Monday, March 29, 2004
Sons of the American Revolution Lobby DOE for Increased Emphasis on History!
March 29, 2004
Hon. James Horne
Commissioner of Education
325 West Gaines St., Suite 1514
Tallahassee, FL 32399
FAX: (850) 245-9667
RE: HB-0081 and related
Dear Commissioner Horne:
This letter is being written on behalf of The Florida Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (sometimes the SAR is called the President's Society as all US Presidents but four have been members since we were organized in the late 1800's; Governor Bush also is a member).
As you might expect, we are particularly interested in having our young people understand how our country was formed and, especially, the historic, civic and economic principles on which it is based. To that end, we are very supportive of having American History, Government and Economics taken into consideration as a basis for promotion in the schools and as a requirement for High School graduation.
Indeed, we were quite dismayed last year when appropriate bills (both House and Senate) easily cleared committee but were not brought to a vote. Moreover, we are concerned about some of the unfortunate interpretations currently being made about the relevant bills for this year (SB- 0426, SB-0364 and, especially, HB-0081). We are particularly disturbed to learn that they may not be acted upon this year either. Do you not agree that is most urgent that the cited Social Studies be taken as seriously as mathematics, reading, writing and (now) science? We appreciated the support given to this initiative by your Chancelor of K-12 Programs, Jim Warford (see attached letter), and hope that the department will continue to ensure that student’s performance in social studies is taken into the equation when they are being considered for promotion.
In any event, our members are generally monitoring this situation -- with a number of us from the Education Committee and the Board of Management actively doing so. We sincerely hope that these bills will be passed this session.
Thank you for your kind consideration of this communication and your support of good civic
education in the State of Florida.
Sincerely,
Harry Hollien, PhD
FLSSAR Regional Vice President and
Chair, Education Committee
Copies to:
Chancellor James Warford
Dr. Cornelia Orr
Kathy Mizereck
Senator Lee Constantine
Representative Bev Kilmer (she’s running for Congress)
Mr. Jack Bovee
Wednesday, March 3, 2004
Status on the State of Civic Education in Florida
Classroom Teacher Survey - 2004
Our organizations are interested in hearing from classroom teachers regarding the status of Civic Education in Florida. Please take a moment, complete the survey below, and return it to the person at the end of the survey. Thank you. (Textboxes are provided in the appropriate blanks. Simply ‘left click’ on the blank, make the text box appear and then type directly in the box to make an electronic version of your response.)
1. Your name (optional) ____________________________
2. Grade / Subject you teach _________________________
3. District ______________________________________
4. Number of years you have been teaching social studies. _____ (Over 5 years preferred.)
For the following statements, circle the word or number you MOST AGREE WITH.
5. In the last five years, I have seen the daily minutes or time devoted to Social Studies instruction to
a. be greatly increased.
b. be slightly increased.
c. remain the same
d. to be slightly decreased.
e. to be greatly decreased.
____
6. My current social studies textbooks are
a. less than six years old.
b. more than six, but less than 8 years old.
c. more than 8, but less than 10 years old.
d. more than 10 years old.
____
7. Which statement below is most accurate with regard to the status of current wall maps in your classroom? Check ALL that apply.
a. the current maps in my classroom are the original ones that were furnished when the school was built. The number of years old your school is ____.
b. I have a world maps less than 10 years old. (Eritrea is shown as part of former Ethiopia & Russia is shown with the Independent Commonwealth States of the former U.S.S.R.)
c. I have a world map that is from BEFORE 1992. (Yugoslavia is shown or U.S.S.R.)
d. I have a world map from BEFORE 1990 (East and West Germany are shown).
e. I do NOT have a world map in my classroom.____
8. In my estimation, students are coming to my classroom in recent years with
a. the SAME basic civic knowledge as they have had in the past.
b. SLIGHTLY MORE civic understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL MORE civic understanding than they have had in the past.
d. SLIGHTLY LESS civic understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL LESS civic understanding than they have had in the past.
____
9. In my estimation, students are coming to my classroom in recent years with
a. the SAME basic knowledge of history as they have had in the past.
b. SLIGHTLY MORE historical understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL MORE historical understanding than they have had in the past.
d. SLIGHTLY LESS historical understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL LESS historical understanding than they have had in the past.
____
10. In my estimation, students are coming to my classroom in recent years with
a. the SAME basic knowledge of geography as they have had in the past.
b. SLIGHTLY MORE geographical understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL MORE geographical understanding than they have had in the past.
d. SLIGHTLY LESS geographical understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL LESS geographical understanding than they have had in the past.
____
11. In my estimation, students are coming to my classroom in recent years with
a. the SAME basic knowledge of economics as they have had in the past.
b. SLIGHTLY MORE economic understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL MORE economic understanding than they have had in the past.
d. SLIGHTLY LESS economic understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL LESS economic understanding than they have had in the past.
12. Have you heard of or do you personally know of another teacher who has been asked to lessen the emphasis on social studies instruction in the last few years?
___ yes __ no
13. What is the current amount of TIME (minutes or hours per week, days per term or semester) that is devoted to social studies instruction at your school? If there has been a reduction from an earlier time, please state the percent of time for which this instruction has been reduced.
14. Have historical field trips to museums or other programs been affected in recent years?
___ yes __ no In needed, explain:
Please feel free to attach any additional anecdotal information regarding the status of student understanding of social studies content when they come to your school or classroom.
Our organizations are interested in hearing from classroom teachers regarding the status of Civic Education in Florida. Please take a moment, complete the survey below, and return it to the person at the end of the survey. Thank you. (Textboxes are provided in the appropriate blanks. Simply ‘left click’ on the blank, make the text box appear and then type directly in the box to make an electronic version of your response.)
1. Your name (optional) ____________________________
2. Grade / Subject you teach _________________________
3. District ______________________________________
4. Number of years you have been teaching social studies. _____ (Over 5 years preferred.)
For the following statements, circle the word or number you MOST AGREE WITH.
5. In the last five years, I have seen the daily minutes or time devoted to Social Studies instruction to
a. be greatly increased.
b. be slightly increased.
c. remain the same
d. to be slightly decreased.
e. to be greatly decreased.
____
6. My current social studies textbooks are
a. less than six years old.
b. more than six, but less than 8 years old.
c. more than 8, but less than 10 years old.
d. more than 10 years old.
____
7. Which statement below is most accurate with regard to the status of current wall maps in your classroom? Check ALL that apply.
a. the current maps in my classroom are the original ones that were furnished when the school was built. The number of years old your school is ____.
b. I have a world maps less than 10 years old. (Eritrea is shown as part of former Ethiopia & Russia is shown with the Independent Commonwealth States of the former U.S.S.R.)
c. I have a world map that is from BEFORE 1992. (Yugoslavia is shown or U.S.S.R.)
d. I have a world map from BEFORE 1990 (East and West Germany are shown).
e. I do NOT have a world map in my classroom.____
8. In my estimation, students are coming to my classroom in recent years with
a. the SAME basic civic knowledge as they have had in the past.
b. SLIGHTLY MORE civic understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL MORE civic understanding than they have had in the past.
d. SLIGHTLY LESS civic understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL LESS civic understanding than they have had in the past.
____
9. In my estimation, students are coming to my classroom in recent years with
a. the SAME basic knowledge of history as they have had in the past.
b. SLIGHTLY MORE historical understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL MORE historical understanding than they have had in the past.
d. SLIGHTLY LESS historical understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL LESS historical understanding than they have had in the past.
____
10. In my estimation, students are coming to my classroom in recent years with
a. the SAME basic knowledge of geography as they have had in the past.
b. SLIGHTLY MORE geographical understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL MORE geographical understanding than they have had in the past.
d. SLIGHTLY LESS geographical understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL LESS geographical understanding than they have had in the past.
____
11. In my estimation, students are coming to my classroom in recent years with
a. the SAME basic knowledge of economics as they have had in the past.
b. SLIGHTLY MORE economic understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL MORE economic understanding than they have had in the past.
d. SLIGHTLY LESS economic understanding than they have had in the past.
c. a GREAT DEAL LESS economic understanding than they have had in the past.
12. Have you heard of or do you personally know of another teacher who has been asked to lessen the emphasis on social studies instruction in the last few years?
___ yes __ no
13. What is the current amount of TIME (minutes or hours per week, days per term or semester) that is devoted to social studies instruction at your school? If there has been a reduction from an earlier time, please state the percent of time for which this instruction has been reduced.
14. Have historical field trips to museums or other programs been affected in recent years?
___ yes __ no In needed, explain:
Please feel free to attach any additional anecdotal information regarding the status of student understanding of social studies content when they come to your school or classroom.
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