Social Studies Changing in Md. Schools

BALTIMORE, Jan. 24 -- Maryland kindergartners should be able to identify such figures as Founding Father George Washington, civil rights icon Rosa Parks and the current president.

First-graders should be able to describe the contributions of such figures as Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Third-graders should be able to explain the importance of Parks to civil rights, farmworker organizer Cesar Chavez to migrant workers and Jimmy Carter to world peace.

Those are among the provisions in a draft social studies curriculum submitted here Tuesday to the Maryland State Board of Education. Three years in the making, the curriculum drawn up by educators and other experts is expected to undergo close scrutiny and revision before the board votes on it.

"Clearly, social studies, which talks about what we were and who we are, is a flash point," said state board Vice President Dunbar Brooks (Baltimore County).

Board member Maria C. Torres-Queral (Baltimore County) said the draft curriculum posed questions about values. "What really is a concern to all of us is the ideology that's gone into this document," she said.

Board member David F. Tufaro (Baltimore) said the curriculum ought to cover economics in depth in a state where lawmakers recently voted on a minimum wage raise and a health benefit requirement for retailer Wal-Mart. Tufaro also cited the national debate over federal domestic surveillance as a social studies concern.

"This is very important," Tufaro said of the draft curriculum. "It's at the heart of a lot of discussions going on in this country."

The draft follows others developed recently for mathematics, reading and science. Though described as voluntary, the documents have great influence on Maryland's 24 school systems because they track the state testing program. In social studies, Maryland tests students at the end of a government course generally taken in ninth or 10th grade, part of a graduation requirement starting for the Class of 2009.

Perhaps as significant as what the draft curriculum specifies is what it omits. The mention of the 39th presiden -- Carter, a Democrat -- in third grade is not accompanied by a similar reference to the 40th president, Republican Ronald Reagan. However, a social studies glossary included with the draft defines "Reaganomics" as "an economic plan that promotes low taxes, low social-service spending and high military spending."

But Dixie Stack, the Maryland State Department of Education's curriculum director, said the document produced by more than 100 educators and other experts from across the state was neither liberal nor conservative. "We've tried very hard to be balanced," she said in an interview.

Experts who reviewed the draft curriculum concluded that it was "free from presentism, chauvinism, Eurocentrism and misconceptions," according to a video presentation. One board member wondered aloud what "presentism" meant -- without receiving an answer. The reviewers also concluded that the curriculum should be revised to "add the historic and current contributions of diverse populations," among other steps.