About This Report
American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools distills insights gathered during a two-year exploration of secondary history education to illuminate the three levels where decisions are made about what students learn in US history: the state, the district, and the teacher. Combining a 50-state appraisal of standards and legislation with a nine-state dive into local contexts, we commissioned a survey of over 3,000 middle and high school US history educators, conducted long-form interviews with over 200 teachers and administrators, and collected thousands of pages of instructional materials from small towns to sprawling suburbs to big cities.
“I found this deep dive into what’s actually being taught in our nation’s US history classes rigorous, fascinating, and insightful.”
Hasan Kwame Jeffries
Ohio State University
“This report could be the beginning of a blueprint for slowly but surely changing the argument about teaching American history. Public schools are indeed 'battlefields' in the culture wars. Their fate is one way the nation’s fate is at stake. But I very much applaud what this report sought and found about what is actually taught and who determines it.”
David Blight
Yale University
“American Lesson Plan is the most comprehensive and clear study of its topic that I have ever read. Despite the fiery culture-war language that dominates news accounts, the report demonstrates that most high school history teaching reflects norms and practices that university-level historians would happily embrace: inquiry, evidence, and political neutrality. Your report is an excellent work of history in its own right, and I hope it gets all of the attention—from historians, school administrators, and especially media outlets—that it richly deserves.”
Jonathan Zimmerman
University of Pennsylvania
“Resting on a mountain of rigorous, mixed methods research, America's Lesson Plan offers both reassurance and provocation to all of us concerned about the state of historical instruction. The reassurance: the kids are all right. Teachers seek out quality instructional materials, teach from primary sources, and present divergent, balanced views of controversial issues, past and present. The provocation: social studies teachers need more time in the instructional day and more support for their professional development. And we are still evolving in our ability to braid historical and civic instruction, to prepare informed young citizens to undertake the sacred obligation of self-government. The AHA's bold, far-seeing report is essential reading as we begin that work.”
Jane Kamensky
President, Monticello; co-Principal Investigator and Implementation Consortium member, Educating for American Democracy
American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools
© 2024 by the American Historical Association
Suggested citation: American Historical Association, American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools (Washington, DC: American Historical Association, 2024)
Introduction
Key insights and how this report is organized
Part 1: Contexts
Research questions, methods and sample, and historical antecedents
Part 2: National Patterns
A 50-state review of state legislation, standards, and assessments
Part 3: Curricular Decisions
A nine-state discussion of how teachers, administrators, and districts make decisions about what to teach in US history classes
Part 4: Curricular Content
A nine-state examination of topics and themes in US history classes, including Native American history; the Founding Era; Westward Expansion; Slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction; Industry, Capital, and Labor; and the Civil Rights Movement
Conclusion
Implications of this research and the importance of informed analysis for the future of history education
Appendixes: Our Sample, Research Instruments, and Survey Methodology Report
Learn about the nine sample states, how the research was conducted, and the survey methodology.
Acknowledgments
The American Historical Association is grateful to the many individuals and organizations that contributed their time, energy, and insight in support of our research.
Mapping the Landscape of Secondary US History Education Research Team
Research Coordinator
Nicholas Kryczka
Researchers
Whitney E. Barringer
Lauren Brand
Scot McFarlane
Contributors
Produced with the assistance of project directors Brendan Gillis (2023–24), Alexandra F. Levy (2022–23), and Sarah Jones Weicksel (2022), and other AHA staff members including Laura Ansley, Julia Brookins, James Grossman, Elizabeth Meggyesy, Sarah Muncy, Ben Rosenbaum, Hope J. Shannon, Rebecca L. West, and Rachel Wheatley.
In the Media
Dana Goldstein, "History Teachers Are Replacing Textbooks With the Internet" (New York Times, September 2024).
LZ Granderson, "Column: Finally, a reckoning on how we teach American history" (Los Angeles Times, September 2024).
Sarah Schwartz, "There’s No Evidence That History Teachers Are ‘Indoctrinating’ Students, Report Says" (EducationWeek, September 2024).
Sarah Schwartz, "The Topics That Dominate U.S. History Classes—And the Ones Teachers Want Help On" (EducationWeek, September 2024).
Peter Greene, "What Are History Teachers Really Teaching Students" (Forbes, September 2024).
Karen D'Souza, "Are history teachers replacing textbooks with the Internet?" (EdSource, September 2024).
"Editorial: Historically speaking" (The Barre Montpelier Times Argus, September 2024).
Jenny Brundin, "What do teens think about the presidential election? We went inside a Colorado classroom to find out" (Colorado Public Radio, September 2024).
Nick Kryczka with Juana Summers, "New report looks at how U.S. history is taught in classrooms" (NPR All Things Considered, September 2024).
"Editorial: History teachers simply want to teach history" (Observer-Reporter, September 2024).
Errata
This report was first published on September 19, 2024. It was updated on September 24, 2024, with a corrected Fig. 29 (found in Part 3: Curricular Decisions).