International Center for Leadership in Education - Setting Social Studies Priorities

Setting Social Studies Priorities Using the Social Studies Curriculum Matrix

Social studies education is critical to developing tomorrow’s informed citizens, as well as our future economists, financial advisors, politicians, and community activists. High-achieving schools bring focus to their instructional programs by using data to answer three questions:

What is on the state social studies test(s)?
What will students need to know and be able to do after they graduate to prepare them for citizenship and for interacting with various cultures and societies?

This resource kit has the answers and helps educators teach both what is on the test and what students need for citizenship and success in life.

The Social Studies Curriculum Matrix assists teachers in improving the performance of their students on high-stakes assessments by drawing connections between each state’s social studies standards and the topics tested on their state exam(s). The Curriculum Matrix indicates which state standards/benchmarks/performance indicators/topics should be high priorities, based on whether they are tested and how highly they are rated in the International Center’s National Essential Skills Study (NESS). With the Curriculum Matrix at their fingertips, educators can make informed decisions about whether to place more or less emphasis on a particular standard or grade level expectation.

About the National Essential Skills Study (NESS)

The National Essential Skills Study (NESS) surveyed nearly 14,000 educators, parents, members of the business community, and other stakeholders in 2007 to find out what they believed were the most important topics and skills a student should know in English, mathematics, science, and social studies before graduating from high school. The results can help a school or district address the overcrowded curriculum that is so prevalent in the United States today.

NESS for social studies asked participants to identify what they believe are the 20 to 30 most important topics in subject areas of geography, global studies (world history), civics and government, United States/North American history, economics, and social studies/historical thinking skills. The topics were adapted from standards identified by National Council for the Social Studies, as well as various state standards. All topics were reviewed by teams of subject-specialist teachers.

The highest-ranked NESS topics ask students to:

employ geographic tools and other visual images to acquire, process, and report information about people, places, and environments from a spatial perspective
explain the roles, rights, and responsibilities of the U.S. citizen in our democracy
examine the purpose of rules and laws, explain how governments enact and enforce them, and assess ways to evaluate rules and laws.

Contents

Social Studies Education in America’s Schools
Data-Based Decision Making
Using Your Curriculum Matrix
Setting Instructional Priorities
21 Activities for Staff Development
State-Specific Curriculum Matrix Data
Appendix — Essential Skills

This resource kit is available for selected states that have required state social studies tests.

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