Conservatives Love the New Advanced Placement US History Standards

[marmar]

Conservatives Love the New Advanced Placement US History Standards

Tuesday, 11 August 2015 00:00
By Judy Molland, Care2 | News Analysis


In the summer of 2014, the College Board issued new guidelines for teachers of Advanced Placement US History, the first update since 2006. The 2014 framework, intended to help teachers prepare students for a new AP exam, signaled a big shift away from important names and events toward interpretation and comprehension.

For many teachers, it was a welcome break from the slog of having to force their students to memorize endless numbers of facts, and instead being able to foster the much more important skills of analysis and argument.

However, the reaction amongst conservatives was immediate and harsh. The standards were criticized as being "anti-American." Specific objections ranged from the framework stating that the nation's founders believed in "white superiority" and that white Southerners had "pride in the institution of slavery" to a line calling former President Ronald Reagan "bellicose."

The Republican National Committee even got involved and passed a resolution that called the framework "radically revisionist," while several states introduced proposals hoping to force a revision.

.....(snip).....

To many people's surprise, the College Board listened to the arguments, decided to do another revision, and even hired some of the loudest critics to work on those changes. The College Board has just released the new curriculum framework for its AP US history course, and it appears to have satisfied many of the old framework's critics.

In doing so, the Board has either glossed over or completely ignored many important issues such as racism and slavery. ................(more)

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32309-conservatives-love-the-new-ap-us-history-standards-and-that-s-a-problem

[DrDan]

1. rewriting history in action

[Scuba]

2. It's best not to focus on racism or you'll make it worse.

At least that's what Scott Walker thinks.

He also thinks the key to the cure to racism is for government to "do more for the private sector." No shit, he really said that.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scott-walker-racial-discord_55c7a814e4b0f1cbf1e556d3

Scott Walker: Don't Focus On 'Racial Discord' Or You'll Only Create More

WASHINGTON -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) says the proper way to address racial issues in America is by concentrating on what brings people together rather than focusing on "racial discord." Doing the latter, the presidential candidate argued Sunday, could risk generating even more unrest.

...

"One, I think in general if anyone focuses on racial discord we’re going to get more," Walker said in a video posted by Democratic opposition research firm American Bridge.

...

"We got to do more to strengthen families in this country," he added. "We got to do more to make sure everyone can get access to great education. We gotta do more to make sure that once people have a good education, that we do more for the private sector, to create jobs, so people have more opportunities."