History Exams and the High School Curriculum

The American Historical Association has submitted to the New York State Board of Regents a statement of concern regarding proposed changes to the requirements for a Regents high school diploma in that state. Currently students are required to take statewide examinations in global history and geography and in US history and government, along with tests in English, mathematics, and science. The proposed modification would reduce the social studies requirement by allowing a student to substitute a “comparatively rigorous” form of assessment in areas more directly related to careers.

I am not a fan of the testing regime that has come to dominate far too much of secondary education. High school teachers and parents of children who have passed through grades 10–12 over the past decade are well aware that far too much time is spent preparing for tests, as opposed to student learning. These overlap, but they are not necessarily the same. Yes, a well-designed “assessment tool” can provide useful—indeed often essential—evaluation of student learning. But many of us wonder how many such tools are necessary.

That said, it is also clear that in the current environment what is tested tends to be what gets priority in the classroom and in the broader curriculum. This is not a matter of protecting academic turf, or diminishing the significance of either other disciplines or career preparation. As the AHA’s Tuning project suggests, we consider history education an essential aspect of such preparation and even believe that it is a good idea for history teachers to be thinking about how historical thinking prepares our students for workplaces. The AHA’s statement emphasizes the necessity of history education in preparing students for many career options and for lives as part of an engaged citizenry.