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Welcome back,

In many places around the world, September 1 marks the opening of school. Here in Missouri, however, once the calendar hits August, we begin to get the itch, right?  Below you will find information useful in planning your year and in continuing the efforts to promote quality social studies teaching and learning across out state.

  1. Missouri Social Studies educators K-12 are invited to participate in the 2017-2018 DESE Social Studies Professional Development Series, Social Studies Colloquia: Thinking like a Social Scientist. This four-part series, beginning in September, brings together Missouri educators, K-12, who have an interest in Social Studies content, pedagogy, and instruction. In addition to providing DESE updates on curriculum and assessment developments, sessions will focus on the theme, Thinking like a Social Scientist, an idea central to the Missouri Learning Standards Social Studies K-12 Expectations. For more information see the Colloquia Invite.
     
  2. Looking for help with social studies curriculum and assessment development for the upcoming school year?  Take a close look at the information under the Items Specifications tab below. Each MLS Social Studies Expectation K-12 has been examined and explained by Missouri Social Studies teachers and their insights are shared in this resource.  Examples of specific content suggestions and parameters regarding formative and summative assessment are included along with major strands and concepts in the social studies.  See the Item Specifications tab at the bottom of this page.
     
  3. Missouri Council for History Education holds it fall 2017 conference: Best Practices in History Education at the St. Louis Federal Reserve on September 19 and 20.  For more information go to http://www.mohistoryeducation.org/annual-conference/
     
  4. Missouri Council for the Social Studies announces its spring 2018 conference: Balancing Security and Liberty: Past, Present and Future, to be held February 23 and 24 , 2018 at the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.  For more information go to http://www.mosocialstudies.com/conference
     
  5. The Supreme Court of Missouri offers rich and varied programs for students and teachers to engage Missourians in important dialog about our courts. They provide speakers, simulations and professional learning opportunities appropriate for K-12 students and teachers. Topics include, Can the School Search You and Your Stuff, Good Riddance, Mean King George! Fair Treatment for All, The Challenge of Deciding Tough Cases: Hazelwood V. Kuhlmeier and many more. For more information about these free offerings, go to https://www.courts.mo.gov/civiceducation/pages/presentation.html 
     
  6. Because of legislation passed in 2016, Missouri students entering 9th grade this year are required to pass an examination on the provisions and principles of American civics. For details and more information, click on the Missouri Civics Education Initiative in the Quick Links box. 
     
  7. There is a wealth of additional information to share including the resources from our Summer 2017 Professional Learning Series workshops.  Scroll to the bottom of this page and check out the tabs.

My best wishes to you as the new school year begins. If you have questions or ideas to share, please contact me at dixie.grupe@dese.mo.gov.   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 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 

The Missouri Civics Education Initiative, passed by the Missouri legislature and signed by Governor Nixon in June 2016, requires any student entering 9th grade after July 1, 2017 to pass an examination on the provisions and principles of American civics.

The law states that the examination shall consist of 100 questions similar to the one hundred questions used by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and may be included in any other examination that is administered on the provisions and principles of the United States and the State of Missouri, and in American history and American institutions.   The full text of the law can be found at http://www.senate.mo.gov/16info/pdf-bill/tat/SB638.pdf

So what does that mean for Missouri Social Studies?

  • We will continue with the current Government EOC exam and the voluntary American History EOC exam.
  • Local districts will assure compliance.
  • School districts may use an online test to comply.  See http://civicseducationinitiative.org/take-the-test/ for ideas.
  • Districts may choose to create a crosswalk of the USCIS questions and their existing American Government, Missouri Government and American History assessment, and then to amend those assessments to comply with the USCIS content. Districts are encouraged to maintain the crosswalk and adjustments as verification of content assessed.  The USCIS site testing materials are available at https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/learners/study-test

If you have additional questions about this law and social studies testing, please contact curriculum@dese.mo.gov

Social Studies Missouri Learning Standards

Assessed Standards

The End-of-Course assessments will continue to be based on these standards through the 2018-2019 school year.

Social Studies - Grades K-8: PDF | Word | Excel
Social Studies - High School: PDF | Word | Excel

Revised Standards

The Revised standards, approved on April 19, 2016 are for implementation beginning in the 2016-2017 academic year. They will be assessed beginning in the 2019-2020 school year.

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 

Crosswalks

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 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:

Teacher Awards

James Madison Fellowship

The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation offers $24,000 James Madison Graduate Fellowships to individuals desiring to become outstanding teachers of the American Constitution at the secondary school level. Fellowship applicants compete only against other applicants from the states of their legal residence. As funding permits, the Foundation plans to offer one fellowship per state per year.   Deadline is March 1, 2018.  For more information  go to  http://www.jamesmadison.gov/

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

The National History Teacher of the Year Award recognizes outstanding K–12 American history teachers across the country. The national winner receives a $10,000 prize presented at an award ceremony in their honor in New York City. State winners receive a $1,000 prize, an archive of classroom resources, and recognition at a ceremony within their state. Deadline for application is March 31, 2018.   For more information go to https://www.gilderlehrman.org/programs-exhibitions/national-history-teacher-year

 

Student Awards

Senate Youth 2018

The United States Senate Youth Program, established in 1962 by U.S. Senate Resolution, is a unique educational experience for outstanding high school students interested in pursuing careers in public service.  Service delegations will hear major policy addresses from Senators, cabinet members, and officials from several federal agencies as well as participate in a meeting with a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.  Last year, students also spent a morning at the White House and met the President of the United States.

Students are nominated by their high school principal and selected through a rigorous application and interview process. In addition to the week in Washington, students will receive a $10,000 college scholarship.

Applications for Missouri students are due no later than 11:59 pm on Wednesday September 27, 2017.

 

Social Studies Colloquia 2017-2018

This four-part series will bring together Missouri educators, K-12, who have an interest in Social Studies content, pedagogy and instruction. In addition to providing DESE updates on curriculum and assessment developments, sessions will focus on the theme, Thinking like a Social Scientist, an idea central to the Missouri Learning Standards Social Studies K-12 Expectations.

Each colloquium focuses on a specific critical thinking skill related directly to improving students’ learning.  Each session will identify a skill highlighted in the MLS K-12 Expectations, demonstrate anchor experiences to introduce that social science thinking skill to students, suggest ways to teach that skill in K-12 classrooms throughout a variety of content areas and grade levels, and elicit ideas for implementation from teachers and other social studies practitioners.

Each colloquium will also feature a social scientist who is currently conducting research which implements that skill. Speakers will share their most recent research and answer questions regarding current scholarship and controversies in their field.  This is a unique opportunity for Missouri K-12 social studies educators to learn about the most current social science research. 

2017-2018 Colloquia dates: 

September 14, 2017            Continuity and Change over Time
November 2, 2017               Contextualization
February 14, 2018               Use of Historical Evidence (Part 1) 
May 10, 2018                      Use of Historical Evidence (Part 2)

Details:
Costs: none to participants
Times: 9 a.m.--3 p.m.
Lunch: on your own           Note: this is a change from last year’s sessions
Location (s):                      September 14:         MU Art and Archeology Museum, Columbia, Missouri
                                           November, February and May: Harry S Truman Building, Jefferson City, Missouri.

Registration:  Space is limited. Please email me at dixie.grupe@dese.mo.gov to register and identify which session(s) you will attend. I will respond with an acceptance email. As we move closer to each session, I will send out a reminder/confirmation with additional details.

As always, please feel free to email or call with questions.  My responsibility is to support you in the challenging work you do and to provide resources and guidance as you request. My pleasure is to know and learn with you.

 

Colloquia Resources

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

 

 

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