I was in 5th grade when our country was attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001. Fast forward to my first year of teaching 5th graders about that fateful Tuesday morning and I discovered that they had no background knowledge of it whatsoever — they weren’t familiar with the reference “9/11” and didn’t know anything about what happened that day or the significance of the events.
It got me wondering whether or not students learn about September 11 at all during their K-12 years. In Minnesota, it used to be included in the state’s K-12 social studies standards, but it is no longer directly named.
Approved by the legislature in 2004, Minnesota’s first statewide social studies standards covered September 11 in a U.S. history benchmark for grades 4-8 and a high school world history benchmark. (Four other benchmarks listed the War on Terrorism/terrorism in provided examples.)
United States History Grades 4-8: Contemporary America (1980-present)
Students will analyze challenges of a post-communist world, especially September 11, 2001 and its aftermath.
World History Grades 9-12: The Post-War Period (1945-present)
Students will demonstrate knowledge of the continuing impact of September 11, 2001.
Both of these 9/11 benchmarks are not in the current social studies standards being taught (adopted in 2011), although there is a high school benchmark that requires students to explain the United States’ involvement in the “global war on terror.”
There is no mention of September 11 in the 2021 social studies standards that will be implemented fall 2026, but there is one high school benchmark that requires students to evaluate how responses to foreign and domestic terrorism in the United States “have been influenced by xenophobic and Islamophobic perspectives.”
U.S. History Era 9: Contested Freedoms
Identify and evaluate how governmental and non-governmental institutions have responded to foreign and domestic terrorism in the United States. Identify and evaluate how those responses have been influenced by xenophobic and Islamophobic perspectives.
To my knowledge, 14 states include the 9/11 terror attacks in their education standards: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
Educators could certainly be teaching this content on their own, and I hope they are. Students should absolutely learn about the events leading up to 9/11, the impact such events had on the U.S., and how the tragic day united people from all walks of life by emphasizing our shared humanity — something that has been muddied and even forgotten as of late.