 2024, the AHA urged Governor J. Kevin Stitt and the Oklahoma State Department of Education to retain elements that distinguish the current Academic Standards for Social Studies, adopted in 2019, as “among the best in the nation.”

We are pleased to report that the state followed our advice and retained much of the structure and content of the existing academic standards framework. The new draft expands and refines its attention to Native American history, historical thinking, and other key aspects of US history. But some of the proposed revisions threaten to undermine the integrity of history and social studies education in a state where many students already fail to achieve basic benchmarks in student learning.

Notable improvements in the new draft standards include:

  • exemplary coverage of Native American history, balancing respect for the sovereignty and distinct cultures of Oklahoma tribal nations within a much wider context, from precontact Indigenous America through the present day;
  • clearer guidance to prepare newer teachers and those with emergency certification to discuss key themes and topics in US history, including the Revolutionary War, Reconstruction, immigration, the resilience of Black Oklahomans during segregation, and US political history from the Reagan administration to the present; and
  • basic expectations for historical thinking that align with the AHA’s criteria for state standards and encourage student learning beyond rote memorization.

Areas of concern include:

  • a confounding and unreasonably narrow presentation of world history, with disproportionate focus on European ideas and intellectual culture;
  • insufficient attention to global perspectives, which are necessary to equip Oklahoma graduates with knowledge and skills many employers expect from new hires;
  • oversimplified and distorted descriptions of religious life in America that fail to account for the diversity of denominations—for example, Baptist, Methodist, Quaker, Mormon, Catholic, and Congregationalist, as well as multiple evangelical movements—and religious pluralism that have defined US history; and
  • the arbitrary deletion of topics included in the current academic standards, including the concept of the “white man’s burden” in the context of American imperialism, reference to the year 1619 and its connection to slavery, the experiences of free African Americans before the Civil War, and climate change.

Participating in the review process:

The Oklahoma Department of Education will collect feedback submitted through a form on its standards review website until Tuesday, January 21, 2025, before bringing a revised version to the State Board of Education for its February meeting.

The public comment form include space to post comments for each grade level or elective course separately. Department of Education staff are most likely to respond to comments that cite specific examples and suggest concrete changes. If you are drawing out themes that apply to multiple grade levels, consider reiterating critiques across comments with specific citations from the grade level for which your comments apply.

You might find it helpful to consult this side-by-side comparison of the 2019 standards and the 2024 standards created by an Oklahoma educator. The draft standards use a common labelling convention for academic standards. For example, you might wish to address standard 8.1.5F: “Evaluate the role of Judeo-Christian ideals in supporting colonial demands for independence, as exemplified by the Bible being a frequently cited authority by America’s Founders.” (The label 8.1.5F indicates that this is a clause (F) within the standard 1.5 in 8th grade social studies.)