Here's how D.C. is changing what is taught in social studies

[Nevilledog]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/02/12/dc-schools-new-social-studies-curriculum/

No paywall
https://archive.is/hVsHE

For the past several months, the D.C. State Board of Education has been drafting a new set of social studies standards for the city’s 96,000 students, an exercise that hasn’t been done since 2006.

Unlike other jurisdictions, D.C. does not have a law that mandates how frequently its education standards must be updated, said Allister Chang, who represents Ward 2 on the school board. But members in 2019 began discussing the need for an update.

“The old way that we were framing a lot of this stuff is so problematic and archaic,” Chang said about the current curriculum. With the proposed new standards, students in kindergarten through twelfth grades will cover roughly the same material — including the foundations of U.S. government, consequences of global conflict and D.C. history — but with updates that reflect a more modern understanding of history.

The new standards include increased representation of the experiences of people of color and a more direct examination of racism and white supremacy. Students would understand how groups, including enslaved Africans and Indigenous groups, resisted slavery and colonization, as well as the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community. They also outline more rigorous standards for elementary school students and challenge students to critique the credibility of sources.
Officials have collected feedback from parents, students and teachers, and expect to adopt new standards this spring.

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