Nebraska education board deadlocks on new social studies standards

At its meeting Friday, the board deadlocked 4-4 on the proposed standards, meaning they will not take effect. The current standards, approved in 2019, will stay in place.

Board members Deborah Neary, Liz Renner, Kristin Christensen and Maggie Douglas voted against the proposed standards, while Elizabeth Tegtmeier, Lisa Schonhoff, Sherry Jones and Kirk Penner voted in favor.

The Rev. T. Michael Williams, along with a handful of attendees during public comment, asked the board to reject the revised standards, saying they “erase diversity, minimize marginalized communities and weaken students' understanding of their rights and responsibilities as citizens.”

“It seems to me, this is really the opposite of rigor,” the Omaha pastor said.

The Nebraska Department of Education revises standards for subject areas every seven years. Standards don’t prescribe specific curriculum to teachers, but they do describe what students are expected to know and learn each year. 

Though the proposed standards maintained many of the same expectations as the 2019 standards, there were fewer references to marginalized or underrepresented groups.

For example, a fourth grade history standard from 2019 says students should be able to “analyze and explain multiple perspectives of events in Nebraska, including historically marginalized and underrepresented groups.”

The proposed standard would have expected students to “explain multiple perspectives of events in Nebraska.”

A high school standard from 2019 calls for students to “examine historical events from the perspectives of marginalized and underrepresented groups.”

The same proposed standard would have expected students to “examine historical events from the varying perspectives of relevant groups.”

Linda Duckworth, a former teacher, said the proposed standards would do a poorer job of preparing students for the future, when they will inevitably encounter people from different backgrounds.

She said students are better served by the 2019 standards, which feature more references to diverse groups and minority populations who were “perhaps dealt with unfairly, sometimes by our own government.” 

“Maybe it was because they were women or gay or Hispanic, for instance — what some people call hard truths but really are just part of our past,” Duckworth said. “The proposed new standards appear to be trying to hide some of those truths, which is a terrible disservice to our students.”

School districts are not required to directly adopt state-approved standards. They can use their own content standards that are as rigorous as or more rigorous than state standards.

A 21-person group of Nebraska educators from public and private schools helped develop the first draft of the proposed social studies standards. The board then considered and made revisions after a public feedback period.

Brooke Crumb, communications and outreach specialist with Stand for Schools, said the nonprofit appreciated the board's willingness to take feedback and make revisions to the proposed standards.

Still, the organization — which advocates for advancing Nebraska's public schools — had concerns that Nebraska would no longer be a leader in social studies education standards as it was in 2019.

Nebraska gained national attention through a Time magazine article highlighting the “more inclusive social studies guidelines.”

“We can nurture students' eagerness to learn by encouraging curiosity from an early age,” Crumb said. “That means preserving opportunities for students to think about their family histories, including where members of their family were born.” 

Before voting in favor, Jones said she appreciated the removal of the terms marginalized and underrepresented, which would not have appeared anywhere in the revised standards.

“I believe the word marginalized is subjective and is an inflammatory word which can bring about feelings and thoughts of hopelessness, helplessness and unwarranted guilt in our children,” Jones said.

Renner, who voted against the standards, said she was disappointed to see marginalized and underrepresented replaced with other words, and she thought it could lead to fewer perspectives being considered in the classroom.

“While various and diverse are similar words, they represent very different things, and that matters to me,” Renner said.

Impact of standards difficult to measure

Though the state's social studies standards are designed to help prepare students for college and careers, there isn’t a structured way to gauge the impact after changes are made.

Most states, including Nebraska, do not require a standardized social studies assessment.

The Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System assesses student progress in math, English and science — the three subjects required for statewide assessment in order to receive federal funding.

Social studies assessment is left up to each school district. Some districts may not compare student achievement across classes or school buildings, and there is no requirement for districts to share those results with the Nebraska Department of Education.

Jaci Grimes, Lincoln Public Schools social studies curriculum specialist, said the district does use a common assessment to measure students' knowledge related to social studies, and that information is primarily used by teachers in the classroom to “help them make good instructional decisions and be responsive teachers.”