Read H4662 which proposes changed to the Education Accountability Act of 1998

Read comments from the September 6, 2007 Committee Hearing

Read the Op-ed piece by Charles Vaughan. 

Read about the May 30, 2007 Social Studies Summit

Attention: ALL South Carolina Social Studies Teachers!

According to Education Week (January 2007), the system of standards, assessment, and school accountability in South Carolina is rated number one in the nation. Although S.C. has been praised for its academic standards and assessment program, we are in grave danger of a narrowing of our curriculum by reducing social studies instruction to make more time for math and ELA.  Some schools have already begun this narrowing by decreasing or eliminating social studies from proposed schedules for next year. Why is this happening?

In order to answer a “public” call to reduce testing, Superintendent Rex has proposed eliminating social studies testing in grades 3-8 from our state assessment (PACT).  As a state that has led the way in developing social studies academic standards and assessment in the nation, this proposal will set back the progress we have made in social studies instruction over the last five years.  This change will directly affect you and your classroom.  If social studies is not assessed, there is a potential danger that little or no money for instructional materials or professional development will be allotted.  In this current climate of assessment and accountability, what is tested is valued.

The primary function of social studies education is to prepare our students to be successful, productive, and effective citizens in our democratic society and in a global economy. Not everyone will become a mathematician or a scientist, but all of our children will become citizens.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

1. Display the enclosed bumper sticker on your car and know how to explain what it means.

2. Contact your legislators to let them know how important social studies instruction is to every child’s education. Give them an example or anecdote from your own classroom. To locate your legislators, visit http://www.scstatehouse.net/cgi-bin/zipcodesearch.exe and enter your zip code with the 4 digit extension.

3. The General Assembly will reconvene in January 2008. This fall, Superintendent Rex will attempt to garner legislative support in the form of a House and/or a Senate bill to remove social studies testing (PACT) in grades 3 – 8. Please be proactive and contact your legislators.  Begin by thanking them for past legislation that brought S.C. national acclaim in standards and assessment. Then, ask your legislators to support maintaining social studies as an equal curriculum partner in assessment in S.C. Our students deserve a well rounded education, which includes instruction and assessment in the four content areas.

Social Studies is what we do every day for the rest of our lives.