The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is asking Illinois school districts to reply to a Black history study survey by Oct. 30.
In 2018, the state House passed a resolution calling on the Illinois State Board of Education to conduct an audit of every district’s Black history curriculum.
According to Capitol News, the chair of ISBE’s Black History Curriculum Task Force said the board does not have the manpower or resources needed to carry out such a statewide audit.
Instead, this survey should help the state learn about the curriculum and instructional materials according to the Illinois Black History study mandate (105 ILCS 5/27-20.4) used throughout the state. The results will be discussed during November’s board meeting.
The survey is aimed at reviewing the following questions:
- Does the district’s curricular material no matter the format contain a current unit on African American history?
- At what grade school level does the district begin teaching African American history?
- Does standardized testing include material on African American history, and if so, at what levels?
- What is ISBE’s position on teaching African American history and what are the penalties if the instructions are not being followed?
“While the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is committed to supporting districts in providing quality education to all students, it is apparent that we can do more to provide inclusive, just, and accurate learning standards that local district base their curriculum upon,” ISBE’s website said. “To support this effort, HR1098 sponsored by Senator Ford established the Black History Curriculum Task Force.”
The information collected will be used to make recommendations to the state legislature and ISBE regarding the implementation of Black History. The report will be given to the Illinois General Assembly.
ISBE is also convening a workgroup to review and revise the Illinois Social Science Learning Standards through a lens of equity and social justice. It is anticipated this work may lead to some additional curriculum supports.
105 ILCS 5/27-20.4 outlines requirements for Black history instruction in Illinois schools.
In part, the current mandate reads:
“Every public elementary school and high school shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of Black History, including the history of the African slave trade, slavery in America, and the vestiges of slavery in this country. These events shall include not only the contributions made by individual African-Americans in government and in the arts, humanities and sciences to the economic, cultural and political development of the United States and Africa, but also the socio-economic struggle which African-Americans experienced collectively in striving to achieve fair and equal treatment under the laws of this nation. The studying of this material shall constitute an affirmation by students of their commitment to respect the dignity of all races and peoples and to forever eschew every form of discrimination in their lives and careers.”
