BESE voted to review Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies during December meeting
BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Louisiana Department of Education is inviting stakeholders to help update the state’s social studies standards. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) voted to review the Louisiana Student Standards for Social Studies during its meeting Wednesday. The Department has opened an application to participate in the standards review committees. All interested Louisiana teachers, school system staff, administrators, parents, students, and community members are encouraged to apply. The deadline for submissions is February 1 at 8 a.m. Selected participants will be notified in late February.
These standards were last reviewed in 2010-2011. BESE policy states that review of each content area shall occur at least once every seven years.
The standards review process will consist of a steering committee, a grades K-5 elementary content expert workgroup and a grades 6-12 secondary content expert workgroup. Committees will be composed of Louisiana teachers, higher education representatives, school and school system leaders, parents, students and community members. The committees will represent all regions of Louisiana as well as the demographic diversity of the state.
The standards review process has four main goals.
-
Shift the standards to an inquiry-based approach with a balanced focus between acquisition of knowledge and disciplinary skills.
-
Create a more coherent sequence of content.
-
Strengthen knowledge and skills at the elementary level to ensure students are prepared for secondary and post-secondary work.
-
Better integrate the historical perspectives of people from all different backgrounds.
Committee meetings will be conducted on to-be-determined dates starting in March and continuing through July. All committee meetings will be open to the public. The review process will include opportunities for the public to weigh in on every standard.
# # # # # #