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History education is in a state of crisis. In a desperate attempt to improve student literacy, school leaders have made the unfortunate decision to reduce or eliminate history instruction at elementary and middle schools around the state and across the nation. Doing so, denies many children the opportunities afforded by quality history instruction: to develop critical literacy skills as they consider multiple perspectives, analyze and interpret information, and draw conclusions from evidence. It is imperative that our state leaders, policy makers, and school administrators recognize the importance of history education and work to reverse this regrettable development. Given our mandate as a publicly-funded professional development organization to increase student achievement in history and the related social sciences, the California History-Social Science Project (CHSSP) is convening a select group of K12 educators and administrators, university scholars, and state and national leaders to seek a reversal to this ill-advised trend. We seek to advocate for increased and improved history instruction for all of California's children.
The History Summit is composed of three sessions, each designed to promote productive discussion and tangible advocacy for high-quality history instruction:
- What High Quality History Education Can Provide for California’s Students (CSU Dominguez Hills, May 29, 2008)
- How Teaching History Can Increase Student Achievement (UC Davis, November 12-13, 2008)
- How Merging Historical Content, Instruction, and Research Can Improve History Instruction (San Jose, April 21-22, 2009)
At each session, we will seek consensus on a way forward, determine opportunities to advocate for our discipline, our teachers, and our students and commit to specific next steps. If you want join the initiative, please review the resources page to download related articles, consider joining us online by blogging on the Summit Website, or contribute financially to support the initiative.
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