HISTORY

RESEARCH FINDING:

Skimpy requirements and declining enrollments in history  classes 
are contributing to a decline in students' knowledge of the past.

COMMENT:

Earlier  generations  of American students commonly  learned  the 
history of American institutions,  politics,  and systems of gov-
ernment,  as well as some of the history of Greece, Rome, Europe, 
and the rest of the world.   Today, most States require the study 
of only American history and other course work in social studies.  
Indications are that students now know and understand less  about 
history.

In  most State requirements for high school graduation,  a choice 
is offered between history on the one hand and courses in  social 
science  and contemporary social issues on the other.   Most high 
school students,  even those in the academic track, take only one 
history course.   Students enroll in honors courses in history at 
less than half the rate they enroll for honors courses in English 
and  science.   Typically,  requirements have also  declined  for 
writing  essays,  producing  research-based papers,  and  reading 
original sources.   Similar declines are reported in the require-
ments for such reasoning skills as evaluating sources of informa-
tion, drawing conclusions, and constructing logical arguments.

As a result, students know too little about the past.  The Natio-
nal  Assessment of Educational Progress has pilot-tested the  know-
ledge  of 17-year-olds about American history.   The  preliminary 
results  of this study,  due for release in 1987,  indicate  that 
two-thirds  of the students tested could not place the Civil  War 
within  the  period 1850-1900;  half could not  identify  Winston 
Churchill or Stalin.

The  decline  in  the study of history may hinder  students  from 
gaining an historical perspective on contemporary life. 


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