Social Studies

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Missouri Holocaust and Education Committee Agendas

Welcome to the new school year,

The 2021-2022 school year is just around the bend and Social Studies educators across our state are already hard at work getting ready for the students’ arrival in the coming days.  During the past few months, I hope you made time for much-needed personal and professional restoration; the previous 18 months held unprecedented challenges for all, but especially for educators. I hope you are looking forward to a great new school year with both an informed awareness of timely uncertainties and a wealth enthusiasm for teaching and learning along with your students.  

Summer has been a busy time for DESE Social Studies.  In June, Missouri social studies educators worked on fine tuning potential items for the EOC exams.  In July, educators from around the state met to review and analyze student performance on EOC exams and make recommendations regarding the threshold scores for performance designations. Later in July, educators participated in the summer Professional Learning Series, examining the positive impact of integrated curriculum on student achievement and student engagement. If you joined us for assessment projects or for an exploration of integrated curriculum in ELA, Science and Social Studies, I hope you found your time well spent.

As you develop your school year calendar, I want share three important opportunities with you.

  • Constitution Day is Friday, September 17, 2021. In 2004, Congress mandated the observance of Constitution Day, September 17, to commemorate that day in 1787 when the United States Constitution was signed. The law mandates that all publically funded educational institutions provide educational programming on the history of the American Constitution on that day. The National Archives has excellent free resources for interested educators planning  the day’s lessons.
    https://www.docsteach.org/topics/constitution 

  • The sixth year of our Missouri Social Studies Professional Development series, Thinking like a Social Scientist is set. This year’s focus will be: The Social Studies and Literacy. Meeting dates are set for 9/29/2021, 12/1/2021, 1/26/2022 and 2/28/2022.  Fall sessions will be virtual and, if conditions allow, the spring sessions can be in-person.  For more information and to sign-up, use the DESE Curriculum Calendar found at https://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/curriculum   Find the meeting date and click on the lavender social studies label to enroll.

If you have questions or additional ideas to share, please contact me.  My hope and my goal is to serve and support you in the important work you do educating all our children to become capable, contributing citizens.

Regards,
Dixie

Dixie Johnson Grupe, Director, Social Studies
Office of College and Career Readiness, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
1-573-751-0398
Dixie.Grupe@dese.mo.gov

Missouri Learning Standards

Current Standards

The standards, approved on April 19, 2016 are for implementation beginning in the 2016-2017 academic year. They will be assessed in Government and HS American History (optional) EOC assessments in a census field test in 2018-2019 and then in operational form beginning in 2019-2020.

Social Studies - K-5: K-5 PDF | K-5 Word
Social Studies - 6-12: 6-12 PDF | 6-12 Word
Social Studies - K-12: K-12 Excel (Updated 02.15.19) 

Crosswalks

*Updated 5.30.18
K-5 | MS American History | MS World Geography | MS World History | HS American Government. | HS American History | HS World History 

Teacher View

These are the new Missouri Learning Standards K-12 Expectations for Social Studies, but the alternative layout includes details and resources classroom teachers may find helpful. 

Additional Resources

Professional Development

Professional Development Opportunities

Missouri Council for History Education

Build your own Professional Development: Sponsored by Missouri Council for History Education. The Missouri Humanities Council has partnered with MOCHE to sponsor a Visiting Scholars Program.  They will line up a team of experts (subject and curriculum development) to meet with your faculty and either talk about improving history education overall and/or how to improve teaching about specific topic areas your faculty suggests. They will bring in university researchers, authors, and seasoned teachers to help your faculty start the year with ideas to energize their classrooms; all at no cost to your district. Interested school districts’ in-service coordinator should contact Flannery Burke, Visiting Scholars Coordinator to set a date. fburke@slu.edu

US Holocaust Memorial Museum: History Unfolded

US Holocaust Memorial Museum: History Unfolded is a new project at the museum asking “citizen historians” to help research the way the Holocaust was reported in local US newspapers from 1933 to 1945. For more information on this project:ushmm.org/history-unfolded. 

Veterans National Education Program

This on-line resource includes free resources tied to modern history, culture, geography and current events. For more information http://v-nep.org/global-awareness-map/ 

Professional Development Series Resources

K-5:

6-12:

Awards

All Social Studies awards are currently on hold due to the ongoing pandemic. Check back for more information.

Colloquia

To Be Updated

Economics

Economics Contests

National Economics Challenge

 

Economics Professional Development

Teacher Professional Development from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

 

Teacher Resources and Professional Development from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

 

 

Personal Finance

Personal Finance

In 2016 the State Board of Education authorized the organization of a workgroup to evaluate, and possibly make recommendations to modify or revise Personal Finance learning standards.  These standards have not changed since 2006 when the State Board of Education revised graduation requirements for Missouri’s students to include one-half credit of Personal Finance.

The workgroup, comprised of Missouri educators and community leaders from across the state, began work in December 2016. After more than nine months of work, three public hearings, feedback from educators, higher education representatives and business community members and revisions based on that input, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education presented the standards for approval.

On September 19, 2017, the State Board of Education approved the new standards.  Districts should begin preparing local curriculum based on the new standards for implementation in the 2018-2019 school year. Development of a new online assessment tool aligned to the new standards will begin immediately for implementation in the 2019-2020 school year.

Resources for Personal Finance Curriculum Development    

  1. Personal Finance Course Level Expectations: approved September 2017
  2. Personal Finance Crosswalk: 2016 Standards/2017 Standards/Coding
  3. Personal Finance Course Level Expectation Excel 2017
  4. Personal Finance Competencies: 2006
  5. Resources through the St. Louis Federal Reserve
    1. Go to- www.econlowdown.org
    2. Log in as a teacher
    3. Go to the resource gallery
    4. Select resource types and click on Syllabus
    5. Select Sample Personal Finance Syllabus with 2017 Missouri Standards to preview
    6. Create a classroom
    7. Add the syllabus to the classroom and assign desired items.
  6. Resources through the Kansas City Federal Reserve

        https://www.kansascityfed.org/education

Personal Finance Assessment:

  • As part of their curriculum, students in Missouri must earn a 1/2 credit in the area of Personal Finance.
  • Students who are receiving personal finance credit from embedded coursework: The online assessment is REQUIRED. The pass rate is the district’s decision.
  • Students attempting to “test out” and receive personal finance credit toward graduation: The online assessment is REQUIRED. Students must attain a score of 90% or higher to receive personal finance credit.
  • Students who are enrolled in a stand-alone personal finance course: The online assessment is OPTIONAL. Participation, however, permits the district to evaluate student achievement with an assessment fully aligned to state standards.
  • A student may take the Personal Finance Assessment ONE time per testing window.
  • The Personal Finance Assessment is provided at no cost to districts
Other Resources

Other Resources

Item Specifications

Item Specifications

In 2014 Missouri legislators passed House Bill 1490, mandating the development of the Missouri Learning Expectations. In April of 2016, these Missouri Learning Expectations were adopted by the State Board of Education. Groups of Missouri educators from across the state collaborated to create the documents necessary to support the implementation of these expectations.

One of the documents developed is the item specification document, which includes all Missouri grade level/course expectations arranged by domains/strands. It defines what could be measured on a variety of assessments. The document serves as the foundation of the assessment development process.

Although teachers may use this document to provide clarity to the expectations, these specifications are intended for summative, benchmark, and large‐scale assessment purposes.

Components of the item specifications include:

  • Expectation Unwrapped breaks down a list of clearly delineated content and skills the students are expected to know and be able to do upon mastery of the Expectation.
  • Depth of Knowledge (DOK) Ceiling indicates the highest level of cognitive complexity that would typically be assessed on a large scale assessment. The DOK ceiling is not intended to limit the complexity one might reach in classroom instruction.
  • Item Format indicates the types of items used in large scale assessment. For each expectation, the item format specifies the type best suited for that particular expectation.
  • Content Limits/Assessment Boundaries are parameters that item writers should consider when developing a large scale assessment. For example, some expectations should not be assessed on a large scale assessment but are better suited for local assessment.
  • Sample stems are examples that address the specific elements of each expectation and address varying DOK levels. The sample stems provided in this document are in no way intended to limit the depth and breadth of possible item stems. The expectation should be assessed in a variety of ways.
  • Text Types suggests a broad list of text types for both literary and informational expectations. This list is not intended to be all inclusive: other text types may be used in the classroom setting. The expectations were written in grade level bands; for this reason, the progression of the expectations relies upon increasing levels of quantitative and qualitative text complexities. (English Language Arts Only)
  • Calculator Designation indicates whether a calculator will be available for test questions written to a particular expectations on the large-scale assessment. (Mathematics Only)
  • Stimulus Materials defines types of stimulus materials that can be used in the item stems. (Science and Social Studies Only)
  • Possible Evidence indicates observable methods in which a student can show understanding of the expectations. (Science Only)

Social Studies Item Specifications (Updated 5.30.18)