Using the Standards

Discussion of Standards

The Difference Between Content and Analysis Standards

Some teachers feel that the standards are a handcuff. Others see the value of content standards more as excellent guideposts. Some standards have both content and analysis standards. When this is the case, it is analysis standards that should guide our practices and methods. The National Standards, on the other hand, seem to combine content and analysis.

In my research, I have found that most states have similar content and analytical standards.

Links to Content and Analysis Standards

Historical Thinking Skills

I found this excellent list of analytical standards on the America's History in the Making website. Analytical skills are the most important concepts and skills that we teachers can leave to our students. America's History in the Making cites the source for this document as:

Kirk Ankeny, Richard del Rio, Gary B. Nash, David Vigilante, eds.,

Bringing History Alive! A Sourcebook for Teaching United States History

(Los Angeles: National Center for History in the Schools, University of

California, Los Angeles, 1996), 6-15.

United States History Standards for Grades 5-12

http://nchs.ucla.edu/standards/us-standards5-12.html

In the workbook, we specifically looked at the two following standards:

8th Grade Stadard Era 3 Revolution and the New Nation:

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/standards/era3-5-12.html

11th Grade Standard Era 8 The Great Depression and WWII:

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/standards/era8-5-12.html