Do you know why the Pilgrims wanted to leave England? If you guessed it was to escape religious persecution you're doing better than 55 percent of the nation's fourth graders. Do you know what rights are protected by the First Amendment? If so, you're doing better than 55 percent of the nation's eighth graders.
Can you explain what social problem the Brown v. Board of Education decision aimed to correct? If you said the maintenance of "separate but equal" schools for white and nonwhite children, you beat out nearly 98 percent of twelfth graders who failed to get full credit for their answer to that question on the 2010 U.S. History Report Card, administered as part of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test. Results of the test, which were released June 14, showed that fewer than 25 percent of U.S. students ranked as "proficient." The test, which is given to fourth, eighth and twelfth graders every four years, showed that only 20 percent of fourth graders, 17 percent of eighth graders and 12 percent of twelfth graders were proficient.One prominent education official, historian and former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravisher, called the results "alarming" in an interview with The New York Times. And Executive Director of the American Historical Association James Gross man wrote on the History News Network, "The consensus among those familiar with the test and with the broader assessment landscape is that our high school graduates don't know much about history."
Debating the value of a history major
Gross man suggests those high school graduates may not be alone. "I'd like to see the full Congress take the test," he told the Huffing ton Post. "History education is a much larger issue in relation to civic culture."Some history advocates blame No Child Left Behind, a federal law that pushed schools to emphasize test scores in math and reading, for crowding subjects like history out of the curriculum. Indeed, according to a statement Ravisher sent the Huffington Post, out of the seven subjects tested on the NAEP, students perform the worst on history. In a time of tight state and federal funding, history programs are facing steep funding cutbacks. For example, the federal Teaching American History Grants program for fiscal year 2011 was cancelled in June due to a lack of funds. While some critics argue that history degrees are not relevant to the job market--especially a competitive job market--advocates of the humanities point to the broad base of knowledge and critical thinking skills history majors acquire. A 2009 survey by Hart Research Associates of more than 300 employers sought to find out what skills hiring managers wanted during a recession. The answer is good news for those with a history major. Nearly 90 percent look for effective oral and written communication skills, 81 percent want critical thinking skills, and 68 percent listed the ability to find and analyze information from a variety of sources--all skills that are key to success in a history degree program.
Careers for history majors
According to a recent study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW), history majors fare relatively well when it comes to earnings and employment. For workers with a bachelor's degree in history, the median annual wage for full-time workers was $50,000, and 93 percent were employed. Not surprisingly, the data indicates that nearly half of all history majors (46 percent) go on to graduate school, which provides a 60 percent earnings boost, on average. Main industries of employment for history majors show the versatility of the degree. According to the CEW, the following five industries were the major employers for workers with a bachelor's degree in history:
- Education (15 percent)
- Financial services (14 percent)
- Retail trade (10 percent)
- Public administration (10 percent)
- Professional services (9 percent)
According to the American Historical Association, a degree in history is a good background for a career as an educator, researcher, communicator, advocate or businessperson. Among the potential career paths they suggest for students are the following:
- Information managers
- Museum curator
- Preservation expert
- Nonprofit foundation staffer
- Documentary editor
- Multimedia produce
So if you have a passion for history, a wide variety of career paths outside the classroom are open to you. Of course, if you want to become a history educator, you may just play a crucial role in helping future generations of students improve their scores on the NEAP.
Deepa Singh
Business Developer
Web Site:-http://www.gyapti.com
Blog:- http://gyapti.blogspot.com
Email Id:-deepa.singh@soarlogic.com
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