9/22/09

 

The Cleveland Plain Dealer Editorial Board

 

Ohio’s decision to suspend the statewide social studies tests for fifth- and eighth-graders for the next few years may be necessary because of budget trouble. But the state should reinstate the test just as soon as it can.

 

The teaching of social studies, especially history and geography, should be a high priority in Ohio’s classrooms. A government of the people, by the people and for the people can hardly be expected to function as it should if the people are ignorant of civics.

 

For now, the state’s bottom line says testing students’ knowledge of social studies is a luxury, as is testing their ability to write. By slashing the social studies test and downsizing the writing exam for fourth- and seventh-graders, the Ohio Department of Education expects to save about $9 million — a hefty sum in a budget whittled down to $56 million from nearly $70 million.

 

The writing test is to be part of a new English exam that will also include reading and grammar — a reasonable compromise.

 

Teachers and principals must not allow the hiatus in social studies testing to be taken as a signal that the subject isn’t important.

 

As Stan Heffner, associate superintendent of the Ohio Department of Education, points out, students need to know American history and understand economics so they can be smart consumers. The mortgage lending debacle highlights the importance of the latter.

 

The social studies test should return, and until it does, students still must learn their civics lessons