Teachers say history left behind Status of the discipline will be key topic at convention today in Trenton Friday, March 23, 2007 • BY TOM HESTER • Star-Ledger Staff Teachers and history advocates say history education and social studies are getting short shrift in New Jersey public schools, especially at the elementary and middle school levels. They say the emphasis on the federal No Child Left Behind Act -- which stresses reading, writing, math and science and requires students in grades 3, 8 and 11 to pass proficiency tests in those disciplines -- has left history, along with the arts, health, gym and foreign languages, at the back of the class. "It seems to me that as the world shrinks, students need to be more literate about the people they are dealing with," said Alan Lucibello, Montville High School social studies supervisor. "They may know a lot about business and technology but if they don't know a lot about the about the people they are dealing with, they are not going to be very successful." "What's Happening to History in the Classroom" will be focus today when 200 history educators and supporters gather for the annual New Jersey History Issues Convention at the War Memorial Building in Trenton. The conference is sponsored by the Advocates for New Jersey History, the New Jersey Council for History Education and the state Historical Commission. Lucibello will moderate a panel discussion on the issue. The Department of Education revised its history and social studies curriculum in 2004 to require high school students to earn 15 credits in social studies, including two years of American history. There are also mandates for the teaching of New Jersey history, African-American history and the Holocaust. But department officials and educators agree the requirements do not ensure the courses receive the same amount of time provided reading, writing, math and science. "I want to see what happens in three or four years when we start to get these kids," said Maxine Lurie, chairwoman of the Seton Hall University History Department and an advocate of more emphasis on history in the schools. "How are they going to fathom the civil rights movement if they don't know of the Civil War and who won it?" she said. The teaching of history, government, geography and economics lost importance, according to educators and department officials, in 2002-03, the first year of the No Child Left Behind Act. Poor student performance on the math, science, writing and reading tests required by the act can mean a loss of federal aid or a shakeup in school programs and personnel. Assistant Commissioner Edward J. Doolan, head of the Department of Education's Division of Programs and Assessment, said the department is taking two actions to make schools pay more attention to history and social studies. Department supervisors are checking 11 troubled school districts, including Newark, Jersey City and Camden, to determine if educators are following state curriculum standards for all subjects, giving the courses a proper amount of time and whether teachers are qualified to provide the instruction. In September, the review will include one-third of the state's 592 active school districts. The other effort, also beginning in September, will involve a survey of all schools that will ask if all curriculum standards are being met and the amount of time given each course, especially history and social studies. Roseanne Lichatin, the director of social studies at West Morris Central High School in Chester Township and the 2005 National History Teacher of the Year, will join Lucibello, Morse and other educators for today's History Issues Convention panel discussion. "We certainly want an appreciation for the nation's past to start in the early years," she said. "History teaches some very necessary skills needed in other disciplines. Historians write. They analyze documents. They read for understanding. Those skills cross over many disciplines. History can be a core subject to teach those skills." Tom Hester may be reached at thester@starledger.com or (609) 292-0557. © 2007 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.