Rewriting History

Fifteen years after she became the first American woman in space, Sally Ride now has a place in the history California teaches its schoolchildren. She’s in pretty fair company, next to Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein and Jackie Robinson in a second-grade unit on heroes past and present.

But Indira Gandhi, the first woman to become prime minister of India and a pivotal figure in the development of the world’s most populous democracy, failed to make the cut. The editors of the state’s new official history lesson plan dropped her in the final draft to make room for Ride, Sitting Bull, the famous Sioux leader, and Golda Meir, the first female prime minister of Israel.

Such name shuffling was rampant, perhaps inevitable, when the State Board of Education last month approved the first “standards” for what 5.7 million students in California’s public schools should learn in history and the social sciences as they advance from grade to grade.

The history standards, like others written recently for mathematics, English language skills and science, will shape the content of textbooks and questions on state achievement tests. Because the California school system is the nation’s largest, the standards may well influence how other states teach history.

Although the subject of history education often leads to furious debates, charges of political correctness and countercharges of cultural insensitivity, California this time sidestepped controversy. Experts say the state fought those battles to a conclusion in the 1980s when it developed a history curriculum that is now widely praised across the country.

Heroes of Every Stripe

The new document--drafted by a panel of educators and parents in consultation with historians, and approved Oct. 9 by the state board--is crammed with names and facts. It expects students to know a great deal of traditional American and world history and geography--even in the earliest grades--but also notes in detail the contributions of women and ethnic minorities.

“Every society must have its heroes, and kids love heroes,” said Gary B. Nash, a UCLA historian and author of a state history textbook. “It’s tough deciding who’s going to be in the pantheon. This name game is very difficult. But I think it turned out reasonably well in these standards. I do think it’s a great improvement if kids in the classroom see heroes come in all sizes and colors and shapes.”

Advocates of standards-driven education, who aim to spell out what all students should learn and who hold schools responsible for success or failure, call the new history standards rigorous but realistic.

“Right now, they’re the best in the country,” said Diane Ravitch, an education historian at New York University. “First of all, they are clear. They tell teachers what they should be teaching, and students what they’re expected to learn.”

Ethnic Interest Groups Have a Say

Many interest groups had a hand in the document. A Ukrainian native lobbied for 10th-graders to be taught about the “Terror Famine” that left millions dead in Ukraine under Stalin’s rule in the 1930s. A Jewish woman objected to mention in the 11th grade of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a Jewish couple, as examples of communist spies in the McCarthy era; she said other ethnic groups were not singled out in the same way. The Council on Islamic Education, based in Fountain Valley, urged the name of Islam’s founding prophet to be spelled as Muhammad, not Mohammed. All were accommodated.

Whether teachers will fit the new material into their lessons remains to be seen. Though they provide a road map for state policy, the standards are voluntary.

Madeline Antilla, a longtime history teacher at Arcadia High School, said her ninth-grade students already are working intensively in a modern world history class. For example, they compare the American and French revolutions with reference to the political philosophy of Montesquieu, Rousseau and Jefferson.

Each of those figures is named in the new standards. But Antilla said portions of the document seem overly detailed. An 11th-grade example:

“Students analyze the role religion played in the founding of America, its lasting moral, social and political impact and issues concerning religious liberty, in terms of . . . the great religious revivals and the leaders involved, including the First Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening, the Civil War revivals, the Social Gospel Movement, the rise of Christian liberal theology in the 19th century, the impact of the Second Vatican Council and the rise of Christian fundamentalism in current times.”

All that comes in a year when students are also expected to cover the founding of the United States and American history and geography in the 20th century, including two world wars, the progressive era, the Great Depression, the civil rights movement and the Cold War.

“How much into detail are you going to be able to go into these things?” Antilla asked. “My goodness, really so many things are very, very specific. In the past couple of years we have made wonderful progress, reaching out with a lot of different kinds of lessons. I wouldn’t want to see us lose that creativity.”

Depth versus breadth is, of course, a perennial academic debate. Teachers often complain that they don’t have time to cover everything that’s in the textbook or on the test.

What’s new in these standards, experts say, is the level of detailed knowledge demanded of students at an early age.

Kindergartners now are expected to learn something about such men as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Christopher Columbus, in connection with the holidays that honor them. And they also are expected to be introduced to the legends and historical accounts of such figures as American Indian princess Pocahontas, African American educator Booker T. Washington, pioneer Daniel Boone and Benjamin Franklin.

More Challenging for Youngsters

Previously, the state’s history and social science guidebook had omitted all historical names in kindergarten. The “framework,” as that document was known in education circles, merely said that the youngsters should “take their first vicarious steps into times past” and consider “how it might have been to live in other times and places and how their lives would have been different.”

In fourth grade, the year most students learn California history, 21 historical figures are mentioned in the standards, about double the number in the framework. They include explorers Vitus Bering and Gaspar de Portola; the missionary Junipero Serra; civic patron Phoebe Apperson Hearst; and 20th century cultural figures Dorothea Lange, John Steinbeck, Walt Disney and John Wayne.

Yes, John Wayne.

The Duke, of war and western movie fame, earned mention as an example of “the impact of 20th century Californians on the nation’s artistic [and] cultural development.” Some historians say the actor in real life didn’t live up to his world-renowned image of rugged individualism and heroism. But the state’s top education policymakers inserted his name in the final draft.

Defending that editing decision, state board member Janet Nicholas said: “John Wayne, in an important period of modern history, certainly was not limited to California, certainly was not limited to the United States, but was a symbol beyond his movie fame, if you will, for an American spirit of the times.”

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Some for the History Books, Some Not

By the time they graduate from high school, California students are expected to know the key players in world history. Which figures they should learn about and when are two of the most persistent questions in education. Last month the State Board of Education approved a new blueprint for teaching history and social science. These new standards will shape statewide tests, textbooks and, presumably, what is taught in the classroom. Here are some personages who made the cut and some who didn’t.

WHO’S IN

John Wayne (1907-1979) Actor born Marion Michael Morrison, icon of war movies and Westerns. Won Academy Award as best actor in the 1969 film “True Grit.” Listed in fourth-grade standards as example of 20th century Californian who contributed to the nation’s cultural and artistic development.

Sally Ride (1951- ) First American woman in space. Flew aboard the space shuttle Challenger in June 1983. Later became a physics professor at UC San Diego. Listed in second-grade standards as an example of the importance of individual action and character.

Adam Smith (1723-1790) Generally regarded as founder of modern economics. Born in Scotland, wrote “The Wealth of Nations” and developed theory of “the invisible hand” guiding behavior in free markets. Listed for study in 12th-grade economics.

WHO’S OUT

Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) First woman to become prime minister in India, the world’s most populous democracy. Led country from 1966-77 and from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. Deleted from final draft of second-grade standards.

Idi Amin (1925?- ) Dictator of the African nation Uganda from 1971-79 and believed responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Named in an earlier state curriculum guide for 12th-grade study, but not in new standards.

Ethel Rosenberg (1915-1953) American citizen executed with her husband, Julius, for spying for the Soviet Union. Convicted of passing atomic bomb secrets to communist regime. Deleted from final draft of 11th-grade standards.

Sources: California History-Social Science Standards, World Book encyclopedia and Encyclopedia Americana

Becoming a Historian

Here are examples of what will be expected from students under California’s new standards for history and social science.

Kindergarten: Recognize national and state symbols and icons such as the national and state flags, the bald eagle and the Statue of Liberty.

Third grade: Understand the role of rules and laws in our daily lives and the basic structure of the U.S. government.

Fifth grade: Know the location of the 50 states and the names of the capitals.

Seventh grade: Analyze the origins of Islam and the life and teachings of Muhammad, including Islamic teachings on the connection with Judaism and Christianity.

10th grade: Analyze the Chinese Civil War, the rise of Mao Tse-tung and the subsequent political upheavals in China (e.g., the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution and the Tiananmen Square uprising).

11th grade: Analyze key events, policies and court cases in the evolution of civil rights, including Dred Scott vs. Sandford, Plessy vs. Ferguson, Brown vs. Board of Education, Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke and California Proposition 209.

Sources: California History-Social Science Standards, State Board of Education