Disputed Va. textbook wasn't reviewed by history experts

[Derechos]

The Virginia committee that approved a textbook that says thousands of African Americans fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War - a claim rejected by most historians - consisted of three elementary school teachers and no specialists in history, a state official said Thursday.

The Virginia Department of Education has long claimed that its textbooks are vetted by review committees "made up of content specialists, teachers and other qualified persons."

That didn't happen with "Our Virginia: Past and Present." Instead, the state chose three teachers to review the book, according to Charles Pyle, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Education.

The teachers ruled that the textbook was "accurate and unbiased," recommending it for distribution this fall to fourth-graders across the state.

Pyle said the state relies on paid volunteers to serve on its textbook review committees, and no content specialists agreed to serve on the fourth-grade social studies committee in 2009, when "Our Virginia" was being reviewed.

"We can't impress people into service," said Pyle, who earlier this week acknowledged that the book's assertion about black Confederate solders was "outside mainstream Civil War scholarship."

snip

While "Our Virginia" followed most of the state's curriculum guidelines, the book's author, Joy Masoff, said she added the claim about black Confederate soldiers, including two battalions that fought for Stonewall Jackson, as "a little something extra."

Masoff told The Post earlier this week that she substantiated her controversial claim primarily by doing an Internet search, which led her to Web sites of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The group disputes the widely accepted conclusion that the struggle over slavery was the main cause of the Civil War. She said she was unaware that a number of her sources for the claim were members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/21/AR2010102104172.html

[Blue_Tires]

1. doesn't surprise me..

[Derechos]

2. Loudoun schools remove textbook that claims black soldiers fought for South

Loudoun County school officials have decided to pull "Our Virginia" from its fourth-grade classrooms because of its dubious claim about thousands of black soldiers fighting for the South during the Civil War.

Loudoun schools spokesman Wayde Byard said "Our Virginia" was removed from classrooms Wednesday. "The book will remain suspended until the state reviews the entire text and issues supplemental material or corrections," he said.

Northern Virginia school officials are divided in their reaction to news that the textbook contains a passage that most historians regard as inaccurate. Although Loudoun is withdrawing the book, Fairfax and Arlington county officials say they will continue to use it as a resource in their classrooms. Alexandria does not use "Our Virginia."

Prince William County, meanwhile, is in the midst of its textbook adoption process, and "Our Virginia" is among the books being considered by the school system. The public comment period on the textbook closed Thursday. Spokesman Ken Blackstone said he had not heard of any complaints about "Our Virginia," which will remain in consideration along with six other titles fromits publisher, Five Ponds Press.

The publisher has said it will provide a sticker to cover the flawed sentence in "Our Virginia." The state Board of Education, which approved the book, said this week that the claim about African Americans fighting for the Confederacy falls "outside of mainstream Civil War scholarship."

The textbook's author, Joy Masoff, who is not a trained historian, told The Washington Post this week that she substantiated her assertion about black Confederate soldiers primarily by doing an Internet search, which led her to the work of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and some other sources. The heritage group disputes the widely accepted conclusion that the struggle over slavery was the main cause of the Civil War.

A state official said yesterday that the book was approved by the Department of Education without the input of a single historian or content specialist.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/22/AR2010102203429.html

Why are we letting an individual who is not a trained historian write a history book for school children? And if so, why is her work not properly vetted by people who are?