Several years ago the National Assessment of Educational Progress released a frightening report on the state of social studies education in America: As of 2018 just 24% of eighth-grade students were proficient or advanced in civics. History had even worse results with only 15% of eighth- graders assessed as proficient or advanced. The reasons for this are manifold but chief among them is the simple fact that states and school districts have stopped taking social studies education seriously.
For many principals and superintendents, social studies classes are simply the dumping ground for patronage appointments and athletic coaches — people who rarely have provided solid evidence of their teaching abilities but who can pacify a job-seeking acquaintance or boost the athletic glory of the school. These trends are even more common in rural Kentucky where school districts often serve as the largest employer in the county.
Though such blatant corruption is never acceptable, it is the product of government policies and cultural attitudes that place social studies at the bottom of the educational ladder. A recent RAND report has highlighted that school funding is rarely tied to the assessment of history students. In short, neither the state nor the national government usually provides financial incentives that make schools prioritize social studies education.
Of course, such government malpractice does not develop in a vacuum. For decades, American society has emphasized science and math at the expense of all the humanities. But those who are seeking to create a nation of engineers forget that we are already a country of citizens. History and civics provide the educational foundation that can sustain a democracy. If voters do not understand history or how government works, then how sound can their political contributions be?
States are beginning to become aware of the important role that social studies education can play in a democracy. State legislatures across the nation have started taking steps to alter the curriculum of history courses. Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)
Kentucky has taken steps to try to shore up the declining civic knowledge that plagues our society. Secretary of State Michael Adams has called for increased civics education in the commonwealth. This call to action has been answered by the General Assembly which has taken steps to require more civics in Kentucky high schools and even provide a mechanism for assessing student knowledge. However, the General Assembly has thus far focused its attention on citizenship exams which emphasize random factual information more than the robust appreciation for political participation and constitutional norms that truly define a good civics education. Nor have any steps been enacted to penalize schools that fail to meet these expectations.
Truly improving social studies education will require schools to address the systemic issues that plague our educational system — rather than requiring a class here and offering an exam there. This means first and foremost taking more seriously the hiring of history and civics faculty. An easy solution to this is to more firmly tie funding to student performance in those subjects. However, tests are not always the best mechanism for understanding how well a teacher is doing nor does it mean that schools are guaranteed to prioritize funding over athletic prowess. For this to happen, full time faculty should be barred from serving as head coaches of athletic teams. Only by separating the athletic aspect of the school system from its educational side can it be ensured that schools will take education seriously.
At the end of the day, this suggestion can only take us so far. As a state, we need to once again understand that social studies is not an interesting but largely useless elective subject. American democracy is imperiled, crumbling away under a ceaseless onslaught of partisan bickering and misinformation. Better social studies education requires good teachers, more instructional resources and a thoughtful curriculum. This will not fix all of these problems, but it would certainly help.
This article is republished under a Creative Commons license from Kentucky Lantern, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on Facebook and Twitter.
Jeffery Tyler Syck is an assistant professor of politics and the director of the Center for Public Service at the University of Pikeville.
