California
is at an important tipping point. I and my graduate students participated in the 2009 efforts to revise the History/Social Science curriculum frameworks and frankly the
issue of Mexican American history was marginalized. It will require some effort to change this. It is important to intervene soon. Once the national common core standards begin adopting
History/ Social Science, the new standards will most likely
integrate the existing state standards- which ignore Mexican American/Latino history. The inadequate 1986 History/ Social
Science Framework will become the
national standards and will continue for another decade. New York is currently revising their
civic standards to prepare for inclusion in the common core. To this date we have been unable to interest legislators in responding to this problem. See more here https://sites.google.com/site/chicanodigital/home/why-california-students-do-not-know-chicano-history
Students need to see themselves in the curriculum in order to
believe they have a stake in the society. Textbooks for California
schools are selected by the State Board of Education based upon recommendations
of their Curriculum Committees and the state frameworks and
standards. The current Framework reflects the historiography of the
1950’s. It was written in 1986 by senior scholars, they in turn were educated
in the early 1970’s or before. It is substantially out of date.
