NC earns failing grade in teaching US History

In a review by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute of academic standards for U.S. History, the state of North Carolina earns a failing grade. The majority of states – 28 – got a D or F for the standards set on what students are expected to learn about their country in grades K-12.

"U.S. history standards across the land are alarmingly weak,” said Fordham Institute President Chester E. Finn, Jr. “No wonder so many Americans know so little about our nation’s past."

Historians Sheldon M. Stern and Jeremy A. Stern looked for states that required coherent, chronological views of history, identifying and explaining real people and specific events with balance and context.