Many thanks to our superintendent who keeps us up-to-date with legislative alerts coming out of Raleigh!! We found out tonight that the General Assembly and State Board of Education are considering cutting the AP US History course (one of my absolute favorites to teach). This is the email I sent to them tonight. If you have time, take a minute and write to our legislators about the importance of education!!!!!!!! Dear Senator Berger, et. al., I learned tonight that the General Assembly and State Board of Education are considering cutting the AP US History course from NC high schools, potentially due to the new framework. As an AP US History teacher and frequent voter, I am incredibly disturbed by this news. It was my AP US History course in high school, under the instruction of a beloved teacher, that set me on the path to becoming a history teacher. Now, as my high school’s only AP US History instructor, my course is one of the most popular courses at our high school, and in a typical year, 60-75% of my students receive college credit for their scores on the national examination. This is incredibly valuable to them as college students. However, for my students, the potential college credit is not the greatest benefit of the course. Its greatest benefits for them are the additional opportunity to prepare for college studies and the opportunity to study our nation’s history in depth, from the perspective of both primary and secondary sources. My course prepares students for the kind of reading, studying, and writing that will be expected of them in a postsecondary institution. They read from a college-level textbook, approved by North Carolina. They study primary and secondary academic sources from a variety of texts and points of view, expanding their vocabulary and improving their literacy. They learn what it means to prepare for an incredibly rigorous yet rewarding course. They learn to read with discernment, examining documents for bias and perspective. They learn to write critically, supporting their arguments with historical fact and analysis. They learn the good, the bad, and the ugly about American history (not simply one perspective of that history) because that is what they need in order to lead America into a brighter future than the one we otherwise might face. The new framework does not offer a single historical perspective (liberal or conservative) for students to study. Instead, it offers teachers greater flexibility in allowing students to study American history at a greater depth (rather than being forced to skim the surface of 520 years of history in order to “cover” material). Personally, I am excited that the new framework allows me the opportunity, to a degree, to tailor my course to the interests of my students without risking their performance on the national examination. After attending the College Board’s week-long Summer Institute training on the new framework and its implementation this summer, I can also confidently state that this sentiment is reflected by many of the teachers I worked with from across the state and nation. I tell my students each year that I want them to be successful in the course. I want them to be successful on the exam. But most importantly, I want them to learn a love for history and to be proud of themselves and their accomplishments when they see the connections between what sometimes seems “the distant past” and the world they live in today. For the students who want to challenge themselves academically, the AP US History course is one of the best opportunities they have for this. To eliminate this course from NC high schools would be to do an incredible disservice not only to those students, but also to North Carolina and our great nation. I urge you to consider the consequences of such an action and vote to save the AP US History course as an option for our students.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 02:25:20 +0000
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