The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Serious Social Studies
Local schools focus on history and more
By Edward Freundl, Heritage Newspapers
PUBLISHED: March 8, 2007
It's not one of the "Three Rs," but social studies could be considered at least as important because it encompasses so many other subject areas.
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It's also a major component in the education of a more complete, well-rounded and productive member of society.
Math, science and language arts have gotten much of the attention from state instructional officials the past few years, but student test scores in western Washtenaw County school districts prove that our schools take social studies very seriously indeed.
Core democratic values
The term, "social studies," encompasses a number of topics that may at first seem unrelated, but when taken together form the basis of a democratic society.
That's why the Michigan Department of Education tests students' grasp of topics known as "core democratic values" on Michigan Educational Assessment Program exams.
There are multiple-choice items covering the topics of history, geography, civics, economics, and inquiry.
The students also must write a persuasive essay about a public policy issue, defending their position using the "core democratic values of American constitutional democracy, including life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, public or common good, justice, equality, diversity, truth, popular sovereignty, patriotism, the rule of law and individual rights," according to the MEAP Guide to Reports, Fall 2006.
These topics are covered on the tests regardless of grade level, but older students are held to somewhat higher standards of writing style, supporting evidence presented and cumulative prior knowledge of the subject.
"The state has always had a requirement for writing across all areas, and there's still this requirement," said Milan High School Principal Ron Reed. "Writing isn't a test activity, it's a life activity."
He said the evolution in communication technology has had an inescapable effect on the way students write.
"The form you use in a text message is perfectly fine for that, but you wouldn't use it in a composition for your science teacher," he said.
"We need to think more about purpose and audience as much as we teach them about grammar. When we do that, our kids write better."
Mary Marshall, principal of Creekside Intermediate School in Dexter, said her teachers have found ways to combine social studies and language arts so that students are better prepared for what they will face in their later school years.
"What we do in Dexter is based on what we call 'PASS:' Powerful Authentic Social Studies," Marshall said. "Within that we have a comprehensive economic, historical, geographic and cultural focus.
"We work with students on core democratic values and they are very proficient with them," she said.
Manchester Middle School follows a similar path to integration, said Principal Shanna Spickard.
"There is a lot of overlap between language arts and social studies," Spickard said.
"Fifth-grade teachers Mary Brinker and Irene Barnard are doing a lot with Black History Month and associated literature.
"Kids also take a class on core democratic values; they write sample essays practicing for the MEAP," she added.
Change is on the horizon
Grade level content expectations, or GLCEs (pronounced "gliks") are state guidelines local school districts follow to ensure that the curriculum they are teaching will be material found on tests like the MEAP or ACT.
The state is in the process of releasing new GLCEs in all content areas, with social studies being last in the series.
Districts will have the opportunity to look them over and decide what, if anything, may have to be changed for the 2007-08 school year.
"Milan two years ago approved a social studies curriculum, just prior to new state high school graduation requirements coming out," said Julie Helber, assistant principal of Milan Middle School and curriculum director for the district.
"We have our curriculum in place; when we see the GLCEs we'll adjust accordingly," she said.
Local districts are stuck in limbo until the state releases the new standards, Marshall said.
"We're waiting for the state to come out with new GLCEs," she said. "We're on hold about making any other changes until we have a clearer direction from the state."
Steve Laatsch, principal of the fifth- and sixth grade Heritage School in Saline, is proud of the amount of social studies content in his school's curriculum.
"I think our curriculum is jam-packed with social studies. It's actually an area of high interest for kids," Laatsch said.
"If the state comes back and says they've revamped curriculum expectations, we need to make sure we match up with that."
To reflect changes to state requirements for graduation some high schools already have altered their class offerings.
Manchester High School Principal Kevin Mowrer said the changes were mostly a matter of adding more selections to the menu.
"Freshman year used to be world geography, now it's world history and geography," he said. "Sophomore year is U.S history, and we've added U.S geography; and junior year they take government and economics."
Social studies is not required by the state during senior year, but Manchester offers psychology, sociology and modern world history, which covers the last 50 years.
Students in neighboring Chelsea will see similar changes.
"We're going through a transition," said Chelsea High School Principal Ron Mead. "Starting with the current ninth-graders, the class of 2010, we'll have new requirements."
Freshmen will get their government and economics requirements out of the way in their first year; sophomores will have a choice of four world history classes; and juniors can either take standard U.S. history, or a more in-depth, Advanced Placement (AP) history class.
Beyond state requirements, Chelsea seniors will be offered one semester of Senior Seminar.
Mead said state and local government will be the major focus of the seminar.
"We're trying to develop active citizenship," Mead said. "This will show the kids how they can be involved."
In addition a broad range of social studies electives is available, including economics, sociology, psychology, practical law and AP government.
How they rate
—-INSERT CHARTS OF MEAP SCORES HERE—-
Looking at the test results shown on these charts, several conclusions may be drawn:
First and foremost, MEAP social studies test results in five of the six local school districts not only have outpaced those of other districts in the county as a whole, but they are significantly higher than the state average.
In addition, the scores show a consistent, year-to-year improvement.
Ypsilanti Public Schools have had the lowest ratings in the county on the MEAP, with 2005 scores for ninth grade a full 24 percent below the county average for Level 1 and 2 competency and 17 percent below the state average.
Grade 6 scores were similarly lackluster, at 20 percent and 14 percent respectively.
But the district is taking steps to turn that around, according to Richard Weigel, executive director of educational services.
"We take a careful look at the MEAP and weigh our results against what we teach and make adjustments," Weigel said.
"We are revisiting our social studies curriculum to discern our current strengths and weaknesses. We are increasing our attention on importance with social studies vocabulary, informational reading and informational writing."
A matter of priorities
Although MEAP tests for math, science and language arts have been administered almost annually beginning with third grade, social studies assessments were only administered once at the end of elementary school, after entering sixth grade, and once at the end of middle school, upon entering ninth grade.
Despite that, local educators say they place great value on social studies classes.
"We're doing everything we can to prepare our students, and I like the progression of what we have here" said Helber, explaining that Milan students look first at local government, then state government, then national government.
"The scope and sequence meets the developmental needs of the kids," she added. "I have high expectations for the kids, I think the kids can learn them."
Mead said Chelsea High School is "unique" in having a four-year requirement for social studies.
"It's been a priority for the kids," Mead said. "We're not going to change it, we see it as an advantage. We develop active, socially and ethically responsible people."
Mowrer praised the efforts of Manchester Middle School staff to prepare the students for the rigors of high school,
"I think we have a very strong social studies department at the middle school; they come up here with very solid background," he said.
"We test them when they come in, and last year's freshman class came in at 91 percent proficient and this year's was 95 percent."
Mowrer added that a solid education in social studies is vital to students.
"The reality is, we know they're going to need a lot of social studies background to survive in today's economic and social environment."
Edward Freundl is a reporter for Heritage Newspapers. He can be reached at 1-734-428-8173 or efreundl@heritage.com.
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