Social Studies Standards Adopted |
ODE Contacts |
The State Board of Education adopted revised Social Studies Academic Content Standards during its June meeting. This action concludes one step in the educational reform plan encompassed in Amended Substitute House Bill Number 1 which was enacted in the summer of 2009.The 2010 social studies standards can be found on the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) Web site (www.education.ohio.gov). Click on “Academic Content Standards” in the “Educators” section of the home page. The revised standards are only available in the Web-based version; a print version will not be distributed to school districts.To assist school districts in reviewing and preparing to implement the revised social studies standards, ODE is preparing “crosswalk” materials which will compare the 2002 content standards with those approved in 2010. These materials will show commonalities between the previous benchmarks and the new content statements. They will also help to identify new content and content which has shifted from one grade to another. Districts will be able to utilize this tool in analyzing local curricula. The “crosswalk” materials should be available in early fall. |
Thomas Rutan
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Model Curriculum Work ContinuesTeacher team meetings to solicit ideas for the Social Studies Model Curriculum were conducted over the summer. While attendance was light, the meetings produced ideas for each grade level and high school course. These submissions are being processed by the Ohio Resource Center and selections will be incorporated in a draft model curriculum for public review later this fall.Additional teacher team meetings will be scheduled between Sept. 18 and Oct. 1. The fall meetings are being planned for teachers who were unable to attend a summer meeting and for summer participants who would like to attend a session for another grade level, course or content area. The three-hour fall meetings will be held on weekday evenings and Saturdays. Each of Ohio’s 16 regions will have up to 12 meetings organized by three level (elementary, middle, and high school) in each of the four content areas (mathematics, English language arts, science, and social studies). Lead content experts will facilitate the meetings. Each participant will receive a certificate for three contact hours of professional development for submission to his or her local professional development committee.Meeting announcements will be available on the ODE Web site at the main Model Curriculum Web page. A meeting schedule will be posted and there will be instructions for registering through STARS. Updated information will be announced through ODE newsletters such as Ides of ODE and EdConnection.Standards Implementation TimelineWith the adoption of the 2010 Social Studies Academic Content Standards in June, events were set in motion for the implementation of the standards. Work is continuing on the development of the Model Curriculum. Proposed plans for the transition to full implementation of the standards and the new statewide assessments are on the following timeline.
Ohio Achievement Assessments for Social Studies Remain SuspendedThe development and administration of the Ohio Achievement Assessments (OAA) for grades 5 and 8 in social studies will continue to be suspended for the 2010-2011 school year due to budget cuts. As this column was written, there was no provision in the biennial budget proposal put forth by the State Board of Education to restore these assessments for the 2011-2012 or 2012-2013 school years. Unless monies are included for these assessments during the course of the remaining budgetary process, the assessments will not be returned to the state’s assessment program during the next biennium.In spite of budget constraints on the state’s assessment program, it remains important for school districts to monitor student progress in developing students’ knowledge and skills in social studies. Using released OAA items to construct formative and summative assessments can help educators gain another perspective on student achievement. School districts are being encouraged by ODE to utilize released OAA items and rubrics to create and administer district-wide common assessments for social studies. The released items along with tools to create new assessments that resemble the current test blueprint or that concentrate on particular standards at each grade level can be found on the Statewide Testing Web Site at http://portal.success-ode-state-oh-us.info/.Download the monthly Ohio Social Studies Signal electronic newsletter. |
