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In The News
May 27, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CSU Dominguez Hills to Host History
Summit Advocating
for Increased, Improved Instruction for California Students
History and social science classes are being cut as school districts
struggle to improve literacy; Summit organizers believe maintaining
those classes.
(Carson, CA)— Attempting
to rollback the growing marginalization of history and the related
social sciences in elementary and middle schools across the state,
90 selected scholars, K-12 teachers, policymakers, and administrators
will meet on the California State University, Dominguez Hills
(CSUDH) campus on Thursday, May 29, to kick off the first of
three “History Summit” meetings, designed to advocate
for increased and improved history instruction for all of California’s
children. These leaders will meet again at UC Davis (Nov 12 and
13) and in San Jose (April 21 and 22, 2009).
In the name of improving
student literacy, school leaders across the state, and even
the nation, have made the difficult decision
to reduce or eliminate history instruction at the elementary
and middle school levels. By bringing together knowledgeable
and dedicated
leaders in history education for the three History Summits, the
statewide office of the California History-Social Science Project
(CHSSP) seeks to challenge that trend and return history-social
science to the curriculum offered in public schools. Organizers
contend that in learning history students gain perspective, learn
critical thinking skills and, contrary to the trend, further
develop their reading and writing skills. In the inaugural session at CSU Dominguez Hills, participants
will examine specific examples of student work and classroom instruction
across the state and will begin a discussion of the fundamental
question underlying each of the summit sessions: How do we ensure
quality history education for all students?
Nancy McTygue, executive director of CHSSP, said CSU Dominguez
Hills was purposefully chosen for the inaugural History Summit
session.
“We wanted to both recognize
and learn from scholars and practicing teachers serving schools
working to educate children from some of California’s
most challenged communities,” McTygue said. “People
like Lisa Hutton (assistant professor of education and director
of the CHSSP site at CSUDH) have an in-depth
understanding of the difficulties teachers in these communities face on a daily
basis and have dedicated their careers to helping children in these schools
learn about our past so they are prepared to face their futures.
Hopefully, the History
Summit will enable us to expand this work throughout the state so that all
of California’s children will be able to learn about
the history of their communities, their state, their country,
and the world.”
The summit is sponsored by the CHSSP,
with additional support from The History Channel, the Division
of Social Sciences in the College of Letters and Science
at UC Davis, Mrs. Betsy Marchand and Dr. Karen Halttunen in honor of the
late Dr. Roland Marchand, and the Cooperative Research and Extension Services
for
Schools (CRESS) Center, and the School of Education, UC Davis.
A publicly
funded professional development organization whose mission
is to increase student achievement in history and the related
social sciences,
the
California History-Social Science Project is made up of seven project
sites at universities across the state and is one of nine
disciplinary networks
that make up the California Subject Matter Projects. The CHSSP at Dominguez
Hills
was founded in the 1990s and in 2005 merged with the one at CSU Long
Beach to provide teachers in the Long Beach-South Bay region
with the latest
pedagogies in the fields of history-social science.
For additional information
regarding the History Summit, visit http://historysummit.ucdavis.edu/ or call (530) 752-0572.
For information on CHSSP visit http://csmp.ucop.edu/chssp or contact the statewide office at UC Davis: chssp@ucdavis.edu.
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---------------------------------------------- About
CSU Dominguez Hills -- California
State University, Dominguez Hills is a highly diverse,
urban university located in the South Bay, primarily
serving the
Los Angeles metropolitan area. The university prides itself
on its outstanding faculty and friendly, student-centered
environment.
Known for excellence in teacher education, nursing, psychology,
business administration, and digital media arts, new degree
programs include computer science, criminal justice,
recreation and leisure
studies, social work, and communication disorders. On campus
is the Home Depot Center, a multi-purpose sports complex
that hosts
world-class soccer, tennis, track and field, lacrosse, and
cycling.
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