By Sarah Ostergaard
In July, I wrote about an upcoming public comment period for the draft Social Studies standards to be used in South Carolina schools in the next standards cycle, starting in 2028. The draft standards are now open for public review and feedback through October 9.
Education affects the entire community. It is important that educators (including K-12 Social Studies teachers.), parents, and the general public know about the standards writing process and consider taking part.
Starting last fall, two separate revision panels reviewed the 2019 Social Standards currently in use: an Education Oversight Committee (EOC) panel and an SC Department of Education (SCDE) panel. These panels issued reports of the strengths and weaknesses of the current 2019 standards to serve as guidance for the standards writing committee. Starting in April, the standards writing committee met and, led by an outside consulting group, drafted standards that were then submitted to the SCDE for review before being presented to the public for comment.
These draft standards, which will become the 2028 South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Social Studies and Civics Standards, were released in an SCDE memorandum for public comment on September 9. Comment closes on October 9.
The feedback form is located at the very bottom of the current Social Studies standards page on the SCDE website: https://ed.sc.gov/instruction/standards/social-studies/standards.
Notably, Human Geography is no longer a standalone course but geography concepts are embedded within Social Studies courses. The standards writing committee did draft Human Geography course standards though they are not part of this review given this. Another significant change is the introduction (or reintroduction) of a Western Civilization course. Within courses that already do exist, e.g., elementary grades, middle school Social Studies, and Economics, Modern World History, U.S, History, and U.S. Government, these standards differ from, and intend to improve upon, the existing 2019 standards. It may be useful to also review the current 2019 standards, linked on the same page, and compare them to the draft standards. This will take time but it is a worthwhile effort.
The September 9 memo announcing the release of the draft standards and the start of the public comment period contained a link to a supporting document called “Purpose and Design of the Standards.” This document begins with this sentence: “South Carolina’s social studies standards are grounded in a simple conviction: knowledge of our shared history is essential to the preservation of freedom.” The same document ends with this sentence: “South Carolina’s social studies education ultimately exists to equip young people to steward our freedom, sustain our constitutional republic, and shape our shared future with wisdom and courage.”
These are monumental tasks and you can have a voice in shaping the next 7 years of Social Studies and Civics education.
