U-46 syncing up social studies classes

In a matter of months, high-school students in Elgin Area School District U-46's social studies classes will all be on the same page.

In an effort to improve and intensify its curriculum, social studies courses have been analyzed and streamlined, Elgin High School social studies and world language divisional Jeff Feucht told the school board Monday.

Regardless of teacher or school, students in the district's three required high-school courses -- U.S. history, economics and civics -- will take common final exams in their respective subjects by fall 2010. Teachers also will follow common pacing guides, to know what to teach when.

A team of representatives from the district's six high schools first began meeting last summer, Feucht said.

"Teachers first began working with 'big ideas' around which common curriculum should be designed," Feucht said.

The group later developed pacing guides for each of the subjects.

"The aim was to get teachers to stay within a range of days covering the same material," Feucht said. "It allows for teacher flexibility, but lets them know what they have to cover in a semester's time."

Teaching templates, available to teachers on the district's intranet, were aligned with Illinois State Learning Standards.

These templates give teachers examples of target vocabulary words, primary documents to teach, and "artifacts" or visual aids, to use along with lessons, Feucht said.

U.S. history teachers gave a common final exam last January, Streamwood social studies divisional Mike Demovsky told the board. Civics and economics departments hope to pilot a common final during final exams next fall.

The group also is working to create a common pacing guide for seventh- and eighth-grade social studies, Demovsky said.

Board member Maria Bidelman asked Feucht what the student responses to the streamlined curriculum have been so far.

"It's really powerful for kids to be able to talk about common things their learning," Feucht said, jokingly adding, "we all know history's the hot topic at the lunch table."