Raleigh, NC – The North Carolina State Board of Education approved new standards for social studies for the state’s kindergarten through 12th grade that highlight the study of more diverse perspectives on history.
The council voted 7 to 5 in favor of the standards, which opponents feared would not emphasize enough the study of the country’s progress towards racial equality. Proponents argued that the new standards would ensure that a more comprehensive and honest history of the United States was taught.
The votes in favor were President Eric Davis, Vice President Alan Duncan, Reginald Kenan, Jill Camnitz, Donna Tipton-Rogers, J. Wendell Hall and James Ford.
The votes against were Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, State Treasurer Dale Folwell, Olivia Oxendine, Amy White and Todd Chasteen.
The difference between current standards and what the council approved on Thursday is largely the degree of specificity of the different perspectives that students should consider. Current standards often present a “variety” of perspectives. The new ones generally specify different races, religions and other groups. Students will be invited to discuss racism, marginalized groups and the impact of policies on different populations. Students will be asked to compare narratives from different perspectives, systems of criticism and practices or explain how inequalities continue today.
Sample topics for students to compare perspectives include – according to a snapshot of supporting documents to be handed over to the board later – the Trail of Tears, the Wilmington Coup, the Haymarktet Riot and the Alcatraz Occupation.
Social study standards were being revised in preparation for the future consolidation of American History I and II in just one course. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction started working on them in 2019 and sought public input for the fourth draft.
The motion passed by the council on Thursday includes a new preamble to standards written by Superintendent Catherine Truitt, who says the standards are a framework designed to teach the full spectrum of history to better help students learn and use the information. It also stipulates that the board must approve supporting documents that will help educators design their social studies curriculum.
The board approved version 5 of the rules, which removed the terms “systemic racism”, “systemic discrimination” and “gender identity” from the document and replaced them with “racism”, “discrimination and” identity. “Truitt replaced them, arguing that the broader terms allow my types of racism, discrimination and identity to be considered.
Prior to the vote, Ford made a substitute motion to approve Project 4 standards, which are identical to Project 5, but for mandate changes. That motion failed by 2 to 10, with Ford and Kenan being the only votes in favor.
Ford said that the existence of systemic racism in the United States is not debatable. As an example, he noted the existing disparities in housing and home value and the coexisting histories of discriminatory housing actions and policies.
“I’m really convinced of that,” said Ford, before making his motion.
The board has been debating the language change since early January, when draft 4 was presented at its monthly meeting. The council spent nearly two hours debating this on Wednesday morning, after an extensive discussion at a specially convened meeting last week.
Changing the three terms has the potential to negate part of what the standards writers intended, Rodney D. Pierce told WRAL. Fierce is an 8th grade social studies professor at Red Oak Middle School in Nash County and has offered to help revise 8th grade social studies standards in 2019.
Changing the three terms may allow some teachers to feel they don’t have to deal with systemic racism, systemic discrimination or gender identity, Pierce said.
“It seems that some board members don’t trust the experience or intent of the people who are educating the children of North Carolina, but I’m honestly not surprised,” he said.
THE DEBATE
Many educators have argued before the council that students are asking to learn more diverse perspectives on history.
Students will be better prepared to find their current and future society with an education that includes perspectives from different races, ethnicities, religions, skills or other angles, Pierce told WRAL.
“And if we don’t teach, all they have to do is go on the phone,” he said. Educators and parents cannot prevent children from watching videos, accessing social media, learning things on the internet or talking about what they see and hear with their friends.
“So why not teach them about it and teach them to critically analyze the information they are being presented with and to decide for themselves whether something is right or wrong or should be done or not? Pierce asked.
On Thursday, the council spent little time discussing the proposed social study standards, which were a topic of discussion on Wednesday’s agenda.
But Lt. Governor Mark Robinson reiterated his concern that more than 30,000 people signed his petition online, stating his concern about what was in the standards.
People have just started to learn about the standards and have a lot of questions, he said, once again urging the board to restart the writing process.
Much of the opposition on Wednesday is concerned that additions to standards – from further study of diverse perspectives and continuing inequality – have distorted too many standards.
Oxendine, White and Chasteen objected to the proposed standards, saying that they wanted more history added to them.
Oxendine and White said they want more references to the country’s most recent progress on racial equality, including advances in the diversity of people in public office.
Chasteen said the proposed standards were biased as written and were specific only in reference to different perspectives and inclusions. If the standards are to go over the ills of history, he said, they should also include specific references to fascism and socialism.
Others in favor of the proposed standards were not afraid of how students would react when taught under the framework of the proposed standards.
Ford called the idea that adding to social studies standards would create a division of a “paradox”.
Davis said he understood how negative history can spark negative emotions.
But he said he is confident that students will be able to deal with the history they are taught.
WHAT’S IN THE STANDARDS
For the most part, the state’s social study standards will not change, but the goals within them have been added or expanded, especially at the high school level.
Current social study standards, reviewed by WRAL, repeatedly state that students will study history from a variety of perspectives. The new standards expand the instances to do this and specify different groups to include. They also broaden topics for students to master and evaluate, such as slavery, forced migration and other discriminatory practices in the history of the United States.
For example, the new standards add more goals for students in the Core Fundamentals course. To meet the standard of being able to understand how individual rights and the US system of government have evolved over time, educators now have two more goals for Core Principles students:
“Explain how the experiences and achievements of minorities and marginalized people have contributed to the protection of individual rights and ‘equality and justice for all’ over time.”
“Give an example of how individuals have demonstrated resistance and resilience to inequalities, injustices and discrimination within the American system of government over time.”
This is in addition to the four existing goals for students. One objective – to explain what led to the development of the Founding Fathers of the nation’s democratic republic – has not been changed. Three others have been changed to be more specific:
“Summarize the historical development of the United States and North Carolina governments” has been changed to “Compare competing narratives of the historical development of the United States and North Carolina in terms of how each portrays race, woman, tribe, identity, ability and religious groups. “
“Interpret historical and current perspectives on the evolution of individual rights in America over time” has been changed to “Interpret historical and current perspectives on the evolution of individual rights in America over time, including women, tribal, racial, religious, of identity and skill. “
“Explain the impact of social movements and political groups on changes in government, both current and past” has been changed to “Explain the impact of social movements and reform efforts on government changes, both current and past.”
The new standards remove an objective from another mid-level course, American History, and replace it with two new objectives, under the pattern of understanding movement, settlement and expansion:
“Explain the impact of movement and settlement on the environment and culture in various places and regions” has been removed. Two new goals have been added under this standard:
“Explain the reasons and effects of forced and voluntary migration on societies, individuals and groups over time.”
“Explain how slavery, forced migration, immigration, reconcentration and other discriminatory practices have changed the distribution of the population and the regional culture.”
In the eighth grade, the objective of explaining injustices and responding to injustices in North Carolina and the United States was changed to specify injustices: “slavery, segregation, suppression of voters, reconcentration and other discriminatory practices”. The objective also stipulates that students should be able to explain how these practices were used to “suppress and exploit certain groups”, rather than explaining how these practices “shaped” the state and the nation.