AGENDA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION June 10, 2016 Arkansas Department of Education ADE Auditorium 9:00 AM Back Print Reports Report-1 Chair's Report Presenter: Chair Report-2 Commissioner's Report Presenter: Commissioner Johnny Key Report-3 2015 ATOY Report The 2015 Arkansas Teacher of the Year will present a component of her professional development project. Presenter: 2015 Arkansas Teacher of the Year Ms. Ouida Newton Report-4 2014-2015 Grade Inflation Report Presenter: Elbert Harvey Report-5 ForwARd Arkansas Report Presenter: Susan Harriman, Executive Director of ForwARd Report-6 Learning Services Report This information is provided to keep the State Board of Education apprised of the Department's work activities associated with college and career readiness. Presenter: Stacy Smith Report-7 Computer Science Report This information is provided to keep the State Board of Education apprised of the Department's work activities associated with Computer Science. Presenter: Anthony Owen Arkansas Social Studies Standards “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” – Marcus Garvey. The importance of the Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks to Arkansas K-12 education cannot be overlooked. Parents and educators readily agree on the importance of developing reading, writing and math skills. They even agree in our technological society on the importance of teaching science, but what about social studies? It is through the study of social studies that students become aware of the world around them and how that world directly impacts their lives. By learning about economics, civics and government, geography and history, students are able to develop core beliefs and values, an understanding of how the past has shaped the present and will shape the future, and the interconnectedness of the content areas. It is in the social studies classroom that students learn to listen to conflicting points of view, to form an opinion, to develop the ability to make judgments and to acquire the necessary skills to become participatory citizens. During the 2015-16 school year, schools across Arkansas implemented the revised Arkansas Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks. These frameworks ask students to acquire content knowledge about civics, government, economics, geography, and history and to develop historical thinking skills. Students develop content knowledge and inquiry skills by asking and answering compelling and supporting questions, gathering and analyzing information from multiple sources, and communicating their conclusions in a variety of formats including writing arguments. The K-4 standards lay the foundation for students. The focus at these early grades is for students to build practical skills in geography, economics, civics and history, skills such as how to read and create a timeline, map, chart, table or graph. They examine changes over time, chronology and causal relationships from multiple perspectives. The revised strands and content standards are not meant to be taught in isolation. Units and lessons should incorporate as many of the different content areas as possible to further develop student understanding of the interconnectedness of the disciplines. There are some major changes to the revised curriculum frameworks; these changes are highlighted in two documents: “Outline of Social Studies Content by Grade and Subject” and “Curriculum Shifts,” both located on the Arkansas Department of Education website at http://www.arkansased.gov/divisions/learning-services/curriculum-and-instruction/curriculum- framework-documents/social-studies-new-courses-valid-july-1-2015. The foundations for early U.S. and world history are laid in the history strands in Grade 5 (U.S. history beginnings through the 1820s) and Grade 6 (world history beginnings of civilization through 1500). Another major change to the standards occurs in Grade 7, which now focuses on geography. Because Arkansas has not taught geography in the seventh grade since the 2006 revision of the Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks, many districts and teachers had limited instructional materials that reflected current geography. The Arkansas Geographical Alliance anticipated this need and worked with National Geographic Education to create a teaching resource specifically for Arkansas teachers and aligned to Arkansas standards for Grade 7. The Arkansas page can be accessed at www.nationalgeographic.org/arkansas or from the Arkansas Geographical Alliance website at http://arkansasgeographicalliance.com/educators/curricular-items/lessons-and-other-items/. By accessing the site, teachers will find lesson plans, resources, additional readings, extensions and suggestions for remediation along with videos, maps, and primary and secondary sources for the lesson. Best of all it is free! Many of the lessons and instructional materials are adaptable for other classes, such as science, or other grades. Please note that the site is currently being updated. In Grade 8, students focus on U.S. history from 1800 to 1900, which is another shift from the previous standards. Arkansas frameworks at the eighth grade are better aligned with surrounding states and National Assessment of Educational Progress assessments with this change. The shift to teaching history dividing content by eras rather than the broad survey of history at each grade level provides teachers with the time to delve much deeper and with the rigor necessary for students to develop historical thinking and inquiry skills. U.S. and world history are organized chronologically in Grades 5-12 using the eras and time periods from the National Center for History in the Schools; Arkansas History for Grades 9- 12 is organized chronologically using the Encyclopedia of Arkansas eras and timeline. In order to make connections between different time periods, students need to be held accountable for the learning in previous grades. Sample review units for history at Grade 8 and the high school U.S. and world history courses are available on the ADE’s Social Studies page at http://www.arkansased.gov/divisions/learning-services/curriculum-and-instruction/resource-materials- for-lesson-plans/social-studies. Teachers can choose to use units at the beginning of the school year to review content covered in previous grades. Another great resource for social studies teachers at all levels is the C3 (College, Career and Civic Life) Teachers website; the direct link is http://www.c3teachers.org/inquiries/. The website contains teacher blogs, Inquiry Design Model (IDM) information, state inquiry HUBS and the NY Toolkit containing 14 annotated and 70 abridged inquiries. These inquiries can be downloaded in PDF or Word format, edited for specific classroom needs and revised for AR standards. This outstanding resource is available free of charge. Arkansas history also saw some changes with the 2014 revision. Arkansas history in Grades K–6 is integrated in the social studies curriculum. Arkansas law states that students must take one semester of Arkansas history in Grade 7–12, with districts determining which grade. The social studies revision committee developed two courses. The first course is appropriate for students in either Grade 7 or 8. This course is formatted like a social studies course with the four strands – geography, economics, civics and government, and history. The Grades 9-12 course is formatted chronologically like a more traditional history course. Teachers will have several opportunities for ongoing professional development at all of the Arkansas Education Service Cooperatives. Several social studies teachers will provide a workshop at which K-6 and 7-12 teachers will examine an inquiry appropriate for Grades K-4, 5-8 and 9-12 as they work in small groups to develop their own inquiry for use in the classroom. Participants in these workshops will be able to share the work they produce with each other. Check ESC Works for locations, dates and times. Sign up now! Literacy specialists at the cooperatives will present a workshop on Historical Thinking and Inquiry in the Social Studies Classroom. Teachers will analyze an inquiry and use it to teach historical thinking and literacy skills within the content. The ADE in cooperation with AETN is bringing Dr. Kathy Swan (lead writer of the C3 Framework) and Dr. John Lee (IDM lead) to the AETN Studio in Conway July 19 and 20 to conduct a two-day workshop on IDM and developing the Arkansas Inquiry HUB. If you are interested in attending this workshop, please e-mail Maggie Herrick, ADE social studies specialist, at [email protected]; include your name, summer contact information, school, district and the grade you teach. The Arkansas Social Studies Frameworks and Courses help students think and reason about what is happening in the world around them. Is the study of social studies a necessary skill for students to be prepared for the future? Absolutely! Students will gather and select resources, analyze evidence, examine multiple and sometimes conflicting perspectives, come to their own conclusions and communicate their findings to others in social studies classes. These are skills every student needs in order to be successful in college, career and their community. Arkansas has a set of frameworks that will do just that. The link to the Arkansas frameworks and courses is http://www.arkansased.gov/divisions/learning-services/curriculum-and-instruction/curriculum- framework-documents/social-studies-new-courses-valid-july-1-2015. MEMO DATE: June 9, 2016 TO: Arkansas State Board of Education FROM: Johnny Key SUBJECT: Grade Inflation Report The report, based on the results of the 2014-2015 state mandated tests, includes for each high school, the number of students receiving a grade of “B” or above in the corresponding course who scored less than “19” on the ACT math or reading exams. The highlighted section identifies any high school in which twenty percent (20%) or more of the students received a letter grade of “B” or above and scored less than “19” on the ACT math or reading exams. As required by statute, a copy of this same report is being submitted to the Legislature.