The Mississippi Board of Education is seeking public comment on whether a standardized U.S. history test should remain a requirement to receive a high school diploma.
Well, here’s one public comment: Absolutely, keep this test. History is important.
If the board of education approves the proposal to eliminate the exam, whose official title is the U.S. History Mississippi Academic Assessment Program test, students would still be required to pass a U.S. History course to graduate. The subject would not be completely tossed out.
But there are plenty of required courses for graduation. American history ought to stand out from the pack. It’s every bit as relevant as the state graduation tests for algebra, biology and English.
What’s that saying? “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” If we don’t expose teenagers to the basics of our wonderful American story, future generations may repeat the judgment errors of past ones. The least Mississippi can do for its upcoming high school graduates is make sure they know a few of the basics of what makes this country so great.
A state education official who recommended removing the standardized U.S. History test said those scores are not included in the accountability ratings that the Department of Education gives school districts every year. She said it would save money and make the Big Three assessments of algebra, biology and English more important.
There are some kernels of truth in those arguments, but they are pretty easy to deflect. For example, so what if the history test isn’t part of the annual ratings? That doesn’t make the subject matter any less relevant.
As for saving money, there’s probably 20 things the Board of Education could cut to reduce expenses. The proper question is whether it’s worth spending some taxpayer dollars to let students know that they ought to know something about their country’s story. The answer to that ought to be yes.
Finally, how much more important can algebra, biology and English be? A high school student can’t graduate unless they pass all three tests. It’s not too demanding to make them pass four standardized tests over four years of high school.
Perhaps this is unintentional, but removing the U.S. history text also smells like one more way to lower the standards for graduation. Everybody brags about the state’s rising graduation rates in recent years, but some of it is because the officials in charge, with the blessing of politicians, have lowered expectations.
The exact opposite has occurred in the lower grades. The state’s third-grade reading test has helped elementary students get a grip on words. The state has paid for extra instruction in at-risk districts that has helped move Mississippi’s reading scores to the middle of the pack instead of our usual 50th ranking.
We should not even consider dropping a requirement for a diploma, no matter what the cost or just because history isn’t part of the state ratings.
Everyone has chuckled at late night talk shows that poke fun at people’s civic ignorance. Jay Leno did this for many years, and Jimmy Kimmel does it now. We ought to aim a little higher. Surely we can do better.
In the movie “Animal House,” John Belushi shouted, “Nothing’s over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?” That was a pretty funny line, but today a lot of people wouldn’t get the joke. State tests should not encourage such apathy.
— Jack Ryan, McComb Enterprise-Journal
