Students' Knowledge of Civil Rights History Has Deteriorated, Study Finds

        Look at the title, seems like a total call out for students' lack of comprehension doesn't it? This article caught my attention for two reasons; 1.) I'm a student, and 2.) I specifically remember covering the civil rights movement last year, and being overwhelmed with endless information. I opened the article already upset, I couldn't stop yelling at the screen "What!? My knowledge of  civil rights has not 'deteriorated' in any way, shape, or form! I studied that material for hours last year! I was tested on it! I was quizzed on it! Me and my partners had to do a project centered around that whole movement for crying out loud (and by partners I mean having two people talk and watch you do all the work)....yeah, so I KNOW my stuff about the civil rights!" This defensive rambling continued for some odd minutes, but halfway through the article, and a few deep breaths later, I simmered down. I had to remind myself that the article was not personal, and that the author was not calling out student's of my High School by name. The title was what outraged me, as silly as it seems. I had completely judged the article before I even read it. That being said, I'm happy I reacted the way I did, because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have chosen this interesting article. After reading it through with an open (and a little biased) mind, I was shocked by how little the majority of schools in the U.S. focus on Civil Rights, and completely neglect to teach about the movement. If 35 out of 50 states get an F on the assessment of history of Civil Rights, then clearly something is wrong. Interestingly enough, it was actually the southern states that scored higher; in the A, B, and C ranges. This article truly peaked my interest, first with outrage, then with shock. This article made me question where my state stands on its education standards of the Civil Rights.

           In the article "Students' Knowledge of Civil Rights History has Deteriorated, Study Finds" by Sam Dillon. Dillon points out the lack of focus put on the very recent, and important event in history. Dillon believes that students are either misinformed, or not informed at all about the defining decades of the Civil Rights Movement. He has a strong conviction that the students' benightedness is of no fault of their own (for the most part), and that the blame should be placed on the schooling systems that do not require or focus on this topic, "That ignorance by American students of the basic history of the civil rights movement has not changed — in fact, it has worsened, according to a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center... The report says that states’ academic standards for public schools are one major cause of the problem." Some schools virtually ignore the movement, and its impact on life as we know it. It is shown that states with lower African American populations are the ones failing to teach Civil Rights in depth."The report is by no means the first to sound an alarm about nationwide weaknesses in the teaching of American history." The overall consensus is that there is little to no effort in covering this vital period of history in a majority of American classrooms. And yet, even where there is effort in the classroom, Civil Rights is often (due to the chronological order of U.S. history curriculum) left to the end of the year, giving the teachers little time to teach, and the students little time to learn. The conclusion? The nation should revise and improve the curriculum for U.S. history.
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