Session 1 Objective: Introduction to the IDM and examine NYS Toolkit Samples already established. Have participants identify topics and grade levels to develop our IDM content.
NYS K-12 Social Studies Frameworks and Toolkit Project
The approval of the New York State K–12 Social Studies Framework in April 2014 by the Board of Regents set in motion a series of efforts designed to define and support the best in social studies teaching and learning. The New York State K–12 Social Studies Toolkit and Professional Development Project (the Toolkit), which focuses on curriculum writing resources and the professional development of teachers, is an important step in building on the foundation of the framework.
The New York State K–12 Social Studies Framework defines the content and skills that support a rich and rigorous social studies curriculum. Drawing on the National Council for the Social Studies themes and the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for State Social Studies Standards (National Council for the Social Studies, 2013), the framework is organized around the five learning standards; grade-specific lists of social studies content expressed as Key Ideas, Conceptual Understandings, and Content Specifications; and six categories of Social Studies Practices.
The Toolkit project provides a bridge between the New York State Social Studies Framework and teachers’ classroom practices. Three elements define the Toolkit approach:
Use of the Inquiry Design Model: Fundamental to the Toolkit curriculum work is the Inquiry Design Model (IDMTM), which offers pedagogical suggestions to teachers but relies on their expertise and experience for implementation. Unique to IDM is the BlueprintTM, a one-page presentation of the questions, tasks, and sources that define a curricular inquiry. Within the Toolkit are 84 inquiries: Five at each grade from kindergarten to grade 11 and ten at grade 12 (five each for Economics and Participation in Government). Each of the inquiries features a blueprint and a short description of how the inquiry might be taught. Fourteen of the inquiries (one at each grade from kindergarten to grade 11 and two at grade 12) are fully annotated with detailed explanations highlighting the IDM components.
Refinement of the Toolkit inquiries through field-testing and review: Curriculum work is challenging because it is typically done in the abstract with the writers imagining generic classroom situations and students. In contrast, an iterative development process was used to develop the Toolkit. Writers of the Toolkit inquiries engaged educators and stakeholders in the development process, using feedback from multiple groups of external reviewers and teachers piloting the work in New York classrooms to revise the inquiries throughout the process.
Commitment to professional learning alongside resource development: The third distinguishing element of the Toolkit project is the addition of a set of professional development resources to aid teachers.
The Toolkit Project Throughout the Toolkit development process, New York teachers have worked in collaboration with college and university faculty and New York State Education Department personnel to create resources that support teachers as they implement the New State K-12 Social Studies Framework.
The Toolkit project comprises three parts (see Figure 1 below). The first part, the Conceptual Foundations, describes the principles that inform the IDM. The second part of the Toolkit, Grade-Level Inquiries, is a set of 84 curriculum inquiries that are built around the IDM and reflect the New York State K–12 Social Studies Framework and the New York State P–12 Common Core Standards for English-Language Arts and Literacy. As the inquiries were developed, they were field-tested in classrooms across New York State. This section also includes the IDM templates for creating additional inquiries. The third part of the Toolkit, Professional Learning Resources, houses a set of professional development materials (e.g., PowerPoint slides, handouts, and videos) for use in workshops and turnkey programs.
Development of the Toolkit
After the New York State K-12 Social Studies Framework was published, funding for a set of curriculum resources was made available based on federal Race to the Top monies. The Project Management Team consists of Dr. S. G. Grant, professor of social studies education at Binghamton University; Dr. Kathy Swan, professor of social studies education at the University of Kentucky; Dr. John Lee, professor of social studies education at North Carolina State University; and Ms. Jean Dorak, assistant dean of the Graduate School of Education at Binghamton University.
Work began on the Toolkit project in June 2014 when the Project Management Team met with 14 New York State teachers (one representing each grade from kindergarten to grade 11; two teachers- one for Economics and one for Participation in Government—representing grade 12) who were selected to be curriculum writers. The writers, along with a 42-member Teacher Collaborative Council (three teachers representing each grade from kindergarten to grade 11; six teachers—three for Economics and three for Participation in Government— representing grade 12) were chosen from nearly 400 applicants. The Teacher Collaborative Council, whose primary responsibilities included reviewing and piloting the inquiries and leading professional development opportunities, met with the Project Management Team in August 2014. Later that month, 18 academic reviewers were selected from colleges and universities in New York State and across the United States. These reviewers provided insights into the content and pedagogy included in the inquiries. Content experts in United States and world history, geography, economics, and political science, along with pedagogical experts in social studies methods, English language arts, English for language learners, and students receiving special education services, reviewed the annotated and abridged inquires.
Evaluation of the inquiries by the Teacher Collaborative Council and college and university content and pedagogical experts was just part of the review process. The Social Studies Content Advisory Panel, a group of New York State K–12 and college faculty, provided one level of review; the staff of the New York State Education Department provided a second. State-level social studies consultants from across the United States were also invited to participate in a review of the inquiries through their involvement in the Social Studies Assessment Curriculum and Instruction group (sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers). In each case, the writers used the feedback offered by these groups to revise the inquiries and prepare them for publication.