Relegating Student Research to the Past

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

It was once a staple of the high school history class: an in-depth assignment that required students to delve into a single compelling issue, event, or figure. But now, there are signs that the formal research paper—a rite of passage for generations of history students—may itself go down in history.

Teachers across the country are abandoning this introduction to historical research, surrendering to the constraints of time, curriculum requirements, testing, and other factors that make extended student papers in history and social studies seem increasingly impractical.

"When I started teaching in 1989, I was enthusiastic about research papers," said Mark Klopfenstein, who teaches at Blue Valley High School in Stillwell, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City. "Then I got buried under these papers with no time...