Why California Students Do Not Know Chicano History
Why California students do not understand Chicano/Latino history. 1987- 2011. By Duane Campbell Textbooks for California schools are selected by the State Board of Education based upon recommendations of their Curriculum Committees and the state frameworks and standards. It is urgent that the History-Social Science Framework be revised to provide an accurate history of the contributions of Mexicans, Mexican Americans, Latinos and Asians to the history of the state and of the nation. The current Framework reflects the historiography of the 1950’s. It was written in 1986 by senior scholars, they in turn were educated in the early 1970’s or before. It is substantially out of date. Standards and frameworks are products of the people who make the decisions. Frameworks like standards pick winners and losers; the choices which committees make favor one group over another group- choices are based upon the political power of those represented on the committees. The Framework is supposed to be revised each 7 years but it has not been revised. The current Framework reflects the historiography of the 1970’s and the political balance of power of the 1980’s. During the winter and spring of 2009, a committee of teachers and other educators appointed by the State Board of Education met to review the current History-Social Science |
