Social Studies on the Radar

In the most recent Ed Week there is an article about a group that is getting together to try to focus on common standards for Social Studies. Honestly, my first thought was how sad that is. While I understand the desire to set standards that students should meet regarding a subject, I kind-of liked being under the radar of most standardized testing. It's not because I don't want to teach kids anything or because I don't think all students should know certain material, but it's primarily because I don't want the pressure of teaching to the test. It seems that the more we focus on testing, the worse the kids end up learning. Although I am not inclined to teach only the material on the test, having people focus on other subjects takes the pressure off my content area. With the eyes elsewhere, I feel like my students have the freedom to actually learn something and make a connection to it.