History is one of eight subjects being covered in the United States national assessment programs. Currently, national testing is being done in math and reading. Not surprisingly, our schools are putting extra effort in preparing students for the math and reading tests.

Testing by sampling is being done in civics, economics, history, geography, science, and writing. The June 15, 2011 issue of the Register-Guard (my local newspaper) contained a short articled titled, “U.S. history tough for nation’s students.” The article noted that last spring, a large number of students were tested in history.

Quoting from the article:

U.S. students are less proficient in their nation’s history than in any other subject, according to the results of a nationwide test released Tuesday, with fourth-graders unable to say why Abraham Lincoln was an important figure and few high school seniors able to identify China as the North Korean ally that fought U.S. troops during the Korean war.

…

History advocates contend that students’ poor showing underlines neglect shown the subject by federal and state policy makers, especially since the 2002 No child Left Behind Act began requiring schools to raise scores in math and reading but not in other subject.

 I am always amused and bothered by such articles. They certainly show how easy it is to criticize our educational system. They also show very little insight into education. For example, there are many billions of historical facts that one might memorize. Why do we single out Abraham Lincoln?

The are various answers, such as that before his presidency, the United States condoned slavery and a large number of people living in this country were slaves. Slavery is a “big, important” idea. Suppose that a student could learn some things about Abraham Lincoln or could learn that slavery was a common thing in our country long before we became the United States and was a major issue "sore point" in writing our Constitution.

Or, consider the fact that China was an ally of North Korea in the Korean war fought against South Korea and a number of its United Nations allies. In this war, several hundred thousand combatants were killed, and about 3 million to 4 million civilians died. What do we want today’s adults to know about this war? Yes, China became a military ally of North Korea as the way progressed.

There are other things an adult citizen in the United States might want to think and know about. For example, South Korea had a number of allies working through the auspices of the United Nations. What is the United Nations and what roles does it play in the world?

 A very large number of combatants were killed or wounded. (See http://koreanwarstuff.com/korean-war-death-toll). Civilian death tolls were much large that military death tolls. “War is hell.” Are there non-war ways to settle disputes?

You can learn more about history as a subject area in schools at the IAE Website: http://iae-pedia.org/Digital_Filing_Cabinet/Secondary_School_History.