History Standards, National

Origins

The National Standards for History was developed from the National Education Goals adopted by President George H. W. Bush and the National Governors' Association in 1990. His successor, President Bill Clinton, signed that report into law in 1994 as the GOALS 2000, Educate America Act. GOALS 2000 was the culmination of an education reform agenda announced by President Bush in 1991, which called for national standards in the subjects of English, mathematics, science, history, and geography. The education reform agenda enjoyed broad support from both politicians and the American public.

The National History Standards Project began in 1992 with funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, led by Lynne Cheney, and the U.S. Department of Education, led by Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander. The project's goal was to develop an understanding of the purpose of history education in the school curriculum, successful methods for history instruction, the specific historical knowledge students should acquire, and the thought processes students should learn. The thirty-member National Council for History Standards, consisting of leaders from organizations like the American Historical Association and the National Council for Social Studies, worked with the participants of the National Assessment of Education Progress in United States History to ensure that the new National Standards for History were aligned with that organization's work.

Standards

The National Standards for History is a curriculum guide for students in elementary and secondary school. The standards are divided into ten historical eras beginning with the migration of Asian peoples to North America and ending with the modern United States. For each era, between two and four standards describe the themes, content, and methodologies that students should master at each grade level. The specific details of assignments, activities, and content are left to individual instructors or school systems to determine.

One of the goals of the National Standards for History was to create a history curriculum that was focused not on rote learning of dates, facts, and names, but on ideas and issues in each historical era. The leaders of the NCHS also strove to make the standards as inclusive as possible, working to ensure that [Page 413]the roles of women and minorities in U.S. history received a more equal footing with the traditional figures that dominate the teaching of U.S. history, such as George Washington and James Madison.

In addition to defining the historical content students should master, the standards also address the types of historical thinking that students should master by the end of high school. The standards categorize historical thinking skills into five areas: Chronological Thinking, Historical Comprehension, Historical Analysis and Interpretation, Historical Research Capabilities, and Historical Issues—Analysis and Decision-Making. The Thinking Standards are presented to assist teachers in developing lesson plans that teach not only historical content, but also the skills to understand and use that content.

...