STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY

SOCIAL STUDIES :: 2006 :: PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Scope

Knowledge and training in each social studies discipline has accumulated at an increasing rate, causing subject content to expand as material and requirements are added but rarely deleted. The Social Studies Standard Course of Study, therefore, does not include individual disciplines for study
in K-8. Strands, based on the social science disciplines; however, provide students a consistent framework for studying and analyzing specific grade level content.

At the high school level, strands are designed to be more specific to their course and subject content. The following strands provide a framework for studying and analyzing social studies at each grade.

  • Individual Identity and Development - In each society, individual identity is shaped by one's culture, by groups, and by institutions.
  • Cultures and Diversity - There are similarities as well as differences between and among cultures. Culture helps people to understand themselves as both individuals and as members of a group. As cultural borrowing becomes more prevalent, the differences between cultures become less defined.
  • Government and Active Citizenship - Power structures have historical foundations but
    continue to evolve. How people create and change structures of power, authority and governance, and the role and the relative importance they assign to the individual citizen varies over time and place. Examining civic ideals and practices across time and in diverse societies enables students to recognize gaps between the practice and the ideals of civic responsibility.
  • Historic Perspectives - Seeking to understand the historical roots of present day cultures enables students to develop a perspective on their own place in time. Knowing what things were like in the past and how they changed and developed over time in a variety of societies and cultures provides students with a broader view of their own history.
  • Geographic Relationships - Studying places and the people who inhabit them as well as their interactions and mutual impact on each other enables the student to develop a spatial perspective on their place in the world going beyond personal location.
  • Economics and Development - Students recognize that having wants/needs that exceed resources available generates a variety of solutions in different circumstances. How people organize for the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services varies over time and space.
  • Global Connections - Connections between cultures have existed for centuries, but in modern times they have become increasingly diverse and have had a greater impact on the quality of life in North Carolina, the nation, and the world.
  • Technological Influences and Society - Technological changes over time have had significant impacts on the development of cultures. As technology has spread over place and time, it has influenced and been influenced by people and their perceptions.

Legal Requirements

Public School Law G.S. 115C-81 specifies certain subjects be taught in North Carolina schools including specific areas in the social studies. These areas are:

  • Americanism;
  • The governments of North Carolina and the United States; and
  • The free enterprise system, including its history, theory, foundation, and the manner in which it is actually practiced.

Specific stipulations described in G.S. 115C-81:

  • requires local boards of education to provide for teaching of "the nation's founding and related documents, which shall include at least the major principles in the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution and its amendments, and the most important of the Federalist Papers."
  • directs the State Board of Education to include such documents in any curriculum-based tests developed and administered statewide and to establish curriculum content for this study.

As of 2001 this general statute:

  • requires one yearlong course of instruction on North Carolina history and geography to students in elementary and one yearlong course in middle schools.
  • specifies the inclusion of various racial and ethnic groups' contributions to the development and diversity of the state.
  • states that each course of instruction in North Carolina history and geography may include up to four weeks of instruction relating to the local area in which the students reside.
  • strongly encourages the State Board to include, at a minimum, the following components in the civic and citizenship education curriculum:

High School

  • students write to a local, state or federal elected official about an issue of importance;
  • instruction on the importance of voting and participating in the democratic process; and
  • information about the democratic process and how laws are made.

Middle School

  • tour local government facilities;
  • choose and analyze community problems and offer public policy recommendations; and
  • provide information for community involvement.

State Board Requirements

The State Board of Education graduation requirements for social studies are:

  • World History;
  • Civics and Economics; and
  • United States History.

Students must also complete the End-of-Course Exams in Civics and Economics and United
States History, and the Exit Exam. Two domains, problem solving and processing information,
focus on social studies content and social studies skills.

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