Unfortunately, research conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2017 shows that our schools are failing to teach the hard history of African enslavement. We surveyed U.S. high school seniors and social studies teachers, analyzed a selection of state content standards, and reviewed 10 popular U.S. history textbooks. The research indicates that: High school seniors struggle on even the most basic questions about American enslavement of Africans. Teachers are serious about teaching slavery, but there's a lack of deep coverage of the subject in the classroom; Popular textbooks fail to provide comprehensive coverage of slavery and enslaved peoples. We can and must do better. To chart a path forward and develop a set of best practices, we assembled a distinguished advisory board of scholars and partnered with institutions and teachers. That collaboration resulted in A Framework for Teaching American Slavery, a comprehensive outline containing concepts that every graduating high school senior should know about the topic.

Electronic reproduction.

Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Executive Summary -- Part one: How slavery is taught today -- Key Concepts -- Table 1 Data Organized by Key Concepts -- Part two: Why we must change -- Part three: How we investigated the issue -- Table 2 High School Senior Survey Responses Summary -- Table 3 Reported Teacher Practices -- Table 4 Teacher comfort and support measures -- Table 5 Textbooks Analyzed -- Rhode Island’s Revisionist History -- Part four: Conclusion and recommendations -- Appendix 1Advisory Board Members and Affiliations -- Appendix 2 Student Survey Questions -- Appendix 3 Textbook Rubric -- Appendix 4 Teacher Survey -- Endnotes -- Acknowledgments.