Tennessee history would suffer with social studies revision

• Tennessee topics have to be clearly spelled out in the standards so that teachers cover state history.
• Bill Carey is a former reporter and a member of the social studies standards review committee.

We are about to delete a lot of Tennessee history from the social studies standards. It’s not too late to change our minds about this.

About 15 years ago, Tennessee replaced its long-standing practice of having focused Tennessee history courses in grades 4 and 7 with a system under which the state’s history was “embedded” into U.S. history classes in grades 4, 5, 8 and 11. At the time, the Department of Education said Tennessee history would not be de-emphasized.

Under “embedding,” students would learn about the Donelson Party journey and the Chickamaugan Indians when they study U.S. history during the American Revolution in grades 4 and 8.

Students would learn about Fort Donelson and the Battle of Franklin when they learn about the American Civil War in grades 5 and 8.

But for embedding to work, Tennessee topics have to be clearly spelled out in the standards. Otherwise, teachers won’t get the message that they have to cover Tennessee history along the way.

I am a member of the state’s social studies standards review committee. We recently voted unanimously to approve a new set of standards for grades 6 and upward.

However, I voted against the proposed standards for grades 1 through 5. I did so because I believe we are deleting so much Tennessee history that we can no longer claim to be embedding it.

In these proposed standards — the required courses — William Blount and Rocky Mount are no longer mentioned. Nor is Little Carpenter; the Chickamaugan Indians; the Battle of the Bluffs; the Natchez Trace; the New Madrid Earthquakes; the Civil War Battles of Franklin or Nashville; Confederate hero Sam Davis; World War II hero Cornelia Fort; the Cumberland Homesteads; Alex Haley and the list goes on. In these standards, the Plateau of Tibet is mentioned twice, but the Cumberland Plateau is not mentioned once. The Great Lakes are in the standards, but Reelfoot Lake is not.

In truth, Tennessee history would be gutted under these standards. That’s why state historian Dr. Carroll Van West, the Tennessee Historical Society and the Tennessee Historical Commission have spoken against them.

For Tennessee to adopt these standards at a time when we are building a $160 million state museum makes no sense.

Several months ago I contacted 14 states, including Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. I learned that most of them still teach an entire year of state history. At that time, I asked my committee to either “re-embed” Tennessee history or carve out a year of focused Tennessee studies.

In my opinion, we did neither.

There is still time to make changes. The Tennessee Board of Education still must approve or disapprove these standards (and it meets Wednesday night.) Meanwhile, the General Assembly is considering a measure that would require the state to go back to teaching a focused course on Tennessee history.

I believe there is still time to turn fourth grade into a “Tennessee studies” grade, or turn the spring of fifth grade into a “Tennessee studies” semester.

It’s great that we embed some Tennessee history into the eighth and 11th grade U.S history classes. But wouldn’t a focused Tennessee studies course in a younger grade ensure that students learn the story of our great state, while making life easier for elementary school teachers?

Bill Carey is a former business and political reporter and columnist for The Tennessean. He has run an educational nonprofit organization called Tennessee History for Kids. He is a member of Tennessee’s social studies standards review committee.