Emails, Michael Poliakoff, president, American Council of Trustees and Alumni, Jan. 19-20, 2017
2:14 p.m.
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) analyzed the requirements for undergraduate history majors at the 25 top liberal arts colleges, 25 top national universities, and 25 top public institutions in the U.S. News and World Report rankings for this study. ACTA discovered that of those top schools only 23 required their history majors to fulfill a requirement for a course on United States history, and of those 23, eleven allowed courses of such narrow scope – e.g., History of Sexualities or History of the FBI, that it would be difficult to make the case that they met reasonable criteria for a U.S. History requirement.
The research for this study was meticulous, involving review of course descriptions and, when appropriate, even prerequisite courses and general education requirements, in order to evaluate fairly whether the institution had a requirement for United States History.
ACTA’s policy on curricular review focuses on requirements, based on the understanding that it is through requirements that a program articulates its own concept of academic priorities.
Three members of the staff were detailed to this study of which I, Vice President of Policy at the time, was the lead author.
Michael B. Poliakoff, Ph.D.
President
American Council of Trustees and Alumni
On Jan 19, 2017, at 4:38 PM, Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin) wrote:
Did the research check on how many students, including history majors, take American history regardless of mandates?
4:24 p.m.
The answer to your question whether our study of the history major tracked how many students, regardless of mandates, take American history is no. We studied requirements, not participation rates.
In our large core curriculum study, What Will They Learn?, which can be found on our website, we found that only 18% of the 1100 colleges and universities surveyed had a requirement for all undergraduates to take a course in American history or American government. Texas is not unique in requiring study of U.S. History (and U.S. Constitution), but it is not the norm.
Michael B. Poliakoff, Ph.D.
President
American Council of Trustees and Alumni
From: Selby, Gardner (CMG-Austin)
Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2017 4:54 PM
To: Michael Poliakoff
Subject: RE: Notes on the History Major
What did the researchers find in this respect?
In Texas, by the way, a law that originated in 1955 requires at least two American history courses – of every student at a state-supported college or university.
G.
6:19 p.m.
American Academy of Arts and Sciences 2008, drawing on 1992 data is the best we have. Less than half the respondents reported taking a US history course. Taking a course as important to informed citizenship as US History/Government shouldn't be left to chance.
12:38 p.m.
Jan. 20, 2017
What's mainly missing are data on what courses students actually take, and on whether the university requires US History for all students. If all students are required to take US History, then there's no reason to have a requirement for the major.
U.S. History/Government, as I noted earlier, is one of the core requirements that ACTA considers essential for all undergraduates, whether majors or not. But, as I also noted, we find only 18% of the 1100 schools we survey each year have such a requirement. Therein lies the crux of the problem, exacerbated when the history major itself fails to set such a requirement for the students who elect a specialty in history.
Michael B. Poliakoff, Ph.D.
President
American Council of Trustees and Alumni