National History Standards

After looking at Hawaii's state standards for History I was curious to see what some of the National History Standards looked like. UCLA's website, National Center for History in the Schools, goes more in depth than Hawaii's website. The website is basically split into the standards for grades K-4 and grades 5-12.

Like Hawaii's standards, the National Standards include learning about local and state history starting in the younger grades and working up to a more detailed study of US and World History. The National Standards also emphasize critical thinking, analysis, interpretation and comprehension at all grade levels which Hawaii tries to accomplish as well.

The National Standards break up US and World History into eras for students to learn. They provide benchmarks that students should be able to reach by certain grades that follow the standards for that period of history.

After briefly looking at the National Standards, I would say that Hawaii's state standards follow the same guideline. The National Standards only provide a framework for teachers which gives them room when teaching the subject. The National Standards treat History as its own subject and not part of the greater Social Studies.