History

Education news, analysis, and opinion about how history is taught

Explainer

Image of books on history.
Who Decides What History We Teach? An Explainer
Education Week breaks down how politics has long been embedded in this decision, and how new laws may affect the process.
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Camilla Sucre for Education Week
Social Studies Opinion Celebrating Black History Education: A Collection
This year’s special Education Week Opinion project celebrating Black History Month focuses on what is going well in Black history education.
January 30, 2024
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Camilla Sucre for Education Week
Social Studies Opinion What the Country's First Mandatory Black History Course Can Teach Us Today
Decades before AP African American Studies came along, Black women were the driving force behind an unprecedented education reform.
Ashley D. Dennis, January 30, 2024
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5 min read
A student raises their hand to ask a question before a group of assorted historical figures.
Camilla Sucre for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Opinion You Should Be Teaching Black Historical Contention
How to responsibly teach this critical component of Black history instruction —and why you should.
Brittany L. Jones , January 30, 2024
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4 min read
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Camilla Sucre for Education Week
Social Studies Opinion The Instructive Story of This Jim Crow Era Black History Contest
What an overlooked initiative in the segregated South tells us today about teaching Black history to white students.
Christine Woyshner, January 30, 2024
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4 min read
Stylized vector illustration of Indigenous Peoples.
DigitalVision Vectors + Vanessa Solis/Education Week
Social Studies Opinion Whose Land Are You On? How to Get Started Teaching Native American History
It's easy to feel as if a handful of lessons once a year in November about Native American art or storytelling isn't enough. It isn't.
Jerad Koepp & Alison McCartan, December 7, 2023
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4 min read
Emmitt Glynn teaches AP African American studies to a group of Baton Rouge Magnet High School students on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023 in Baton Rouge, La. Baton Rouge Magnet High School in Louisiana is one of 60 schools around the country testing the new course, which has gained national attention since it was banned in Florida.
Emmitt Glynn teaches AP African American studies to a group of Baton Rouge Magnet High School students on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023 in Baton Rouge, La. The high school was testing a version of the new course, which has since gained national attention.
Stephen Smith/AP
Social Studies The Revised AP African American Studies: What's Been Changed and Why
The new framework, published Dec. 6, will be used for the course's official launch next fall.
Ileana Najarro, December 6, 2023
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6 min read
The updated AP African American Studies course framework highlights a variety of African American leaders, activists, actors, athletes, and more. Some of the individuals included and pictured here include Mae Jemison (left), President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama (top), Nichelle Nichols, (bottom), and Colin Kaepernick (right).
The updated AP African American Studies course framework highlights a variety of African American leaders, activists, actors, athletes, and more. Some of the individuals included and pictured here include Mae Jemison (left), President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama (top right), Nichelle Nichols, (bottom center), and Colin Kaepernick (bottom right).
AP
Social Studies AP African American Studies: What's in the Newly Revised Course Framework
The new framework comes after public debate from both political leaders and scholars over what topics should have been included or excluded.
Ileana Najarro & Gina Tomko, December 6, 2023
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1 min read
The "statue" of Michelle Obama, played by Kaylee Gray, talks to students during Black History Month's wax museum at Chestnut Grove Elementary School in Decatur, Ala., on Feb. 27, 2020. Instead of the usual assembly, Chestnut Grove students played the roles of famous black and white people who contributed to the civil rights movement and black people who have made significant contributions to history.
The "statue" of Michelle Obama, played by Kaylee Gray, talks to students during Black History Month's wax museum at Chestnut Grove Elementary School in Decatur, Ala., on Feb. 27, 2020.
Jeronimo Nisa/The Decatur Daily via AP
Curriculum Many States Are Limiting How Schools Can Teach About Race. Most Voters Disagree
A majority of polled voters want students to learn about the history of racism and slavery in the United States and its legacy today.
Ileana Najarro, October 30, 2023
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4 min read
JaNae Collins, Lily Gladstone, Cara Jade Myers and Jillian Dion in “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
JaNae Collins, Lily Gladstone, Cara Jade Myers and Jillian Dion in “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Melinda Sue Gordon/Apple TV
Social Studies 'Killers of the Flower Moon' Covers Painful History. Can Oklahoma Teachers Teach It?
The crime epic illuminates hard history in Oklahoma. State restrictions could complicate teachers' efforts to draw on it in class.
Madeline Will, October 26, 2023
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6 min read
Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at the Celebrate Freedom Foundation Hangar in West Columbia, S.C. July 18, 2023. For DeSantis, Tuesday was supposed to mark a major moment to help reset his stagnant Republican presidential campaign. But yet again, the moment was overshadowed by Donald Trump. The former president was the overwhelming focus for much of the day as DeSantis spoke out at a press conference and sat for a highly anticipated interview designed to reassure anxious donors and primary voters that he's still well-positioned to defeat Trump.
Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference in West Columbia, S.C., on July 18, 2023. Florida officials approved new African American history standards that drew national backlash, and which DeSantis defended.
Sean Rayford/AP
Standards Florida's New African American History Standards: What's Behind the Backlash
The state's new standards drew national criticism and leave teachers with questions.
Ileana Najarro, July 25, 2023
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9 min read
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the historic Ritz Theatre in downtown Jacksonville, Fla., on July 21, 2023. Harris spoke out against the new standards adopted by the Florida State Board of Education in the teaching of Black history.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the historic Ritz Theatre in downtown Jacksonville, Fla., on July 21, 2023. Harris spoke out against the new standards adopted by the Florida state board of education in the teaching of Black history.
Fran Ruchalski/The Florida Times-Union via AP
Standards Here’s What’s in Florida’s New African American History Standards
Standards were expanded in the younger grades, but critics question the framing of many of the new standards.
Ileana Najarro, July 25, 2023
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1 min read
Edward Biedermann, executive director of AP Outreach for the College Board, welcomes educators to the first AP annual conference since 2019 in Seattle, Wash., on July 19, 2023.
Edward Biedermann, executive director of AP Outreach for the College Board, welcomes educators to the first AP annual conference since 2019 in Seattle, Wash., on July 19, 2023.
Ileana Najarro/Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness College Board Revisits Contentious Decisions, Edits to AP African American Studies Course
Decisions around AP African American Studies and the future of AP program overall were among discussion points.
Ileana Najarro, July 24, 2023
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7 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Standards Opinion How One State Found Common Ground to Produce New History Standards
A veteran board member discusses how the state school board pushed past partisanship to offer a richer, more inclusive history for students.
Rick Hess, July 20, 2023
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10 min read
In this May 1943 photo, Aiko Sumoge, an assistant teacher, leads a kindergarten class to sing an English folk song at the internment relocation center for Japanese Americans in Tule Lake, Ca., in during World War II. Roughly 120,000 Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans were sent to desolate camps that dotted the West because the government claimed they might plot against the U.S. Thousands were elderly, disabled, children or infants too young to know the meaning of treason. Two-thirds were citizens.
In this May 1943 photo, Aiko Sumoge, an assistant teacher, leads a kindergarten class to sing an English folk song in Tule Lake, Calif., home to the largest of the camps where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. A new PD program in Idaho immersed teachers in the history of Japanese American incarceration.
AP
Professional Development An Immersive PD Program Changed These Teachers. Here's How It Will Change Their Practice
Three teachers share what they are taking from an in-depth workshop on the history of Japanese Americans.
Ileana Najarro, July 17, 2023
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5 min read
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