Students' history day project contributes to conviction.Reinvestigating the 1964 murders of three civil rights activists allegedly slain by the Ku Klux Klan Ku Klux Klan (k  ' klŭks klăn), designation mainly given to two distinct secret societies that played a part in American history, although other less important groups have also used , the student-produced documentary, Mississippi Burning, the same name as the movie, began as an extracurricular National History Day project. But it quickly evolved to significantly contribute to reopening the case that led to the recent conviction of Edgar Ray Killen Edgar Ray "Preacher" Killen (born 17 January 1925) is an American former Ku Klux Klan organizer who conspired to kill several civil rights activists in 1964.He was found guilty of three counts of manslaughter on June 21 2005, the forty-first anniversary of the crime. . The inspiring documentary begs the question whether this type of curriculum assesses a student's comprehension better than a standardized test A standardized test is a test administered and scored in a standard manner. The tests are designed in such a way that the "questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent" [1] . Although traditional paths like tests can measure cognitive learning in history, there is concern that teachers frequently sacrifice depth to reach better quantitative test results. "Schools of America are so caught up on the desire for quantifiable numbers that they have forgotten that education is only valuable not when it is measurable but [transforming]," says Barry Bradford, history teacher at Adlai Stevenson High School and supervisor of the Mississippi Burning project. Proposed by Bradford, the topic immediately attracted students Allison Nichols, Brittany Saltiel and Sarah Siegel to get the case reopened. The students started work in June 2003 and completed it at the national competition in June 2004. It gained so much attention that the students drafted a resolution stating why authorities should reopen the case and presented it to Congress. Students also conducted in-person and telephone interviews with people who were involved with the case, including family members of the victims and Killen. "Once we got involved in our interviews, it reaffirmed our hope and dedication to get the case reopened," says Allison Nichols. RELATED ARTICLE: The history behind it. Leading a voter registration drive A voter registration drive is an effort, often undertaken by a political campaign, political party, or other outside groups (partisan and non-partisan), that seeks to register to vote those who are eligible but not registered. for blacks in Neshoba County, Miss., four decades ago, James Chaney James Earl "J.E." Chaney (May 30, 1943 – June 21, 1964) was an American civil rights worker who was murdered (along with Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman) by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Chaney was born in the town of Meridian, Mississippi. , Michael Schwerner Michael Schwerner (November 6, 1939 – June 21, 1964), called Mickey by friends and colleagues, was a CORE field worker killed in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by the Ku Klux Klan in response to the civil-rights work he coordinated, which included promoting registration to vote and Andrew Goodman were murdered and found buried in an earthen earth·en adj. 1. Made of earth or clay: an earthen fortification; an earthen pot. 2. Earthly; worldly. dam, weeks after they had been arrested for speeding in 1964. Although no one was charged with murder, the documentary reveals that those responsible were widely known to be Ku Klux Klan members. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion