Florida is now the gold standard for social studies education

When it comes to determining exactly what public schools are required to teach and students must learn in any given class, look no further than the Board of Education state standards.

In a perfect world, every student would pass every class from kindergarten through senior year having acquired the skills, knowledge, and analytical abilities that are precisely laid out in state or district standards. Alas, we do not live in a perfect world, and the public school system is far from perfect.

First, not all state standards are created equal. A few are comprehensive with explicit language; others minimize certain areas of study and do not dive into detail as to exactly what must be “mastered” by students.

Second, even if the state standards are nearly flawless, in most cases there is no test to measure whether students have learned the required material and developed the requisite critical thinking skills.

Regarding the first problem, 39 states have generally adopted the National Council for the Social Studies’ College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies State Standards. This framework aligns with “academic programs to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies” and has an entire dimension devoted to “Taking Informed Action.”

The National Association of........

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