A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

                                                 Contact: Melinda Kitchell Malico                                                         (202) 401-1008

Statement on the Release of the Revised History Standards

April 3, 1996

Marshall Smith U.S. Under Secretary of Education

The revised voluntary U.S. history standards represent a solid and more balanced approach to what constitutes American history.

Credit should be given to the UCLA Center for the Study of History in the Schools for its openness to the pointed criticism of its first attempt to write standards. The Center has worked closely with independent review panels led by former Governor Quie (R.-Minn) and Steven Muller, former president, The Johns Hopkins University. This effort was organized by the Council for Basic Education that has done the hard work of tackling head-on the criticism of the earlier draft. This openness to review is the very essence of good scholarship. The standards process as a whole is all the better for it.

Raising academic standards is difficult by its very nature but absolutely essential to improving the education of our children. Ultimately the worth of these standards will be decided in the free market place of ideas as teachers, parents and principals at the state and local level begin the process of writing new state standards. Much of the hard work still remains to be done, but this effort represents a step forward.

The use of these history standards, like other voluntary national standards that have been previously released, is neither mandatory nor required by the federal government. These standards are voluntary and need to be seen as a model and guide for local and state educators who should also examine what other states are doing as they move forward to prepare new history standards.

But it is imperative that we move on and rather urgently to the task of giving our young people a rich appreciation of the history of the American people and the democratic values that define America's unique place in the world. Too many of our young people are growing up disconnected from the history of our society. This disconnection does little to strengthen our sense of national community or add vigor to the public trust that is so essential for a robust democracy.

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