Enduring Skills: Social Studies (K-12)

The C3 (College, Career, & Civic Life) Framework provides information on the priorities that will be central in the new Social Studies Standards. The framework is based on an inquiry arc that promotes developing and exploring meaningful questions that are grounded in 4 dimensions of social studies (Civics, Economics, Geography, History). This naturally integrates the ELA & Literacy Standards.

Currently, Social Studies in Kentucky is still based on the Program of Studies, Core Content for Assessment 4.1, and US History Quality Core Standards (High School). The following list blends these skills so they will be applicable now and after the new standards are fully implemented.

(PDF Download)

1)Apply a structured process to complete a task (C3 Framework: Inquiry Arc, see Table 1 below)

  1. Develop questions & plan inquiries (C3 Framework- Dimension 1)
  2. Apply disciplinary tools & concepts (C3 Framework- Dimension 2)
  3. Evaluating sources and using evidence(C3 Framework- Dimension 3)
  4. Communicating conclusions and taking informed action (C3 Framework- Dimension 4)

2)Analyze/Evaluate interactions &inter-relationships among individuals and groups

  1. Including concepts such as:
  2. cause and effect
  3. interdependence
  4. impact of unique perspectives on interactions
  5. inter-relationships between government, culture, geography, & economics

3)Construct arguments & critique the reasoning of others

  1. Including contexts such as:
  2. Problems (past or present) and solutions
  3. Taking a stand on a current issue

4)Connect content information to current events and real world examples

  1. Students will need to be able to apply information and concepts to historical and current events thereby comparing and contrasting events in different time periods

5)Demonstrate an understanding of central ideas or concepts ** (through the following sub-skills)

  1. Explaining ideas or concepts
  2. Interpreting
  3. Summarizing
  4. Paraphrasing
  5. Classifying
  6. Explaining
  7. Interpreting
  8. Exemplifying
  9. Inferring

(**based on the “understanding” level of Blooms Revised Taxonomy)

The assessment parameters are defined by the concepts & skills contained in the C3 Framework: Dimension 2 ( (PDF Download-pg. 29)).

From Dimension 2: Applying Disciplinary Concepts & Tools

THE FOUR CORE DISCIPLINESwithin social studies provide the intellectual context for studying how humans have interacted with each other and with the environment over time. Each of these disciplines—civics, economics, geography, and history—offers a unique way of thinking and organizing knowledge as well as systems for verifying knowledge. Dimension 2 focuses on the disciplinary concepts and tools students need to understand and apply as they study the specific content typically described in state standards. These disciplinary ideas are the lenses students use in their inquiries, and the consistent and coherent application of these lenses throughout the grades should lead to deep and enduring understanding.

A key distinction between a framework and a set of content standards is the difference between conceptual and curricular content. Curricular content specifies the particular ideas to be taught and the grade levels at which to teach them; conceptual content is the bigger set of ideas that frame the curricular content. For example, rather than identify every form of governmental power, the C3 Framework expects students in grades 6–8 to “explain the powers and limits of the three branches of government, public officials, and bureaucracies at different levels in the United States and in other countries.” Similarly, rather than delineate every kind of map, the C3 Framework expects students in grades 3–5 to “create maps and other graphic representations of both familiar and unfamiliar places.”

The C3 Framework takes this approach of describing concepts and skills rather than curricular content because there are significant differences among states in terms of what is taught and when. If and when the Irish potato famine might be taught, for example, is a decision best left to state and local decision makers. The C3 Framework in general, and Dimension 2 in particular, is intended to serve as a frame for organizing curricular content, rather than a prescription for the specific content to be taught.