Truitt: New analysis shows weaknesses in state's social studies standards

A new report from the Fordham Institute argues that North Carolina’s controversial social studies standards flunk the test on history and civics, ranking worst in the Southeast. 

In an interview with Carolina Journal, N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt emphasized the Fordham report shows the structural weaknesses of the new standards and should throw up a cautionary flag for education policymakers.

“Our standards are so overbroad, so vague, and so absent of chronology as a historical concept that they are all but useless to educators,” Truitt told CJ.

N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction, Catherine Truitt. Photo by Maya Reagan, Carolina Journal

Truitt said Fordham’s report does not wade into the politics behind the standards — it solely focuses on more structural factors, such as quality and usability.

“I felt like the standards were not well written,” Truitt said. “I felt like they were not grounded in the discipline of history. They lack specificity. They are scattered organizationally. And those things combine to form a set of standards that are challenging for teachers to understand and devoid of historical context.”

The Fordham Institute ranked N.C.’s U.S. history standards an “F” and civics a “D-minus.”

“North Carolina’s new civics and U.S. History standards are inadequate,” writes Fordham researchers. “Nebulous verbiage and an aversion to specifics make them functionally contentless in many places, and organization is poor throughout. A complete revision is recommended before implementation.”

The report lists numerous examples. For instance, the authors argue that objectives for second grade are “vague and, in some cases, too sophisticated for the age range,” such as suggesting that students “summarize the role of government in protecting freedom and equality of individuals in America.”

The process of rewriting the social studies standards began in 2019 under then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson. They were presented to the State Board of Education three times before Truitt took office in January 2021.