1. Balanced Achievement and Accountability
Benchmarking to Exemplary Practice in Social Studies
February 2, 2009

2. Why are you here?
To discuss the Social Studies Departmental role in RSD Educational Strategic Plan for
To help students obtain skills embedded in RSD mission statement - specifically become a productive and responsible citizen

3. Vision for Social Studies Department
The Social Studies Department is a learning community united in its commitment to insuring that students develop an understanding of foundational versus issue-based perspectives of human interaction from a world view to a regional view to a national view culminating in its application.

4. Social Studies Vision Scaffold
Application
Grade 12
National View Grade 11
Regional View Grade 10
World View Grade 9

5. What links the curriculum vision?
Commonality of content focus, skills development, instructional strategies and literacy development.
Grade 9- Focus on cultural, political and economic development based on physical characteristics. Emphasis is on explaining spatial patterns of phenomena that answer the how question.
Grade 10 - Build on geographical knowledge and skills that allow for a focus on regional European development and influences through the millennium. Emphasis is on analyzing spatial patterns of phenomena that answer the why question.
Grade 11 - Continue to build on previous geographic and skill knowledge for a focus on the development of the American experience and character. Emphasis is on analyzing spatial patterns of phenomena that answer the why question.
Grade 12 - Application of knowledge and skills to the understanding analysis of national and world events.

6. How does the departmental vision connect to the state standards?
The overall vision is based on the collective social studies standards for geography, history, civics and government, and economics.
Within specific grade level content, emphasis is placed on specific domains. For example, the content for grades 9 and 10 draws heavily from the geography and world history standards.

7. Curriculum priorities
A standard describes the minimal behavior that a student should demonstrate if he or she is to be considered proficient.
At a specific grade level, the strategic plan calls for the development of a curriculum so that all students can demonstrate proficiency in meeting a stated standard.
Leveled curricula must fulfill this need by having all students demonstrate proficiency on essential knowledge and skills.
Because of this need, social studies curriculum content at each grade level will be prioritized into essential, important and compact categories.

8. Prioritized Curriculum Map of Standards and ObjectivesH
Important
Compact
Essential
Essential
Important CP
Essential
CCP

9. Prioritized Instructional Time Map of Curriculum ContentH
20% I
20% C
60% E
75% E
25% I CP
100% E
CCP

10. Development of Curriculum Map Across Block/Course
Every course needs to develop:
A power curriculum that prioritizes instructional design with an accompanying set of instructional objectives and a curriculum map.
…So, what is a power curriculum?

11. High Impact Strategies
Literacy Writing Strategies
Extended Thinking Skills
Summarizing
Vocabulary in Context
Advance Organizers
Non-Verbal Representations
Content Vocabulary
Writing to inform
Summary point writing
Distributed summarizing
Content
Literacy Reading Strategies
Main Idea
Sequencing
Compare/Contrast
Fact/Opinion
Cause/Effect
Inferences
Assessment
Common Summative
Formative
Portfolio

12. 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 Review the priority of
standards taught at 9th and 10th grade levels.
Review the priority of essential, important and compact knowledge at different levels.
Review course map.
Incorporate research-based and literacy strategies into instructional process.
Implement the
Geography Alive Curriculum in grade 9 at all levels.
Refine European History curriculum in grade 10 at all levels. Transition year to enrich current content. Teachers will build upon previous year’s learning and enrich the course with a more modern focus.
Develop common assessments for both curricula aligned to standard descriptors.
Geography Alive Curriculum in grade 9 at all levels and European History curriculum in grade 10 at all levels with necessary revisions.

13. The Bottom Line for 2009 Grade 9 - Course will be Human Geography
Grade 9 will use the TCI Geography Alive! textbook
Grade 10 - Course will be European History
Grade 10 will use Prentice Hall World History: The Modern Era textbook