Curriculum Standards For History Debated, Are They Effective?
GAINESVILLE — For years, a debate has raged over curriculum standards and who controls them. The locus of the standards movement now has shifted to the states and two researchers at the University of Florida offer some issues to consider as this shift takes place. Their report, “National vs. State Curriculum Standards for History in the United States: Where Will the Debate Lead Us?” appears in the summer issue of The Curriculum Journal. Many advocates of national standards have asserted that they should be voluntary and not federally funded. As a whole, they feel national standards go against the individualistic traditions of the country and are an unconstitutional usurpation of the local control reserved for the states. On the opposite side, the report shows some critics feel state standards can never be effectively implemented because teachers simply don’t have the time or resources necessary to meet state guidelines. Researcher Frans Doppen has been a history teacher for 15 years an
