The Thomas Fordham Foundation has just released its State of State U.S. History 2011. New Jersey curriculum standards for U.S. History only get a “C,” or 5 points out of 10 (4 out of 7 for content and rigor, and 1 out of 3 for content and specificity). But that’s not too shabby – the average grade among states was a “D” and 18 states got a big fat “F.” High scorer was South Carolina, and six other states – Alabama, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, and D.C.—got A-minuses. While the Garden State, say the reviewers, has “a deeply flawed and often marginally coherent historical overview,” our standards are “not devoid of content” and “cumulative progress indicators mention many important issues and some important specific events.”
Hey — at least we’re not Alaska, which earned 0 out of 10 points because its history content standards “are confined solely to local Alaskan history… indeed, there is no historical curriculum beyond Alaskan history itself.” Solipsism, USA.
