Oklahoma Has EXCELLENT Social Studies Standards - Too Bad There's No Reason To Follow Them

This year, Senator Nathan Dahm has authored a bill - SB503 - to mandate that public schools in Oklahoma teach the following:

a. the content of the United States naturalization test, with an emphasis on the specific content of the test and the ideas and concepts it references. The United States naturalization test shall be made available in physical and electronic online formats as an optional assessment tool for teachers,

b. the Declaration of Independence,

c. the United States Constitution including the Bill of Rights,

d. substantive selections from the Federalist Papers,

e. the Emancipation Proclamation,

f. the Articles of Confederation,

g. the Gettysburg Address, and

h. George Washington’s Farewell Address

ROPE asked Senator Dahm to author the bill from the blueprint that was HB1332, authored for ROPE in 2011 by then-Representative Charles Key. In fact, the bill was authored by Representative Key two years in a row - 2011 and 2012 - with very interesting results. 

In 2011, House members refused to pass the bill though it passed through the House Education Committee and came to the floor. In 2012, the bill passed both the House Education Committee and was passed by members of the House when brought to the floor, but then-Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, John Ford, would not allow it to be heard in his Committee, resigning the bill to death in 2012.

Interestingly, here we are today in 2021, with new Social Studies standards adopted by the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) in 2019, that are really excellent. Read them. They can be found right here. There is a lot missing on the Constitution and a few other topics, but over all, they are excellent. If Oklahoma students were being taught from these standards, they'd be the best educated in our nation's Republican form of government than probably a good chunk of kids across America.

So what's the problem? Testing. There Is Almost None.

Well, sadly, what is tested is what is taught. Why? Because the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA - formerly Elementary and Secondary Schools Act) forces state schools to test 95% of its student population in order to get federal funding for public schools. The kicker is that only Math and English are the subjects required via federal law. Nothing else is deemed of importance for students to know. Because federal funding is so very important to public education bureaucrats (and politicians who want a political career) these subjects are the vast amount of what is taught. Don't believe me? Let's look at state law.

State law title 70-1210.508 addresses statutory testing in Oklahoma. Students in grades 3-8 must be tested using Criterion Referenced Tests (CRT) for reading and math every year, but for 'social studies' (which includes history, civics, geography and economics) only in grades 5 and 8, "Contingent upon the availability of state and federal funds". So, if funding isn't available (and who knows what money goes to what bucket), no student in elementary is tested in the actual Oklahoma Academic Standards (OAS) for social studies.

In high school, the state is required to give end of year instruction tests - College and Career Ready Assessments - to students in 9-12th grades that reflect state standards. Sounds great, right? Wrong.

There is only ONE test given by the OSDE for US History/Social Studies and that is to be administered in 11th grade. Please note: there was no history exam even listed this year for grades 3-8.

File can be found at: https://sde.ok.gov/sites/default/files/1_7_2020-2021%20UPDATED%20Revised%20Assessment%20Calendar_0.pdf

And it gets worse. 

This year, thanks to COVID, there will not be any testing administered according to this letter from the OSDE.


File can be found here: https://sde.ok.gov/sites/default/files/
2021%20Assessment%20Graduation%20Requirements.pdf


Oh, but it gets even worse. 

Apparently there hasn't been a CRT given for social studies in grades 3-8 since before 2017 and only one administered for 10th grade in 2017.


File may be found here:
https://sde.ok.gov/state-testing-resources

But wait! There's more!

According to state law, of all students graduating from Oklahoma Public Schools, these are the ONLY requirements for US History, etc. for the entirety of a student' high school public education.

Three units or sets of competencies of history and citizenship skills, including one unit of American History, 1/2 unit of Oklahoma History, 1/2 unit of United States Government and one unit from the subjects of History, Government, Geography, Economics, Civics, or Non-Western culture and approved for college admission requirements...

 

Ooops. Hold on. Just a bit more!

Here is the white paper for the College and Career Readiness Assessment (CCRA) for US History. Please open the link and scroll down to find the place in the paper where they provide test question samples. I'm going to provide you a few of my favorites below.

I'm uncertain why any of these questions are relevant to US History really at all, but beyond that, let me assure you there were no example questions regarding the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or any other thing on the list provided for in SB503. 

Past Performance - Social Studies - National Assessment of Academic Progress (NAEP) 

NAEP only includes 8th grade Social Studies assessments - the do not include high school tests. Why, I have no idea. It would be nice to have some kind of a national gauge, but there isn't. In addition, they do not - for whatever reason - provide individual state results which they do for English/Language Arts and Mathematics. Consequently, these results are based on results for tests administered to 8th grade students across the United States during 2018. The results are DISMAL with scores lower than test results from 2014, the last time the NAEP History/Civics test was given.

NAEP Civics 8th Grade Test 2018

NAEP US History 8th Grade Test 2018

NAEP Scores - US History 2018

NAEP Scores - Civics 2018

Why Should Oklahomans Care About This Issue?

It's no secret to those of us who consider ourselves Conservatives (and there are a LOT of us here in Oklahoma where Biden won 32% of the vote to Trump's 65%), that something is astoundingly awry in the United States today. For years now we've seen rioting in the street against our government (ANTIFA), historical statues being pulled down because they are suddenly 'offensive', students, teachers and federal employees being taught to judge each other solely on the basis of skin color, the Black Lives Movement openly stating that their goals are Marxist and that socialism (From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs) is more attractive than the tenets of Capitalism (work hard, build something for yourself and your children). 

How could this happen in a country where students are exposed to the history of the United States - the good and the bad - and its Constitution - a model for the entire world when it comes to protecting the liberty, property and lives of its citizens? 

It most probably couldn't, but then again, Oklahoma plainly puts no stock in the active teaching of civics or US History, while using other programs to actually supplant it - such as the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance program, or Tulsa Public Schools use of the Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Program - both actively racist programs, both well known to students and parents.

According to Matthew 6:21, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Clearly, our Oklahoma State Department of Education holds no treasure in the study of the history, founding or mode of governance of the United States and that's not just a shame, it's educational malpractice that is leading to the destruction of our Republic.