National Council for History Education Action
Knowing how important it is that a strong voice for history is heard during the NCLB debate, the National Council for History Education has been in ongoing communication with the offices of members of the Senate and House education committees during this and previous Congressional sessions.
We've conveyed our concern about the alarming and documented decline of classroom hours devoted to the teaching of history in our schools due to the unintended consequences of NCLB's present focus on the testing of reading and math.
Many NCHE members participated in our letter-writing campaign in 2007 by faxing letters to members of the Congressional committees or contacting them by phone or in person.
NCHE Board of Trustee member, David McCullough, spoke before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee on February 8, 2007 to underscore the importance of our taking the steps needed to provide for engaging and effective history instruction in our nation's schools.
He also emphasized the importance of ensuring that our teachers of history, at all levels, be provided the training needed to give them a deep understanding the processes of historical thinking and of historical content, in addition to fostering a love and appreciation of history which they can pass on to their students.
In addition, David McCullough has conveyed this message to a broad spectrum of those working on Capitol Hill. Together with other NCHE Trustees and NCHE's Legislative Liaison, he has worked to ensure that our concerns are widely known within the Washington legislative community.
We realize that there are many different views of No Child Left Behind among our membership, and that some believe NCHE should do no more than oppose the legislation. These issues and NCHE’s viewpoint with regard to the NCLB situation are addressed in an essay entitled NCHE Viewpoint on NCLB, currently available on this website. This essay is also scheduled to be published in the February issue of History Matters!.
You're also invited to read an article by NCHE Board Chair Theodore K. Rabb entitled Assessments and Standards: A Case for History which was published in a November, 2007 issue of Education Week and the December, 2007 issue of History Matters!
You may also wish to click on the fact sheet which provides an overview of the research about instructional time for history that we’ve used to convey to legislators some of the details about the documented narrowing of the curriculum that has occurred in our nation’s schools since NCLB was introduced.
To read about some indications that our message is being heard, please click on Our Message Being Heard.