The Illinois State Board of Education is in the process of creating resources to support revisions made to the Illinois Social Science Standards. These revisions are scheduled to be implemented by Illinois K-12 schools in the 2022-23 school year. These revisions were informed by a 2020 report by the Illinois Social Science Review Committee.

A final copy of the revised standards is slated to be published in April of 2022, along with a report from the Inclusive American History Commission with guidance on how to unpack and implement the standards. In the meantime, the Illinois Civics Hub is hosting a series of informational webinars and Administrator Academies (open to teachers and administrators) to explore the context, implications, and instructional shifts of the revisions to position classrooms to “hit the ground running” in the fall of 2022. 

A crosswalk of the revisions is available on the Illinois Civics Hub website, along with toolkits to support media literacy, the Inclusive History Requirement, creating safe, brave spaces for inquiry,  supports for classroom discussions, and informed action through service learning per the standards.

One resource that aligns with the instructional shifts of the revised social studies standards is the Educating for American Democracy (EAD)  Roadmap. The EAD Roadmap and Pedagogy Companion provide support to districts to implement the revised Illinois K-12 Social Science standards and civics course requirements with resources, a pedagogy guide, and vertically-aligned themes for inquiry that address today’s curricular design challenges.  If you want to learn more about the EAD Roadmap, visit our Webinar Archive to view our past sessions on this national endeavor.

This past summer, the Illinois Civics Hub hosted a series of webinars that are available on-demand to support Powerful Pedagogy Practices aligned to the EAD Roadmap and Illinois Social Science standards. 

• Using Essential and Supporting Questions in Curriculum Design
• Building Inquiry-Based Lessons
• Using Performance Assessments in Social Studies
• Building Better Rubrics for Student Feedback
• Making Thinking Visible
• Creating a Collaborative and Reflective Environment for Inquiry
• Navigating Current and Societal Issue Discussions
• Simulations of Democratic Processes
• Equipping Students to Take the L.E.A.D. with Service Learning

This summer, the Illinois Civics Hub will be providing free PD around the state of Illinois to support the implementation of the revisions and the proven practices of civic education per the middle and high school civics course requirements. Sign up for our monthly newsletter to learn more information as it becomes available.