Posted on 06/06/2006 12:33:12 PM PDT by WestTexasWend
DALLAS (AP) - Texas ranked lowest among the nation's four southern border states in its standards for teaching Latin American and Mexican history, according to a national study released Monday.
The study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said on a scale of zero to 10, Texas scored a five - just above the national average of 4.2.
California, meanwhile, scored a 10. Arizona scored a six and New Mexico scored an eight, said Walter Russell Meade, a senior fellow for the council on foreign relations who conducted the study based on a review of state education standards.
"It's likely that the state of world history education is a little worse than the standards since there isn't required testing," Meade said. "The subject might not be getting the kind of emphasis that it deserves."
Pat Hardy, a member of the state board of education and a history and geography teacher for the Weatherford Independent School District, disagreed with the analysis.
She said Texas uses a "spiraling curriculum" to teach world history which has more depth than most states because it introduces concepts at different levels and expands on them later.
"They have to understand that our standards are written in strands," Hardy said. "Students have been exposed all along the way to all aspects of the history, the government, the economics, the culture of the world. I think it's brilliant. The Fordham Institute doesn't know jack about teaching."
But at least one Texas lawmaker said the state still needs to increase its standards.
"It's a sad commentary that Texas, a border state, that's history is so intertwined with Mexico and Latin America, ranks so low on the scale," said Rep. Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes.
Many states fared even worse than Texas, where Hispanics made up about 35.3 percent of the populace in 2003, according to the U.S. Census.
Thirty states have vague education standards for world history and Latin American and Mexican studies, said Michael Petrilli, vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
Alaska, Idaho, Missouri and Montana each received a score of zero for having "superficial or cursory" standards on how to teach World History.
"It's as if many states were not aware that there are countries and cultures south of the Rio Grande," Petrilli said.
Thought you'd find this interesting.
"Texas ranks at bottom among border states on standards for Mexican history."
I wonder how the border territories of Mexico rank on standards for United States history....
Depends on whether they get any points for the much edited, highly revised version of the facts they teach those few children who get a chance to attend school for any length of time.
Ouch, that's gonna leave a mark.
hehehehehehe
Who cares about Mexican history?
Gheesh.
Kids need to be taught that it borders our country, and that millions of Mexicos citizens are living here illegally.
Spend the rest of the time teaching kids about our history and how we need to protect our heritage by keeping undersireables from Mexico out.
That history was taught me as a child in Texas...and it said all that needed to be said IMHO.
Damn straight. When I was in Jr. High, we called it "Texas History".
We don't teach German history either. Or Czech ... or Asian ...
You don't habla Spanglish?
Spoken like a true Texan. Yee Haw!
Although there is a good deal of German and Czech cultur here. Visit Muenster or West sometime.
No it means you do things a little at a time. First the very broad outline, at a level the kids can understand, then more details and more sophistication later. Just because a term isn't familiar to the general public, or is used differently in a particular profession or area, doesn't indicate it means nothing.
What do you know about positive and negative feedback for example. The way those words are used in popular culture are not what they originally meant in the engineering and science community.
Ouch! You must have been in my high school history class. According to the time spent on it, the most important event in US history was the Seneca Falls convention for women's rights in 1848. It got more time than WW I and WW II combined.
Seems like the Texans did a pretty good job of writing Mexican history though. (at least the part that counts)
--and it's the same program that Texas is using now. It's what I've just gone over with my daughters per a State of Texas home-schooling program.
A couple of things about this "study" are beginning to smell. One is that it's not available for us to download so we can make our own evaluation. The other is that there's a different study that is available, also this year and also by the same institute, ranked Texas at the top.
And even then, from what I understand, it's just an overview! (I immigrated to Texas.) Texas history is *still* something that people discuss here, and debate the finer points of.
I believe that at least one of the state universities offers a degree program in Texas history.
You do realize that the Church is heavily suppressed in Mexico. Not as heavily as after the last revolution, but suppressed none the less.
You would prefer they were Muslims perhaps. There are Muslim "recruiters" working in Southern Mexico, and making some inroads, trying to convince the peons that they were robbed of their Islamic heritage when the Castillians and Andalusians kicked the Muslims out of Spain. They don't mention that the last kicking was in 1492, or thereabouts.
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