Social studies standards update released for 2014

The Indiana State Board of Education recently adopted new social studies standards, which will be in effect for the 2014-15 school year.

According to a press release from the state government, more than 175 Indiana social studies teachers were involved in the adoption of the new standards. Every six years, Indiana Academic Standards must be reviewed.

Social studies encompasses classes such as U.S. History, World History, Economics and U.S. Government.

SBOE member Tony Walker said the most important component of the standards for him is that decisions can be made at the local level and said he thinks the current social studies standards accomplish that task.

Walker said the standards haven’t changed much since 2007. According to the press release, SBOE member Cari Whicker said she found only about 25 word changes between the old and new standards.

“I taught social studies for 14 years, and my middle school standards differed only by a few words,” Whicker said in the release. “The high school version changed in that examples that were previously included in the standards text are now listed in a separate reference sheet.”

Walker said what students need to accomplish doesn’t change much throughout the years, but society changes. Six years from now, when the social studies standards will be reviewed again, Walker said technology and the economy might be different and whole countries might not even exist.

Walker said it is important to keep the standards current, and social studies education helps form the bedrock of citizenship. He said it would be hard to know your role in society if you haven’t studied the system.

SBOE member Andrea Neal said she thinks Indiana took a step backward with its new standards, and she will continue to push the IDOE to implement better standards.
Neal said she sees standards as a guide of what good teachers should be teaching.

The new standards will have a resource guide created by the Indiana Department of Education. Neal said the body of core knowledge that was in the old standards has now been transferred to the resource guide.

She said there have been some changes in the standards for eighth grade and high school, such as in the U.S. History and World History classes at those grade levels. She said documents such as the Monroe Doctrine and the Civil War Amendments are no longer mentioned.

Neal commissioned Jeremy Stern of the Fordham Institute to look over the new standards.

Neal said different people see the standards in different lights. She said she does not see standards as “do or die” rules.

“The detail offered in Indiana’s 2007 standards — whether presented as “examples” or in the text of the standards themselves — did a sound job of pointing out the core, common knowledge that informed students and citizens must share,” Stern said in his report. “The proposed new setup directly undermines that essential (and already all-too-rare) achievement.”

Neal said she would like to see pre-Common Core standards re-implemented.

“I don’t think we can do much better,” Neal said, referring to these standards.

Neal also said social studies education is important to a healthy democracy, and U.S. history is one of the most important classes students can take. Neal teaches U.S. history at St. Richard’s Episcopal School in Indianapolis.

“That’s sort of the essential course that young people need to grow up to be involved, knowledgeable citizens,” Neal said.