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American Civics

Public Hearing

5/13/24

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LB 399 and Statute 79-724

“It is the responsibility of society to ensure that youth are given the opportunity to become competent, responsible, patriotic, and civil citizens to ensure a strong, stable, just, and prosperous America. Such a citizenry necessitates that every member thereof be knowledgeable of our nation’s history, government, geography, and economic system.”

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Some of the Requirements:

Committee on American Civics
Two public meetings, one with public comment
Keep minutes
Ensure Social Studies Curriculum is aligned with social studies standards (2019)

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Incorporate one or more of the following:

Administration of a written test that is identical to the entire civics portion of the naturalization test used by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
Attendance or participation between the commencement of 8th grade and completion of twelfth grade in a meeting of a public body followed by a completion of a project or paper…
Completion of a project or paper and a class presentation on a person or persons or an event commemorated by a holiday listed…

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Results

Government Class - 10th graders
Observed August 14, 2023 School Board Meeting

Student drug testing policy

Highlights

Relevant topic to student life at school
Heard public comment
Better understanding of local government

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Student Reactions

"I see that each person has their time to talk and they listen to their opinion…"
“I believe the CPS school board meeting was as professional as it gets…It was good to observe the people of Crete’s questions and concerns about the kids and school district…I’m glad parents are willing to have opinions on choices Crete Public Schools makes.”
"From my observation mostly the people who showed up to the CPS School Board meeting are white people. I did not see no Hispanic people."
"I think it’s nice they have a list of the agenda so people can follow along. The Board does a great job of letting everyone that wants to talk about their concerns...”

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Future Plans

2024-25 (next year) - No changes
2025-26 - New course progression for social studies

Government class moves to Senior level (more on that coming up)
Project will move to American Studies course
Completion of a project or paper and a class presentation on a person or persons or an event commemorated by a holiday listed…

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New High School Course Progression

	2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR	2025-2026 SCHOOL YEAR	2026-2027 SCHOOL YEAR	2027-2028 SCHOOL YEAR
9th grade year	2028 Cohort Geography/ AP Geo	2029 Cohort Geography / AP Geo	2030 Cohort Geography / AP Geo	2031 Cohort Geography / AP Geo
10th grade year	2027 Cohort Government & Econ / AP Gov	2028 Cohort American	2029 Cohort American	2030 Cohort American
11th grade year	2026 Cohort World / Dual Credit World	2027 Cohort World	2028 Cohort World	2029 Cohort World
12th grade year	2025 Cohort Elective - Psych I & II / AP Geo	2026 Cohort Elect (AP human / psych)	2027 Cohort Elect (AP human / psych)	2028 Cohort Government

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Why Change?

Students need a better foundation in geography to understand history, civics, and economics

Migration, culture, political processes, ag land use, urban land use and economic patterns
Understanding maps, tables, charts, graphs, etc.

Government is more relevant to seniors as they prepare to live in communities on their own

Reaching adulthood and making their own decisions
Voting age

Notes (if needed)

Geography is more than just identifying country locations, although that will definitely be a focus since it is a need. Human geography also addresses the world around us - migration, culture, political processes, ag land use, urban land use and economic patterns. It’s a little bit of history, government, and economics but it focuses on how things are today. With this foundation, students are better prepared for our future social studies classes.

A major focus on human geography understanding information shown in maps, tables, charts, graphs, infographics, and images - primary and secondary sources. These skills are used throughout high school and not just in social studies. This helps students build these skills earlier so they can apply them in later courses.

Government can be a complicated topic. We feel seniors, as 17-18 years olds, are not only better prepared to learn these concepts but also at the point in their lives where they can apply what they learn directly to their future situations. They are preparing to live on their own in communities and on college campuses where they will encounter the impact of government policies and regulations every day, both locally and nationally. Most seniors are also reaching voting age, so this becomes much more relevant to them as they are able to participate in democracy.

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Curriculum Process - K-12 Social Studies

Begins this summer
Researching best practices
Breaking down standards
Preparing to evaluate resources

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Progression of Courses/Standards

All grade level standards are organized into four disciplines:

Civics
Economics
Geography
History

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Grade level themes K-8

K: Myself and Others

1st: Families - Living, Learning and Working Together

2nd: Neighborhood

3rd: Communities

4th: Nebraska Studies

5th: U.S. Studies

6th: World Studies I

7th: World Studies II - Geography

8th: United States History