The forgotten subject: California’s failure to assess history education

Why students’ history proficiency goes unmeasured, and how a politicized framework is undermining classroom instruction.

California has no reliable way to measure whether students are meeting state history and social studies standards.

In Gavin Newsom’s State of the State speech in January 2026, he claimed that California has seen “improved academic achievement in every subject area, in every grade level, in every student group, with greater gains in test scores for Black and Latino kids.” What he really meant was every subject area that is measured, because we haven’t known how California students are performing in history or social studies for the past decade.

Even in the subjects that are measured, recent modest gains remain below pre-COVID levels, despite an explosion in funding since 2020. But when it comes to history, the state has no comparable way to track student performance.

The most recent national data available that measures proficiency in U.S. History is from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), where student proficiency declined from 2014 to 2018, and then declined even further in 2022.

The most recent data is from four years ago, and importantly, only 8,000 students in the entire country took the assessment — all of them in the eighth grade. There is no state-level data included in NAEP’s assessment, so we can’t determine how California students performed.

As an education researcher, I wish I could determine how California students are doing in history proficiency, and what percentage of them are meeting state history content standards. Are they experiencing declines like the rest of the country? We have no reliable way to know, since the legislature stripped history and social studies assessments from the state’s assessment regimen.

In California, content standards define “the knowledge, concepts, and skills that students should acquire at each grade level.” There are twelve categories of content standards, such as arts, computer science, mathematics, English Language Arts (reading, writing and literacy), etc. The state’s current History-Social Studies content standards were adopted in 1998.

Questions we should be able to answer, taken straight from the standards, include:

• Can fourth grade students explain the economic, social, and political life in California from the establishment of the Bear Flag Republic through the Mexican-American War, the Gold Rush, and the granting of statehood? (HSS-4.3)
• Do seventh grade students understand the influence of new scientific rationalism on the growth of democratic ideas? (HSS-7.10.3) Can they discuss how the principles in the Magna Carta were embodied in the English Bill of Rights and the American Declaration of Independence? (HSS-7.11.6)
• Do eleventh grade students understand the ideological origins of the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers’ philosophy of divinely bestowed unalienable natural rights, the debates on the drafting and ratification of the Constitution, and the addition of the Bill of Rights? (HSS-11.1.2).

Some students may meet these standards, but it’s more probable that many do not. Without reliable data, we have no way to determine if students are meeting expectations or falling behind.

In 2013, California did away with standardized testing for history and social studies when the state replaced the previous statewide assessment program, called STAR testing, with the CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress) system.

STAR testing included standardized assessments in English Language Arts (reading, writing and literacy), mathematics, science, and history-social science. CAASPP testing, used today, includes “Smarter Balanced” testing for reading and math, as well as a science assessment and optional Spanish language assessment. CAASPP does not measure history and social studies.

The change from STAR testing to CAASPP testing was made to align the state with Common Core standards. In 2013, the California Teachers Association supported the bill that switched California away from STAR testing, calling the new testing method “a common-sense approach to implementing the Common Core State Standards.”

But as a result of dropping history and social studies assessments, we cannot track whether California students are meeting History-Social Studies content standards, or how far off course they might be. 

I started researching this issue when a parent in Southern California showed me a high school U.S. History lesson obtained from a public school. The lesson, created by the teacher, was heavily centered on socio-political issues.

In addition to a focus on LGBTQ issues, the lesson analyzed a so-called “pyramid of hate” within American culture, advancing an oppressor-versus-oppressed view of society and asking, “What can the Pyramid of Hate teach us about the impact of stereotypes?” The lesson also asked students, “Why don’t most white parents send their children to racially diverse (integrated) schools?” (Nevermind the millions of white California parents that do send their kids to racially diverse schools.)

There are 618 History-Social Studies content standards for TK through 12th grade. Not a single content standard for any grade level contains any of the terms “LGBT” or “LGBTQ,” nor those acronyms’ component terms of “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual,” “transgender,” and “queer.” The standards also have zero mention of the terms “social justice” or “hate,” yet these were the focus of the lesson the parent shared. After bringing concerns about the lesson to the district, the parent was told by district officials that changes would occur to the lesson.

This raises a fundamental concern about whether California schools are teaching the subject matter outlined in the content standards.

California’s History-Social Science standards aim to equip students with a foundational understanding of the ideas and institutions that underpin American government, along with the key documents that articulate them — including the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Proficiency in these concepts, as well as lessons from world history, are necessary for a responsible, civically engaged society that values individual liberty.

This stands in sharp contrast to frameworks like the “pyramid of hate.”

When it comes to math, reading, and science, California public schools know their students’ performance will be measured annually, and that they will have to answer to parents and taxpayers in their districts to some degree. Not so with history.

If there are no meaningful incentives for schools to ensure their students meet history content standards, and if we can’t measure student performance, we have no way to identify and remedy gaps in student understanding or deficiencies in classroom instruction.

While one might be tempted to believe that California educators are creating politicized lessons on their own, most of them are simply trying to navigate a complicated minefield of competing demands driven by progressive agendas. Beyond the content standards, California has a History-Social Studies Framework, which provides lesson examples and teaching guidance to educators. A framework is developed and adopted by the State Board of Education, with the stated goal of providing guidance on how to teach content standards. There are twelve frameworks, one for each set of content standards.

Unlike the content standards, the state’s current History-Social Studies Framework heavily centers on socio-political themes, and partially accounts for why we have politicized classroom lessons. The Framework encourages students to:

• Consider “large, overarching questions about the definitions of ethnic studies as a field of inquiry, economic and social class in American society, social justice, social responsibility, and social change… In an ethnic studies course, students will become aware of the constant themes of social justice and responsibility, while recognizing these are defined differently over time.”
• “Investigate the relationship between race, gender, sexuality, social class, and economic and political power.”
• [Classroom example] “Throughout the course, students have engaged in various activities that are relevant to their lives and that promote historical literacy, social justice, and personal empowerment.”
• [Eleventh grade students should know that] “Many lesbians active in the feminist movement developed lesbian feminism as a political and cultural reaction to the limits of the gay movement and mainstream feminism to address their concerns.”
• [Classroom example] “Student-led debate over issues such as climate change today and the appropriate role of government in dealing with these problems.”
• [Students should learn that] “In California, Propositions 187, 209, and 227 attacked illegal immigration, affirmative action, and bilingual education, respectively. “
• [Grade 12 students should consider] “How can multinational alliances work together to combat climate change?”
• “Central to any ethnic studies course is the historic struggle of communities of color, taking into account the intersectionality of identity (gender, class, sexuality, among others)… interrogat[ing] the systems that continue to perpetuate inequality.”

Most of this material is not grounded in good pedagogy; it’s social justice activism and it has no place in California classrooms.

The most recent available data shows that less than half of California students are meeting grade-level reading standards, and fewer than four in ten are meeting grade-level math standards — all on top of likely significant deficiencies in basic history. Adding a complex web of controversial social issues to their curriculum will only distract from core instruction and undermine academic performance.

It shifts the focus away from the ideas that have made the United States a nation of equality and opportunity, replacing them with politicized and ideologically-driven instruction that undermines students’ confidence in personal agency and economic mobility.

There are two concrete steps that California leaders should take. First, the legislature should pass a bill to amend the state’s current standardized testing program, adding a history and social studies assessment that is tightly aligned to the content standards. Second, the State Board of Education should revise the History-Social Studies Framework to truly align with the content standards, removing biased socio-political content not grounded in them.

In the meantime, parents, education advocates, and school board members must be especially diligent to understand what is taught in history classrooms, and hold districts accountable for teaching to the content standards.

Until we can measure California students’ history proficiency, we cannot improve it.

Sheridan Karras manages CPC’s research program and supports the organization’s policy experts by providing accurate, timely research. Sheridan has authored dozens of research papers, issue briefs and tool kits on education and finance issues.