Changes include greater focus on U.S., Jersey history in lower grades
By:Nicole Taylor
The district’s social studies curriculum has been improved and updated to be closer in alignment with state standards, administrators said at Monday night’s school board meeting.
Alan Friedman, district social studies supervisor, presented the changes made to the curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade. The presentation listed the current curriculum items and explained what the new or improved curricula would be.
"In the future, in kindergarten through the fifth grade, we will infuse more components of civics, economics, geography, and N.J., U.S. and world histories," he said.
In the middle school level, no substantive changes were anticipated for the sixth and seventh grades, said Mr. Friedman. Changes may be made at the eighth-grade level to "more closely align the curriculum to reflect state expectations for our students."
At the high school level, the world history and United States history courses will be "realigned to state standards," he said. In addition, the curriculum "will also move in the direction of including more AP electives," he said.
As his presentation drew to a close, Mr. Friedman recommended that the board continue the "support for professional curricular development, and support for the purchase of materials that support changes in the curriculum."
Superintendent Robert Gulick asked Mr. Friedman for an assessment of the district’s program.
"At the high school, we’re in the best shape," said Mr. Friedman. "As far as the ninth grade, the standard level course is in desperate need of a new textbook that reaches state expectations."
He said that sixth and seventh grades were "in very fine shape," but that he may need to ask the board for more materials for eighth and fifth grades.
"Part of the reason that there is low participation at the polls is that people don’t know how our government works," said Mr. Gulick. "How are we doing in preparing out students for participation in government?"
Mr. Friedman said that civics was included in the curriculum at most levels.
"In the ninth through twelfth grades we are fine in terms of civics," he said. "In the middle school level the topical approach has a government section. We may have a weakness in our K-5 program as it relates to civics."
Board member Lou Possemato agreed with Mr. Gulick that participation in government was a problem.
"If we’re doing a good job why don’t our young people vote?" he asked. "What can we do to make them get involved more when they get out of high school?"
Mr. Friedman said that the social studies curriculum did an adequate job of preparing students for participation in government, but that studies have shown that many young people have low expectations for the government.
"We also do an exceptional job with our extracurricular activities, such as Model UN or Model Congress," he said. "Studies show many different reasons why there is low participation. I think that some responsibility for the lack of interest lies with the political parties."