Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Texas Limiting New AP History Course's Influence
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/18/texas-ap-history_n_5842874.html. DUE 29 SEP 2014. What does this topic have to do with economics? What if Texas students are not allowed to take the AP US History exam? What if the other 49 states are forced to adopt the standards set forth in Texas? What is the solution???
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This topic can affect how the students of Texas would be able to learn about their own economics. Generically speaking, the textbooks given to Texans are completely different than the textbooks on history in the other states. While the books distributed in Texas surround what they believe what they want to educate their citizens, the other books distributed nationwide provide actual events in history rather than falsified information or avoidance to certain topics in history. Texas acts similar to and individual country rather than part of the American history schools are educating their students with. Economics could be affected through misled history of the actual basis in economics. Economics would teach students the basis to their future investments into what market and Texas could possibly cause a large affect on what would be the best time to invest in markets. Markets could be falsified for the students if American history could be easily shown in their own manner. If students were not able to take their AP US History Exam there will be the lack of history in a large portion of our population causing controversy with other states of the country.
ReplyDeleteIf other states were forced to adopt to the standards similar to Texas, we would be in controversy with how we are going to learn our country's history and why the state would choose what we are going to learn. The solution would be to have either Texas teach their students with similar standards as we do or to have Texas work as a single state outside of the US.
This topic relates to economics in two ways. First, adapting the Texas curriculum for the APUSH exam would lead to a new textbook made specifically for the state. This will end up being extremely costly for schools. Second, since the curriculum will leave out major events in U.S history, students may be misinformed and end up failing the exam. This will also end up being extremely costly for the state. If Texan students aren't allowed to take the APUSH exam, this can hurt them by not allowing them to receive college credit for the class. If the other 49 states have to adapt to Texas standards, students will be misinformed on actual history and only be taught about the U.S in a more "positive" way. A solution is to tell Texas to wake up and face reality. The republicans in Texas obviously know nothing about U.S history and need to realize that the U.S wasn't the most perfect country in the past.
ReplyDeleteTexas Reforming the AP US History Exam can relate to economics in a couple ways. Changing the curriculum will cause the state to spend money to create new textbooks. Making changes to the course in the state will fault, students won't be taught the proper material and will be misinformed, making them do poorly on the national exam, probably causing them to fail. If texas students are not able to take the APUSH Exam they will be not able to receive the college credit for the class. If the rest of the country adapts to the Texas standards, students will be denied the right of a proper education, losing historical values and significant details of the country's history. I say the solution is for the Federal Government and The Department of education to get involved. The National Exam or Course shouldn't have any exceptions.
ReplyDeleteChanging the AP United States History curriculum in Texas has to do with economics because the schools will have to buy more textbooks, which will be costly for them. This will bring money into the market for textbooks but will also take out money from the school system, which could have been used to buy paper or teachers' salaries. Also, if the students are not well prepared for the exam, then they may not qualify. That means they will not get college credit and will have to pay more to take this class in college. This brings money into the college but takes out money from the students, which could have been used to pay for dorm or food. If every other state had to adopt its APUSH curriculum to Texas', that could be bad. Students will not learn about key figures, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks or Cesar Chavez. That will cause many other students around the country to not qualify on the exam. Then, the makers of the exam will have to make a new test. No single state should have this power. The solution to this would be to get the federal government involved. This is a serious issue, especially since it is regarding a US history class.
ReplyDeleteThis is Seth Adler.
DeleteTexas plans to change the AP United States History curriculum to make it their own because they feel they need to "teach history as it happened and not change it." This topic involves Economics because Economics is the science that deals with the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services and Texas is changing the way they are distributing the service of learning in a AP class. All other 49 states are learning the same curriculum and Texas is learning a different one. If Texas students were not allowed to take the AP U.S. History exam because of the rebellious board members, the students will lose the opportunity to able to receive college credit and save money in the future.
ReplyDeleteIf the other 49 states are forced to adopt the standards set forth in Texas, it could possibly change the way we look at and consider the history of this country in the long term. Teachers would have a difficult time because they have to change the way they teach history and adopt the new lessons and basically start over causing stress not only on the teachers but on the students. The solution would be to avoid this new curriculum from spreading across the country and not allow Texas to be able to change their curriculum. We do not want to take away the opportunity for students to excel in their learning experience and receive college credit.
With Texas changing the AP US history curriculum, other things in the economy will surely change. Economics is defined as the condition of a region or group as regards material prosperity. Texas is going to have to have their own state brand textbooks filled entirely with foolishness that they put in there. But its okay because if you feel like what's being taught is, "Anti-American", by all means, change it. Currently more than 90 percent of colleges and universities across the country offer college credit, advanced placement, or both, for qualifying AP Exam scores. If Texans aren't allowed to take the APUSH exam, they will be missing out on a huge opportunity that was given to them.
ReplyDeleteThe other 49 states should not even be thinking about following the Texans choice. In a few years, this whole situation is going to fail miserably and rather covert with Texas and fail, the 49 states can continue on to, "teach history as it happened and not change it.". This is a war on education and Texas seems to be on the forefront. All Texas is going to be doing is tricking the students and then start breeding a generation of ignorance, and I don't see the benefit from that.
The changing of Texas's AP US history curriculum is related to economics in two ways. Not only do students run the risk of not taking the test, which would cause the students to lose out on college credit and thus lose out on saving money, but it also would require the production and distribution of textbooks solely for Texas. The production of Texas specific textbooks would benefit textbook manufacturers, but it would also cost the state extra money which could have been put into the school system. If the other 49 states were to follow in Texas's steps, many students would run the risk of failing the exam and they would also lose key facts and details that are necessary to American history. Not being taught the "negative" parts of American history isn't breeding intelligent individuals; rather it is breeding ignorant individuals.
ReplyDeleteThis topic relates to economics because we are able to assess how Texas is wasting the textbook companies’ time and money with their “state-mandated curriculum”. The textbook companies have to now rewrite their AP U.S. History textbooks and get rid of the “unrelated topics” of history that does not involve Texas. Along with wasting the textbook companies’ time, Texas will lose money from their high school students taking the AP U.S. history exam and not being able to pass it since they would only learn from the “state-mandated curriculum.” If Texas students were not allowed to take the AP U.S. History exam, then they would not be able to attend certain colleges or save money by passing the exam. Without the AP U.S. History exam, Texas students would have to pay more money to take that class in college rather than having no need to take it and could be spending that money on another important class.
ReplyDeleteIf the other 49 states were forced to adopt the standards set by Texas, then there would be a lot of problems. One of them would be the possibility of not having an AP U.S. History exam because each state would only have a certain “state-mandated curriculum” so their students would not have the knowledge of other state histories or the history from their textbooks. Also, taking a U.S. History class in college would be a struggle to the students as well since they would not have the knowledge of each main component in U.S. History, rather they would have only a certain part that is considered “important” to their specific state. Some solutions that would prevent this from happening would be to vote against Texas suggestion to make a different curriculum as it would be detrimental for the Texas students to be less educated in the entire U.S. History compared to other students in different states. However, if Texas does not want to concede their change, then Texas can then secede from the state and then work outside of the U.S. as an independent state or nation.
I don’t believe that the Texas sanction on the AP US history class could ever apply to the entire nation. In government, we learned about the full faith and credit clause, which stresses that the rights of one state should be respected to the other. However, education is a state right, and thus it is an idea to be discussed with the state. Of anything, I believe that the College Board should look into the new curriculum designed by Texas. If it does not adhere to the standards published in the AP curriculum guide, then the test should not be administered to the students as an AP exam. However, if students can still perform and understand the nature of US history, they should be allowed to take the AP exam.
ReplyDeleteI do feel like conservatives may take it too far when they express that the current situation is one of “mind control,” but I do believe that some aspects of US history have been briefed or overlooked that may have an important facet to the positive outlook on American History.
Overall, AP is on a national scale, and I doubt they will adhere to one state that has a qualm about the curriculum while the rest continue with the standardized test. If the board decides in Texas to create a new test for college credit, it is solely up to the colleges to decide on whether credit is earned. Also, it is up to the teachers of each respective school to go over the guide in an unbiased manner while teaching the many historical perspectives and trends of our history.
Texas is changing the way kids learn. Texas children have to learn a “Texas” history, and then learn a “new history” when standardize testing comes around , they will be set at a dissipative. This disadvantage is causing children to not receive college credit for classes they passed and took. Intern is disrupting human capital. If they dont pass the test they dont have that peace of paper that makes them worth more than the children around them. If the students where not allowed to take the exam, Texas would be putting its students in a lousing situation. If all stated had to adopt thats new standard , life would go on. History just would have to be re taught into society. The most simple solution to this problem is for Texas to put there problems aside, stop trying to reform, and conform to the rest of the U.S.A!
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is up to the teachers and board to decide how they want to interpret the AP curriculum. This statewide “sanction” by Texas won’t apply to the entire country; rather, the College Board will not look to one state to change the way they administer an entire class. The new regulations for the test require students to think about certain documents in history and answer a series of questions related to them based on their interpretations of the context of that history. I believe that this change is ultimately for the better, as memorization ceases and instead thinking comes from group seminars on documents. Regardless of a “liberal” test, as it is so-called, the actual fundamentals can easily be seen.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if a state would like to change its curriculum, as long as the standards of the national AP curriculum guide are met, it should not be a problem. As long as teachers can teach their students qualitatively and have decent pass rates that are not based upon the stringent laws set up by the Texas board of education, then there is little point in dwelling. If there is a serious flaw in information they receive, then the AP should not apply to the board’s standards.
Education is ultimately a state right, and there is little reason to think that such a right could be taken away. The College Board is a private company that has been recognized by many colleges in terms of AP credit, but it is not the national government’s ruling – there is no so-called “supremacy clause” that could take away the rights of the states. It is up to the states to decide how they will teach their standards, and as long as they can also adhere with the standards of the AP guide, I see little problem.
This topic involves economics because a lot of money is needed in order to purchase these state mandated textbooks and the opportunity cost of using much needed money on textbooks is very high because that money could be used to develop infrastructure or other developments in the school system itself. Also, these new textbooks may be slightly different from the nationwide used textbooks and may overlook some facts that may be on the Ap test thus costing students more money if they do not pass the test at the end of the year. I highly doubt that the other 49 states will follow the same path as Texas because there is no need to waste money and resources because of the doubts of the Texans. The solution is to allow the government of Texas to do what they want and if their pass rates drop then that is there problem and they will have to do adapt to what is accepted nation-wide.
ReplyDeleteA change in the Texan curriculum for AP US History will mean a change in textbook production and distribution of books for that state alone. If Texas remains insistent on changing their curriculum, I believe that College Board should see if it matches up to the national AP curriculum, and if it does not, then they should not be allowed to take the exam.
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt that the other states will be forced to accept the standards set forth in Texas. Texas voted for a state mandated curriculum amongst a commotion over conservative curriculum changes. In response to reforms, students publicly disagree with the reforms as highlighted by the recent student protests in Denver, Colorado. These protests were in reaction to a curriculum change that would not “encourage or condone civil disorder” and “promote positive aspects of the United States.” At numerous high schools, students walked out of their classrooms, carrying signs stating "There is nothing more patriotic than protest.”
These public protests against changing new curriculum history serves as an example of consequence should other states choose to follow Texas’ example. It is imperative that we teach future generations the entirety of American history, including the flaws that have marred our nation’s past. If we want to understand and improve our nation, we must accept our flawed history.
This topic is related to economics in that it can affect textbooks and the cost related to ap exams. If the curriculum is changed, new textbooks will need to be made and purchased. Considering that almost 50,000 students took AP U.S. History in Texas last year, these new textbooks would end up being quite costly for schools. Another economic affect of changing the course is possibly a lower passing rate for Texas students on the AP Exam. If they are not being taught the correct material meant to align with the exam, they will not be as successful on the exam which leads to money wasted on AP exams which costs around $80 per student.
ReplyDeleteIf Texas students are not allowed to take the AP U.S. History exam problems will most likely arise. Both students and parents will be outraged that they are not allowed to earn college credit in history. This could also deter people from sending their children to school in Texas due to their educational practices.
If the other 49 states are forced to adopt the standards set forth in Texas, this would also cause outrage. In order to adjust to these standards, the college board would need to once again adjust the AP Exam (if they want decent pass rates). Parents, students, and teachers would also protest against this if they disagree with the views of Texans.
The solution is to let Texas make their own decisions without causing other states to suffer. If Texas pass rates decline then that is the result of their own decisions. The other 49 states should be able to make their own choices and not face the consequences of Texas' own judgement.
This relate to economics because if Texas were to make a new curriculum then they would need to print a new a brand new text book. Having to print completely different text books for multiple states would take a lot more resources and work than printing one textbook and giving it to everyone. If the students in Texas schools aren’t allowed to take the AP US History Exam and instead have to take the test that the Board of Education made, then the US History curriculum will flat out ignore many important moments in American history such as the Civil Rights movements as well as the important figures behind the movement such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks and the Holocaust. These things are taught in schools so that as the next generation takes over and leads the world they won’t make the same mistakes that their predecessors made, so that more people won’t be discriminated, treated less than human, and even killed by the millions. If all schools were required to take up a curriculum that ignores these instances in history, then that generation of students might end up making the same mistakes. And when these same mistakes are made the outcomes might not be the same, things could end up worse than before. The Texans and conservatives that made and support this new curriculum need to suck up their pride and be willing to admit that America has messed up in the past, they need to stop being so closed minded believing that their way is the right way. They need to be given less power in terms of Education, every state should have an equal amount of influence and control when it comes to education. Honestly though reading about how a few people want to rewrite history to satisfy their own beliefs just pisses me off, I’d rather we just get rid of Texas altogether, let them be their own country and do their own thing.
ReplyDeleteThis has to do with economics because Texas is one of the largest states and if they need a special textbook then it will affect the other states, as it is economically unviable to print a different version of the textbook for just Texas. Therefore, if the other state are forced to adopt the Texas curriculum, all of the other states will have the Texas textbooks that don't teach to the curriculum. Because of this, more students will not pass the exam and will not earn college credit and will have to pay to take the class in college. If Texas students are not allowed to take the exam then the collegeboard will lose money, as they charge students to take the AP exams. A solution would be to have the collegeboard choose a national textbook to teach to AP students, and the states can regulate honors and regular American History classes.
ReplyDeleteThis topic is significant to economics. By altering course curriculum in Texas there will be a change in the human capital for the labor force in Texas. The people educated in Texas will do work differently than people educated elsewhere in the United States because of the distinct educations. This topic is also significant to economics because of sales. If Texas moves to reject all College Board curriculum of US History then the companies that sell review books for the standard College Board curriculum will lose sales. Texas students will be encourage not to learn that curriculum and thus not buy the books.
ReplyDeleteIf Texas students are not allowed to take the US History exam, then many of them will miss out on college credit and The College Board will miss out on profits. If the College Board reacted to this by altering the course curriculum then the nations students would be taught from Texas' curriculum. They would be forced to learn the subject however Texas chose to teach it.
I don't think there is a clear solution to this problem. You can't stop a private company from changing its business model. However if the other 49 states had a big problem with the Texas curriculum, they could band together to refuse it. This would force the College Board to keep its original curriculum because they would not want to miss out on profits from the other 49 states.
This whole situation has to do with economics because of various reasons. The most obvious one having to do with the textbook distribution. Textbooks already are pretty costly and if they have to be remade and redistributed; that would put an even bigger dent in the "economic wallet." Not only will it be economically depressing to have to remake a textbook to "Texas' standards," but it will also put a damper on the education of the students taking the class, which obviously would lead to them failing the exam. Failing the exam is a detriment to the students because now that's an extra class now they have to take and pay for in college.
ReplyDeleteThere are many negative outcomes to if Texan students do not take the exam. One being, these students will now be completely ignorant because they are not being informed of important historical events that took place in the very country that they live in. Secondly, if they do not take the exam, they will have to pay for this course in college, which may outrage a couple of people.
If the other 49 states are being forced to have to adopt to Texas's new standards, that would cause even more drama. The information in the new textbooks would be flawed and a lot of the teachers wouldn't be too thrilled with teaching this, especially if it's causing their kids' pass rates to plummet. Which would obviously have an effect on their incomes.
The Texans obviously just need to get over themselves and realize that, that's not the way things go around here. You cannot just say "oh i don't like this part in our NATIONAL HISTORY, let's just take it out of our textbooks, and screw up our future children's education." It's ignoramus. Textbooks shouldn't be a subjective thing. Yes our past isn't perfect, but neither is our present, and we can't just put a lamp shade over it and expect it to disappear.
ignoramus, I like it. I was particularly in favor to the lamp shade metaphor.
DeleteThe AP curriculum for Texas is significant to economics. If Texas goes with the curriculum they have in mind, new textbooks would be needed specifically for Texas. Textbook companies don't want this, as it would cost them more money. If the students are not allowed to take the test, it would be unfair in a country where we consider everyone "equal". If other states were forced to take Texas' Curriculum, that would be a violation of the tenth amendment which gives each state the individual right to deal with education and other issues. The best solution of course is that a fair and unbiased textbook was created that accurately depicted american history. Texas is mad because the new textbook has history that is revised, and not just a statement of the facts.
ReplyDeleteThis topic has to do with economics because if Texas want's to cut certain things out of the textbook it creates a problem for the book publishers, They now have to create two different type of books or we are forced to adopt their new book because Texas has more students and it would be easier. Not only would this be a problem for the economy and the schools, but it would cause a problem with our learning by hindering us to learn beyond what Texas wants us to learn.
ReplyDeleteIf the students of Texas weren't allowed to take the AP exam, not only would you not be able to obtain the college credit for the class, but they would be less knowledgeable about our true history and it would create a academic learning gap between students of different states. Also if the rest of the U.S were forced to adopt these new standards that Texas would put forth, we would now be hindering the learning of our newer generations and affect the careers or jobs including the knowledge of history because they would have to know less and they would most likely get paid less.
I believe the easiest way to solve this problem would be for Texas to stop trying to create individuality and just stick to the learning standards of the rest of the U.S, it would be better for the economy and it would be better for students' academics.
This is significant to economics due to the textbook companies' involvement. In order to comply with Texas's request, the companies will need to reprint different textbooks just for Texas. Due to the size of Texas, textbook companies would need to comply or they will lose one of their biggest customers. Texas schools will also need to invest in these new textbooks since all their current history textbooks will be outdated.
ReplyDeleteIf Texas students are not allowed to take the AP history exam, many Texas students are parents will be frustrated with their inability to receive college credit. This could discourage parents from sending their students to schools in Texas or from taking this history course in Texas.
The other 49 states will not be forced to adopt Texas's standards but they may be forced to use Texas's textbooks. If the textbook companies choose not to print two different versions, other states may be forced to accept the textbooks. However, teachers in other states could include the information in the curriculum without using the textbook.
The solution is to have the Collegeboard set the curriculum for their AP classes, and if states don't want to teach that curriculum, then they can't offer the AP class. Collegeboard could set a single textbook for the country to use if they needed to. If Texas does not want to teach the AP curriculum, they do not have to, but they cannot still call it an AP class. If Texas students want to keep the AP class, they can convince the Board of Education to allow the AP curriculum.
This relates to economics because if Texas were to adopt a new curriculum then they would need to print a brand new text book. Having to print completely different text books for multiple states would take a lot more resources and work than printing one textbook and giving it to everyone. About 50,000 students took AP U.S. History in Texas last year; these new textbooks would end up being quite costly for schools. I think if the students were not able to take the AP U.S. history exam, many would be disappointed and enraged by the fact that they couldn’t get a college credit which can save them money. If the 49 states had to change their curriculum then College Board would have to create a new standardized test. Also the students of America wouldn’t be learning the whole truth of American history; this new curriculum is trying to eliminate the “bad” history. I don’t think there is a definite solution but I don’t think that we should just sporadically invest in a new curriculum or have one of our states have a different curriculum either.
ReplyDeleteThe new AP United States History curriculum changing just for Texas has a couple of relations to economics. First off is that since Texas is implementing a new course, which means that the state will be requiring new books for about 50,000 students who are going to take AP U.S. History for the 2014-2015 school year. With new textbooks required, the provider of the textbooks must create new books specific to Texas’ curriculum, which will be quite costly. Second, since the new curriculum will not include major themes that will be covered on the AP exam, the chances of the students doing poorly are likely to increase meaning that the schools and the overall state will not benefit from this. If the Texan students are not allowed to take the AP exam then that means that they are missing the opportunity to get college credits for their desired university.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I doubt that the other 49 states would give in to accept Texas’ new curriculum. But if it did ever happen then we must start to learn a new, majorly flawed, form of American history and it would be quite difficult for teachers to teach something that they know for sure is not correct. The only solution to such a problem is to keep the AP exam the way it is and let the state of Texas figure out how to keep the students from failing a national exam with their new curriculum. With the effort and money it requires, I feel that changing the nation’s AP U.S. History curriculum just for one state is completely idiotic.
The topic of Texas changing their AP test (which is set for the nation) to a different one that seems to be mixing up controversy is linked to the subject of economics by teaching high school students about our country's past. If not properly educated history could end up repeating itself. If Texas students were not allowed to take the AP exam it could end up becoming more expensive for the student to have to go off to college where they have to pay for a credit when they could have taken the same final test in high school for no charge to them. I think that if the rest of the country was forced to teach the same curriculum as they are soon to be teaching in Texas, then there would be a lot of concern on whether or not the children are getting taught the full history good and bad. Or if they are just getting taught what they need to know to pass a test. If that Is the case I think it's horrible because everyone should know about their history. I think the solution would be to not pass the new test in Texas instead make a newer test that teaches the kids more about history in a more straight to the point way they could learn about
ReplyDeleteThis event is related to economics in the case that there would have to be a new distribution of textbooks to the entire state of Texas. Ultimately, this is hindering educational prowess of college bound students in Texas. Why would anyone want to eliminate history, especially events that made this country what it is today? The thought of the students not being able to take the exam is beyond me because the someone in the department of Education needs to stand against this! They can't just bend the rules for 1 of 50 states. If the other 49 states had to follow these standards, then things would not be pretty for students and teachers. A lot of the history that they seem to want to erase, is what got students and teachers to be in one today! There have been many ethical changes that have occur. And if it even got to that point, I would just question our entire Education system in this country. The solution is simple, don't change anything!
ReplyDeleteThe question of Texas attempting to alter the nation AP United States History exam is economically influential by the fact that controversy among the stature of the exam can affix an unreliable label to such a notorious testing system. If this were to create an issue and the exam became biased towards Texan students, the test would become unreliable and therefore unworthy of college credit, leading student to be forced to pay for the college course because of Texas’ disagreement with history. An addition economic feature would be the cost of textbook and review books for the test. On the other hand, if Texas students were no longer permitted to take the exam, there would be an uproar against the state being inapplicable for the college credit. This would not benefit the College board either because there would be loss of income from the state. The most reasonable solution would be to proceed with the original testing curriculum and allow Texas to make the decision of whether or not they would like to take the exam, given the contents.
ReplyDeleteTexas having their own US History Textbook would greatly affect the economy of both the US and Texas in such that texas would have to spend more money just to produce their own special textbooks. Also they would only be able to buy them from specific companies so if these companies were to increase their prices, Texas would have to buy them because theres no other option. The other companies also wouldn't be able to sell to Texas schools anymore which would decrease sales and lower profits.
ReplyDeleteIf Students aren't able to take the AP US History exam at the end of the year, no kids would take the class, forcing the demand of textbooks to plummet. Kids would also have t pay additional fees in college to take that class since they couldn't have gotten the credit in highschool. Kids will take DE classes instead, causing them to stay in state which then effects all of the other colleges in the US because Texas would have less students leaving the state for college.
If the other 49 states were to follow in Texas' footsteps, the vision of how the US came to be would be blurred and debated on, we would lose millions of dollars in printing new textbooks, college students would have to retake the class or current highschoolers would lose their AP US History credit. The US must stand strong against this and keep the rules level amongst the playing field. Don't let Texas change the rules, keep the educational system the same, and leave the curriculum alone.
If Texas doesn't approve of the common core which other states do makes this have everything to do with economics. Texas is a huge state with lots of students in it the textbook printing company doesn't what to waste its resources printing two different copies of textbooks if they could just print one. Since Texas is so big it will have a impact on their sales so they won't just ignore Texas, as a matter of fact they just might force the other states to go by Texas standard of education. If these students aren't allowed to take the AP exam then it would put them at a disadvantage when competing with other people from different states, also they might even know a little less about history. The solution would have to be to provide the printing company some sort of incentives to print two types of books.
ReplyDeleteThis has to do with economics because printing separate textbooks will be extremely costly for schools and the state of Texas. Also, if the students are being misinformed they will fail the AP exam, not receive college credit and ultimately increase the cost of their already expensive college education. If other states were to adopt this mandate our generation will be extremely misinformed and will ultimately repeat our past mistakes as a country. The college board needs to deny the state of Texas of teaching and administering the AP exam if they are not teaching proper US History which will cause students to fail. If this happens students and parents will be extremely upset causing uproar and an overturn of the mandate.
ReplyDeleteTexas’s new AP United States History Curriculum is related to economics in that the production of new textbooks would be a costly matter and the deficit of this college credit would raise tuition costs. Considering that last year about 50,000 Texan students took this exam that would be a massive amount of new textbooks to produce and distribute, just to comply with the new curriculum. Instead of spending funds on new textbooks, the school system should be funding better ways for the students learning experience. Another economic impact of this new curriculum is that if students are not prepared for this exam, they will fail the exam, thus leading them to miss out on this college credit. This is detrimental to the student because it will become a burden on them to have to retake the course in college, raising their tuition costs.
ReplyDeleteIf Texas students are not allowed to take the AP US History exam, they will be missing out on valuable historical information. The AP US History course is set up to inform students of all of history’s events, negative and positive. It is essential to the student’s education that they learn this, because they should be very well informed about mistakes and successes made in their nation.
The other 49 states are not likely to be forced to adopt the standards which were set forth in Texas, but in the case that we were much controversy would arise. If these other 49 states adopt these standards, how else are students expected to learn about the nation’s history? We must learn the good and the bad, because that is what led us to where we are today.
The best solution to this issue is to get the Federal Government involved and keep this standard from spreading to other states. It is not just to make exceptions to just 1 of 50 states, and it is also unjust to make the other 49 states suffer from Texas’ poor judgment.
This is a very interesting topic that can be related very well to economics as we are taught that everything is economics. If Texas is allowed to have their way and make their own textbook it could have large economic ripples. First off the textbook companies would have to produce two of the same subject's textbooks. This means that they would have more expenses for the same amount of income generated. THis means they would not be making the same amount of money and they may have to layoff workers and maybe even print the textbook on inferior materials. If the textbooks are printed on cheaper materials, for example softcover instead of hardcover, this will lead to schools having to replace textbooks more often which takes money from the taxpayers. If the students are not allowed to take the AP exam it could mean the death of AP classes in the state of Texas. Texas students will be forced to pay more in college than their non-Texas counterparts. It could mean lower school grades in Texas as AP scores are a large part which will cause housing prices to go down. If all the states were to adopt their own curriculum then the US would have a jumbled view of our own history with no one getting the full story. It would also mean there would be no AP exam because it would be impossible to give a STANDARDIZED test without standards. The solution I propose is that there should be a basic curriculum given out at a federal level and a state can choose to add on to this basic curriculum this way both sides can get their way.
ReplyDeleteThis topic ties back into economics because if the bill passed, the company that produces the AP books would have to produce a different set of history books, which would use up scarce resources that could be put into making more books. Essentially, it would cost more money, time, and resources to produce two different history books, which may have an effect on the quantity of books supplied. If Texas students were restricted from taking the APUSH exam, then there would be a decreased external incentive for taking the APUSH course. The majority of students who take the course seek the college credit that is available for those who pass. If they were stripped of that opportunity, less will be willing to take the course, which can cause a negative effect on human capital. If the other 49 states adopted these standards, then the negative economic effects would be significantly amplified throughout the nation in addition to the loss of a diversified viewpoint of history. History comes from more than one perspective, and if one viewpoint were eliminated, that leads to more bias, inaccuracy, and the loss of different sides of the same story. Perhaps the best solution to this issue is not an exclusive on, but instead an inclusive remedy. Perhaps Texas can be persuaded into a compromise in which information--that is relevant, valid, factual, and provides a different light upon a subject--can be added into the text rather than replacing information or removing or ignoring the information. This maybe more appealing to Texas and is mutually beneficial to either side of the controversy.
ReplyDeleteThis topic relates to economics because we are able to assess how Texas is wasting the textbook companies’ time and money with their “state-mandated curriculum”. Changing the AP United States History curriculum in Texas has to do with economics because the schools will have to buy more textbooks, which will be costly for them. This will bring money into the market for textbooks but will also take out money from the school system, which could have been used to buy paper or teachers' salaries. If other states were forced to adopt to the standards similar to Texas, we would be in controversy with how we are going to learn our country's history and why the state would choose what we are going to learn. It is up to the states to decide how they will teach their standards, and as long as they can also adhere with the standards of the AP guide, I see little problem.
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