In the face of decreased budgets and increased pressure to improve students’ performance on standardized tests, many schools have reduced the number of field trips they provide to cultural institutions, such as museums and historical sites. Instead, schools have focused on increasing the amount of time students spend in class preparing for tests and often allocate resources to “reward” field trips to entertainment venues, such as amusement parks, for students who improve their attendance or test scores. However, research suggests that in de-emphasizing culturally enriching field trips, schools are missing valuable opportunities to develop students’ critical thinking skills as well as their ability to appreciate and understand diverse peoples, perspectives, and historical periods.
Proclamation 2014: New Materials and New Challenges in Texas
Later this month, the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) will adopt instructional materials submitted in response to Proclamation 2014, which calls for K-8 math, K-12 science, and technology applications resources. In a press release issued in September, the Texas Education Agency reported that more than 1,200 instructional materials had been submitted for state adoption. As the process proceeded, many …