Oklahoma and Texas social studies standards developments … Cesar Chavez unpersoned … the return of Western Civ … And  a whole bunch more to keep track of …

Oklahoma Finally Gets Good Social Studies Standards

Oklahoma has revised its social studies standards once again, and this time in a good direction. Oklahoma’s social studies standards adoption process has been unusually tangled, but the end result has been a substantial improvement. Social studies standards published earlier in 2026 were unfortunately, and unnecessarily, shorn of good content from the 2024 and 2025 versions of Oklahoma’s social studies standards. Now, finally, Oklahoma has promulgated final (we hope!) social studies standards that include a substantial amount of reform.

A great amount of the change between the previous standards and this consist of small restorations of previously deleted material. The pervasive re-insertions of deleted material improve Oklahoma’s standards throughout. The Standards also include large, discrete improvements: the re-insertion of the high school electives in Ancient and Medieval History and History of 20th Century Totalitarianism. The first elective makes it possible for Oklahoma high school students to learn in greater depth about the foundations of Western civilization. The second elective makes it possible for them to learn about the twin horrors of Nazism and Communism. These improvements by themselves bring Oklahoma toward the top of the social studies standards in the fifty states.

More work remains to be done in Oklahoma. Bureaucrats in the Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) have removed substantial amounts of good material from earlier drafts, which have not been restored; Oklahoma would benefit from future rounds of standard revision. The improved standards still need to be translated into curriculum frameworks, model lesson plans, textbook selection, professional development, and more. But to say that work needs to be done does not take away from Oklahoma’s accomplishment. OSDE, at the end of a long and winding route, has produced good standards—informed by American Birthright: The Civics Alliance’s Model K-12 Social Studies Standards!—of  which Oklahomans can be proud.

NAS and the Civics Alliance are pleased and honored that our American Birthright: The Civics Alliance’s Model K-12 Social Studies Standards informed Oklahoma’s new social studies standards. But the successful conclusion of this campaign to improve Oklahoma’s social studies standards owes far more to Oklahomans—especially to Superintendent Lindel Field, to the members of the Board of Education, and to Governor Kevin Stitt.

Texas Social Studies Standards Moving Toward Final Draft Form

The Texas Education Agency has published the latest version of its draft social studies standards, which probably are pretty close to the final version. They are solid and good, if not perfect. Confidentiality precludes much comment for the moment, but by June-ish Texas looks to have good, reformed social studies standards—also lightly informed by American Birthright: The Civics Alliance’s Model K-12 Social Studies Standards, although the influence is more diffuse than in Oklahoma. Texas is sui generis—more state history than most states choose to have—but also an incredibly influential state, beyond its sheer size in numbers. Resolute readers should look closely at Texas’ draft social studies standards, both to see the influence they will exert directly and to consider as material to remodel for other states.

The Unpersoning of Cesar Chavez

Chavez appears in social studies standards throughout the nation, as well as in a great many public commemorations—streets, statues, etc. His sudden unpersoning, as a consequence of the publicity about his personal misconduct, leads to a pressing question: which notable Hispanic/Mexican American will he be replaced with, in school standards and in public commemorations? (This phrases the problem bluntly, but that is how it’s being approached.) His public collaborator Delores Huerta would be a possibility, except that she apparently also was complicit in his personal misconduct. This is a real and immediate political question for policymakers; Resolute readers should think about possible answers.

Civics Assessment Framework

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) asked for public comment prior to updating the Civics Assessment Framework for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). It asked specifically for comments to address three questions: 

  • Does the NAEP Civics Assessment Framework need to be updated? 
  • If the framework needs to be updated, why is a revision needed? 
  • What should a revision to the framework include? 

The National Association of Scholars (NAS) and the Civics Alliance sent in a public comment to urge the NAGB to undertake a series of reforms to improve the NAEP-CAF. So did Defending Education. Resolute readers—comments were due by March 27! So now we wait to see what the NAGB will do next. Please continue to pay attention the Civics Assessment Framework.

Other Publications

  • General Education Requirements: There’s a new NAS report out, which collects data on all the leading public and private colleges. Useful!
  • Institute for Education Sciences: The part of the federal Education Department what collects education statistics and funds related research. There’s a deeply wonky report out on how to reform it. MEGO, but important.
  • Western Civilization: Stanley Kurtz has published a good article about attempts in Idaho and Texas to replace high school World History with Western Civilization. The beginning of what promises to be a national campaign. Worth reading!

Testimony

Would you like to be on a list of people prepared to give testimony in favor of a state bill to reform civics education? If so, please get in touch with me: randall@nas.org. We need people ready to testify in all 50 states—ideally, with some personal tie to the education system, but testimony from any citizen would be good.

Civics Alliance Now Has Twelve State Affiliates 

The Civics Alliance is building a network of state affiliates—groups dedicated to removing action civics in their states, whom we will list on our website. We now have twelve affiliates, in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Texas. If you would like to form such an organization, or suggest an existing organization, please get in touch with David Randall (randall@nas.org).

Monthly American Birthright Zoom Meeting 

The Civics Alliance will have its monthly Zoom session devoted to social studies standards reform on Monday, April 27, at 2:00 PM Eastern Time. Please email randall@nas.org if you would like to join these monthly Zoom meetings.

Social Studies Standards Revision Schedule

2026/Current: Colorado, Maryland, North Dakota, South Carolina; continuing: Arizona, Kentucky, Montana, Ohio, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

2027: Hawaii, Kansas

2029: Louisiana

2030: Minnesota

2031: Illinois

No Revision Currently Scheduled: California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington.

Please email David Randall (randall@nas.org) if you are interested in further information about your state’s social studies revision process, and what you can do to participate.

The Civics Bill Tracker 

Civics Alliance supporters may now use the Civics Bill Tracker to track all proposed federal and state legislation related to civics.

Public Action 

We encourage Civics Alliance supporters to inform the public and policymakers about the stakes and consequences of action civics bills.

David Randall is the Executive Director of the Civics Alliance and Director of Research at the National Association of Scholars

Photo by Swati Kedia on Unsplash