A Brief Analysis of Louisiana's New Social Studies Standards
There are a lot of good things here.
Currently, the state of Louisiana is reviewing and revising its content standards for social studies education in our K-12 schools. This comes at a time when everyone is concerned about “Critical Race Theory” in the classroom, whether or not we are making everything about race or ignoring race and racial inequities entirely. And while those issues are being discussed somewhat by the Louisiana Department of Education and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the larger story here is that what is currently being proposed is a major revamp and a much-needed one.
There are three major changes that will overhaul how history in particular is taught in the state, and the biggest changes come at the elementary and middle school levels. There is a pretty good change for high school, as well, but I think the revamp at the elementary and middle school levels are the biggest victories for social studies education in the state.
Elementary
The biggest change for elementary school happens at the fourth and fifth grade levels. For a while now, sixth grade social studies has been the study of world civilizations, from hunters and gatherers to the Renaissance. It’s an incredibly broad content area that has been hell to properly teach students.
However, that appears to be changing. I know from some folks I’d spoken to at the state level that they’ve wanted to shift away from that, and it appears to be the idea going forward. In fourth and fifth grade going forward, world civilizations will be taught to those students and split over two years instead of cramming it all into one year.
Fourth grade will be The Ancient World, which will focus on Mesopotamia, India, China, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the Americas. Fifth grade will focus on Medival Europe, the African kingdoms, Southwest Asia, the Renaissance and the Age of Exploration. The way the standards are written, this looks like a way more comprehensive study at an appropriate age level. It also paves the way for the middle school changes that I think are even better.
Instead of sixth grade focusing on world civilizations, those students will learn about America from the Age of Exploration through the ratification of the Constitution. Seventh grade will focus on the early Republic through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Eighth grade will then take up the post-Reconstruction industrial era through the modern age. Interspersed in all this will be an extra focus on Louisiana during these eras. Under the old standards, sixth grade had world civilizations, seventh grade had U.S. history from Columbus through Reconstruction, and eighth grade had Louisiana history from settlement to the modern era.
But now, American history will have a greater emphasis in middle school and offer a more detailed look at all of the issues therein. This includes what critics of the anti-CRT movement allege: That it’s all an attempt to remove uncomfortable aspects of history from the classroom.
Here are some of the standards being proposed:
6.9.b. Explain the experiences and perspectives of various people groups living in colonial North America, including large landowners, farmers, artisans, women, children, indentured servants, enslaved people, and Native Americans.
7.10.j. Analyze the development of the agrarian economy in the South, including Louisiana, and explain how advancements in technology, such as the
cotton gin and multiple-effect evaporator for sugar, contributed to an increase in enslaved labor.7.12.a. Analyze major events, legislation, and court decisions from 1800 to 1861 that led to increasing sectionalism, including the Missouri Compromise of 1820, North Carolina v. Mann (1830), the Nullification Crisis (1831–1833), the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Acts (1793, 1850), the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), and the Dred Scott decision (1857).
7.14.h. Analyze how Black Codes affected the lives of Black Americans, including the restriction rights to own and lease property, conduct business, bear arms, and move freely through public spaces.
The uncomfortable aspects of history are still to be taught, as of now, through these and other standards. It’s not going to be skipped over, but it’s also not going to be forced into being a central focus of any of the courses, which is the right balance to take here (I have lots of thoughts on critical race theory, but those are discussions for another day). This seems like a really good breakdown of the material for middle school students, and gives them plenty of time to really dive into the general overview of American history.
Which brings us to high school. It’s not on this document, but the common belief is that Louisiana is taking its high school standardized test and changing it from U.S. history (typically taught to juniors) and moving it to Civics (typically taught to freshment or sophomores). A greater emphasis on Civics education is never a bad idea, but at the same time the new standards are also expanding the U.S. history scope.
Under the old system, seventh grade focused on Columbus through Reconstruction, and high school focused on post-Reconstruction through the modern era. With the U.S. history content expanding in middle school, the high school study is doing the same. High school U.S. history will now focus on the Age of Exploration through the modern era, but also provide a closer look at a lot of the key historical issues that are perhaps a bit heavier than middle school students could handle.
It’s important, too, to note that what high school is studying is the equivalent of what AP U.S. History studies, streamlining what those different groups of students learn, and making it possible to better prepare students for college by bringing in AP-level material even in a non-AP classroom. It makes differentiation across performance levels much easier.
These are all very positive changes, but the most important thing is that none of it should be political or controversial. That, naturally, won’t stop people from trying to make it such.