New York adopts new Common Core-aligned social studies curriculum (Chalkbeat NY - April 29, 2014) EXCERPT: State policymakers have approved the first major overhaul of New York’s social studies curriculum outline in 15 years, capping a multi-year effort to do for social studies what the Common Core standards have done for math and English. Proponents of the new social studies guidelines hope they will revitalize a subject they say has been shoved to the sidelines, first by federal testing rules, and more recently by the new standards, both of which focused on math and literacy. But some worry that the impact of the guidelines could be limited, since the state will not release matching high school exams for several years, the state does not test younger students in social studies, and state officials are moving cautiously to avoid repeating mistakes that hobbled the rollout of the Common Core. “The public backlash against everything associated with the Common Core makes the climate very, very difficult to advance another curriculum area,” said Steven Goldberg, chairman of an advisory panel that helped the state create the guidelines. Still, supporters must push the state to put the new social studies framework into practice, Goldberg added, otherwise, “everything we worked for is for naught, and it’s a nice document that sits on a shelf.” The new kindergarten-through-high-school roadmap, called the New York State Social Studies Framework, adds recent world events, groups historical topics into themes, and puts a Common Core-inspired emphasis on literacy and critical-thinking skills. Unlike the Common Core standards, the framework spells out which information students should learn and in what order. State officials note that local districts retain control over how the framework is taught and the teaching materials used in classrooms. Critics have argued that this lengthy list of topics clashes with the framework’s call for students to engage in more in-depth inquiries. Last month, the framework came under fire for including only one woman in its outline for a high school world history course. More female historical figures were then added to the final version, the culmination of more than two years of feedback and revisions. At its full board meeting Tuesday, the state’s Board of Regents approved the framework — with the phrase “Common Core” dropped from its name.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Apr 2014 14:04:51 +0000
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