Regents exam in global history and geography no longer will cover two years of class material |
On Board Online • July 25, 2016
By Cathy Woodruff
Senior Writer
With changes planned for the state global history and geography Regents exam, high school students no longer will have to search their memories for historical facts and details that they learned in a previous school year.
That's because, even though students still will need to take two years of coursework in global history and geography, the questions on the new version of the Regents exam (to be phased in over the next four years) will deal only with historic events and trends covered in the second year - that is, world history since 1750.
The change results from a consensus among members of the state's Social Studies Content Advisory Panel and a subcommittee on assessment. The members concluded the state's longtime practice of testing students on two years' worth of global history and geography content on one exam was unreasonable and unfair, said Peter Swerdzewski, assistant commissioner for assessment, standards and curriculum at the State Education Department.
"Even at a college level, you don't expect to test students on two years of coursework," noted Patricia Polan, an associate in the department's Office of Curriculum and Instruction.
But why split the course at 1750? What's so special about that year?
Absolutely nothing, Swerdzewki says. That's exactly why educators selected it; 1750 provides a culturally neutral benchmark for curriculum planning, Polan and Swerdzewski told On Board.
In the past, more traditional curriculum dividing points for the two courses have included the start of the Industrial Revolution in Britain around 1760, or The Enlightenment, a philosophical and cultural movement that began to unfold earlier in the eighteenth-century. Either of those options, however, would reflect an inherent Western perspective about what constitutes the start of the modern era, they said.
"We did not want to favor one world view over another," Swerdzewski explained.
"In world history, there is no consensus as to what actually constitutes 'modern' times," Polan said. "We want to be sure that the focus of this course remains what it is. It is a global course, not a European history or western civilization course."
The course will begin with a snapshot of the world in 1750, examining powerful Eurasian states and empires, coastal African kingdoms, and growing European maritime empire, as well as their interactions, which eventually resulted in new global trade networks.
None of this means that New York students will stop learning about the world before 1750, or that teachers will stop teaching about it.
Material stretching back to prehistoric times will continue to be covered in the first year of global history and geography, which students typically take in ninth grade. Students still will have to pass that class and the local exams associated with it to graduate with a Regents diploma.
Students can expect to start seeing a transitional version of the Regents exam, covering only material since 1750, in June 2018. The redesigned Global History and Geography II exam, also limited to the second year of content, debuts in June 2019; starting in August 2020, it will be the only version available.