The Freedom to Teach: Contrasting History Teaching in Elective and State–Tested Courses

Abstract

A classroom teacher asked two colleagues in his district to keep a daily record of their aims, methods, materials, and great discussions in two courses each: one state-tested, the other an untested elective course with no state curriculum. Each week during the study, the teacher reviewed these logs with his colleagues in separate interviews. Data analysis revealed a complete split between the courses : ambitious history teaching activities in the electives, and rote-learning emphasizing coverage and facts in the state-tested courses, demonstrating a dramatic impact of state testing on daily teaching comparable to results of tracking studies, and contrary to prior research on testing in social studies.