November 15, 2005
O'Connell Announces Adoption of New History-Social
Science Instructional Materials for Grades K-8
SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell announced today that the State Board of Education (SBE) adopted new history-social science instructional materials for students in kindergarten through grade eight on November 9, 2005.
"Teachers need instructional materials based on sound scholarship and accurate content to effectively implement the state's curriculum framework and academic content standards," O'Connell said. "These newly adopted materials will impact student achievement in history and social science for the next six years."
The Education Code Section 60200(b)(1) calls for adoptions to occur "not less than two times every six years" for language arts, mathematics, science, and history-social science. This is the first adoption in history-social science since 1999.
The adoption process began in 2003 when the SBE adopted the Criteria for Evaluating Instructional Materials in History Social Science. These criteria are provided to publishers to assist them in the development of instructional materials for adoption in California. Early in 2005 reviewers from throughout the state were appointed and trained to evaluate the submitted programs for alignment with the History-Social Science Content Standards, the History-Social Science Framework, and the Criteria for Evaluating Instructional Materials in History-Social Science. Reviewers included classroom teachers and content experts in the field of history or related social sciences. Reviewers conducted their own independent review of the programs and met in July to deliberate on the 12 programs submitted for the 2005 History-Social Science Adoption. The reports of the reviewers were forwarded to the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission (Curriculum Commission). The Curriculum Commission took action on the programs in September and sent its recommendations to the SBE.
Extensive public comment was received by the Curriculum Commission and by the SBE both in writing and in testimony at three public hearings held in September and November. The majority of public comment focused on the instructional materials submitted for grades six and seven. Concerns were expressed about the accurate portrayal of world civilizations and their religious beliefs. In addition, public comment focused on the inclusion of specific groups in the materials. The Commission recommended and the SBE took action to ensure that the instructional materials are accurate by approving specific edits and corrections to the submitted instructional materials.
"I am proud of the members of the State Board and the Curriculum Commission for their careful review of the instructional materials and for their concern that the materials be accurate. Our elementary and middle school students in California will soon have excellent textbooks and instructional materials that teach to the state's content standards," O'Connell said.
The instructional materials have been on display since April 2005 at Learning Resources Display Centers located throughout the state. Final versions of the instructional materials with corrections and edits will be available to schools in early 2006. The list of materials adopted by the SBE is available at California 2005 History-Social Science - Instructional Materials and a list of the display centers is available at Learning Resource Display Centers - Curriculum Frameworks & Instructional Materials.
