Today’s Solutions: November 21, 2024

US public school curriculums have been a hot topic as of late, but rather than looking at the flaws in our education system, we’re choosing to take a look at areas with excellent curriculums that other states can potentially model theirs after. When it comes to US history, two states stand out with excellent curriculums: Alabama and California.

Despite being politically and geographically extremely different, both Alabama and California ranked highest in terms of quality of K-12 US history education programs in a new study by the Fordham Institute.

The study determined curriculum quality by looking at both the content as well as depth and quality. States like Massachusetts and Tennessee also ranked highly, but what set California and Alabama apart was strong state standards enforced across the board and curriculums which took a comprehensive approach to teach history in a logical and critically assessed manner.

Other states which did not rank as highly either had significant biases in their teachings or lost clarity due to poor curriculum design. Texas classrooms, for example, teach about the Civil War before they teach about slavery, leaving students without a complete understanding of the contributing factors which lead to the Civil War.

Overall, the researchers note that curriculums that are nuanced, specific, and offer a complete picture of US history, both the good and the bad, better prepare students to think critically about how history has influenced modern society and how we can take the lessons of the past to inform a better future.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

Changemakers of the week: GRuB and SparkNJ

Every day on the Optimist Daily, we report on solutions from around the world. Though we love solutions big and small, the ones that ...

Read More

The giant beneath the waves: world’s largest coral found in the Pacific

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In a world where bad news about the environment routinely outweighs good news, scientists have discovered an incredible ...

Read More

Tortoise discovered in a home in Pompeii

Almost 2000 years after the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and its trapping of the city of Pompeii in time, archaeologists are still making discoveries ...

Read More

Revel at the most detailed image of our universe yet

Here at The Optimist Daily, we have been sharing every exciting step of the James Webb Telescope’s journey, from its long-awaited launch, to when ...

Read More