Last December, a former student came to visit me with a problem. "Mr. Ahlquist," he said, "the history courses in college are a lot different than the social studies classes we took in high school."
As he described the close readings and analysis of the historical texts required in college — skills he was never taught in high school — I realized the curriculum and methods most teachers have been using in the classroom aren't actually preparing students for college.
States like New York are now adopting new measures that will fix this problem. Teachers and policymakers should get behind them.
Since that winter day when my former student visited me, I have begun a journey of learning and teaching that has been supported by two significant developments in the education community: the Common Core State Standards and the redesign of Advanced Placement courses. For years, my social studies classes revolved around memorizing facts, important dates and other minutia, rather than the craft of being a historian. There was a disconnect between my intention to prepare my students for college and the actual work they did in class.
The Common Core Standards — which New York will fully implement during the 2013 school year — emphasize the close reading of texts and learning from primary sources, encouraging students to think more deeply about the material they read. The standards allow us to teach high school students the skill set of a historian — skills that I didn't learn and fall in love with until college and graduate school. As I began implementing these new standards, my teaching became inspired and so did my students.
Coincidentally, the Advanced Placement history courses were redesigned around the same time. While grading exams, I was elated to see a new focus on historical thinking skills — concepts that would also encourage students to think more critically.
Learning through both the core standards and AP requires hard work, but my students are now finding that the hardest work is often the most rewarding. As my lessons increasingly include more primary documents, students have become true investigators of history. We have learned to interpret and understand the historical record as equal partners and thinkers. Challenging students to discover meaning in texts is the beauty of these standards. Teachers are given permission to explore works in greater depth and to build skills rather than simply present and test students on facts and figures.
David Coleman, an architect of the Common Core and new College Board president, is at the intersection of these two story lines. The standards and the College Board are rooted in the same intellectual framework and have the same ultimate goal: to prepare all of our students to be college- and career-ready — Coleman's personal and professional mission. In my interactions and conversations with him over the last few weeks, his thoughtful and compassionate approach to learning confirmed the picture I already had formed of him: David Coleman is a teacher of teachers.
Watching him thoughtfully pose questions and suggest ways to teach the Gettysburg Address on the EngageNY website (http://tinyurl.com/a85devu) and seeing one of my administrators brilliantly model Coleman's suggestions in a close reading of that same text, I was keenly aware that Coleman understands teaching and learning profoundly. Without exaggeration, that Gettysburg Address lesson has provided me with continued reassurance and hope that I can better prepare my students to think critically and become engaged citizens.
As New York teachers like myself continue implementing these new teaching standards and methods, we can all rest a little easier and happier knowing that our students will finally be prepared for college and beyond.
Greg Ahlquist is a social studies teacher at Webster Thomas High School in Webster, Monroe County. He is the 2013 state Teacher of the Year.