If you’ve been reading EdWeek, you’ve certainly read about states’ dire fiscal circumstances, the adoption of common standards in math and English/language arts, and worries that subjects other than those are being marginalized by accountability pressure. Those strands come together in discussions being held this week about the possible development of common social studies standards.
In our story, we report that social studies specialists from 18 states are meeting with representatives of content-area groups in social studies disciplines. They’re talking about how states can bolster social studies so it claims the central place its advocates feel it deserves in the classroom. Those talks could end up serving simply as a forum for discussion and exchange of ideas, or they could produce guidelines or standards. It’s not clear yet. But these will be interesting conversations to monitor as they take shape.