Changes to ethnic studies in California include expansion on Asian American lessons

The state on Friday released the latest recommendations for the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum, notably expanding Asian American studies and an appendix to offer sample lessons on several ethnic groups.

The curriculum covers four areas: African American studies, Asian American studies, Chicano Latino studies and Native American studies.

The recommendations announced on Friday will expand Asian American studies “to better reflect the diversity of experiences and contributions of groups” including Filipino Americans, Japanese Americans, Korean Americans, and Lao Americans as well as people of Pacific Islander and Southeast Asian descent.

The curriculum, which was marred by controversy for several months over how Arab American communities would be represented, will keep Arab American studies, including it in the appendix.

The controversy centered on whether some of the lessons on Arab Americans were anti-Semitic and anti-Israel.

The latest recommendations, announced Friday by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, will move forward with one Arab American lesson plan and also include other marginalized groups in the appendix such as Sikh Americans, Jewish Americans and Armenian Americans.

Thurmond said the appendix, which will include full lessons, will be a way to honor those who have been calling for a broader ethnic studies curriculum, and acknowledge that many groups face oppression, lack of representation and marginalization.

“The appendix is our attempt to recognize there is a great deal of intersection among many groups,” he said. “We have worked very hard and diligently to hold with fidelity to the four groups that have been part of ethnic studies and to the communities that have been calling for ethnic studies for decades.”

Several groups worked with the state’s Instructional Quality Commission to include lessons on Arab Americans and Pacific Islanders. In October, Thurmond said he supported the inclusion of Pacific Islander studies and Arab American studies within the curriculum.

The Arab Resource and Organizing Center called the recommendation to include Arab-American studies in the appendix a “complete reversal of (Thurmond’s) commitment” to include a lesson plan on Arab Americans as part of the Asian-American studies curriculum.

“Our children are once again being left to fend for themselves in an increasingly racialized and polarized political climate,” read a statement from AROC. “This marginalization of our history and current realities is an assault on the Arab American community.”

Thurmond acknowledged the curriculum was not perfect, but said it was balanced and thoughtful.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill in October that would have required students to take an ethnic studies class to graduate high school. Newsom said that while he supports the concept of ethnic studies, he had concern about requiring a high school course when “there is much uncertainty about the appropriate K-12 model curriculum for ethnic studies.”

Despite the veto, the state will continue to develop recommended ethnic studies curricula for schools and districts that choose to teach it.

The IQC committee will meet Nov. 18 and 19 to review and revise the curriculum.

State law requires the State Board of Education to take final action on the model curriculum by March 31, 2021.

The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum serves as a guidance document to help districts interested in adopting lesson plans into their teaching. It serves as recommendation and guidance and is not mandatory for classroom use.

“It is a movement that has been trying to evolve in California for 52 years,” Thurmond said. “We’ve reached a moment where we can do something special, and that means we need to include all voices.”

This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 1:21 PM.