Globalize DC is a DC-based nonprofit organization that works to increase access to global education, language learning, and study abroad for DC public school students. We have been deeply involved in advocating for inclusion of strong global content and perspectives in the K-12 social studies standards, currently being revised by the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). DC's State Board of Education (SBOE) provided a set of Guiding Principles to OSSE to guide the revision of the standards, and the State Board must approve the final version. It is expected that a vote on the new standards will take place in June 2023. The letter below is written to members of the State Board of Education after a review of the 2nd draft of the new social studies standards, released March 29, 2023. You can access this latest draft document HERE, as well as full documentation of the social studies standards revision process, our comments, and testimony HERE.
We encourage all interested members of our community to sign onto this letter, and add your own comments, if you wish, by filling out the form below. The letter and signatures, and any accompanying comments, will be forwarded to the State Board of Education prior to their vote on the standards.
HERE'S THE LETTER:
Dear Members of the DC State Board of Education,
We believe that the new K-12 social studies standards document, which will determine what all students in DC public schools have the right to learn, is a critically important policy statement reflecting the values and collective vision for our city. They will have a profound impact on DC's next generation of learners. We believe the work so far has been thoughtful, with important and necessary changes to reflect a clear anti-racist approach, inclusion of underrepresented voices, and more attention to democracy and civic engagement.
At the same time, we believe the approach of these new standards to global content is seriously deficient to date, and we urge fundamental changes to create standards that more adequately and intentionally prepare DC students to thrive in the globalized economy and culturally diverse and interconnected society they will inhabit. Specifically, we urge that the DC State Board of Education NOT APPROVE new K-12 social studies standards until they follow the SBOE's own forward-leaning Guiding Principle on Global Perspectives adopted in 2020, which reads:
"All social studies content should be embedded within a global context. The revised D.C. Social Studies Standards should include an explicit, ongoing thread that provides students with a global perspective and global context for their own lives, their history, and their society; that equips students with the content knowledge, skills, experiences, and mindsets that will help prepare them for careers and engaged citizenship in a culturally diverse and globally interconnected world; that explores not just comparisons but connections between peoples of the United States and the rest of the world, historically and in the present."
This will require:
- Incorporating a global competence framework, designed to equip students not only with global content knowledge, but also with skills, mindsets, and experiences that will help prepare them to engage with the wider world.
- More adequately addressing the concept of culture, cultural competencies, and intercultural communication.
- Moving beyond generic, thematic language to include more specific language clearly identifying essential content.
- Incorporating standards that bring a global lens across all grade levels. Students need to understand the global context and connections in subjects beyond World History and Geography (ie, US History, DC History, US Government, Civics).
As a global capital, with a unique concentration of global expertise and resources, as well as a broad spectrum of careers requiring global and cultural competencies, DC has a particular imperative to adopt strong global K-12 social studies standards, and is well positioned to implement these standards and associated curriculum with strong partner support and involvement. DC should be a model for the nation in the quality of its global standards.
Further, for far too long, Black, Brown, lower income, and otherwise disadvantaged students have been underrepresented in international careers and studies. In DC schools, access to global learning and experience with cultural diversity is not equitably available across the city. This is why it is so important that we adopt new social studies standards that set expectations that ALL students across the city, regardless of school or neighborhood, must develop critical global knowledge, skills, and mindsets so that they will be prepared to take their places on a global stage.
Thank you for your consideration of these recommendations. We look forward to future engagement during this standards approval process and later implementation. Please let us know if you have any thoughts on how we can help you to make these changes happen.
Signed by:
