District staff describe expanded, standards-based social-studies assessments and new AP offerings

Trustees heard presentations from district social-studies facilitators about classroom assessment changes and new course offerings at the secondary level.

Kelly Hopkinson, the elementary social-studies facilitator, told the board that over the past decade the district expanded from a single fourth-grade assessment to an approach that assesses each standard once and aligns assessments to standards-based rubrics. Hopkinson described project-based learning examples — including museum partnerships, reenactments and hands-on activities tied to Wyoming history — and said teachers design district assessments collaboratively so that the work can be performance-based rather than limited to paper-and-pencil tests.

“Teachers created every one of these assessments, either with myself or as groups, or they create choice boards and kids can pick what suits them,” Hopkinson said, describing how assessments are aligned with the district’s K–12 standards and how they integrate with ELA and science where appropriate.

Secondary facilitator Celeste Sedrick (identified in the meeting as the district’s secondary social-studies curriculum facilitator) reviewed course sequencing at the junior-high and high-school levels and outlined new and enriched course options. She said seventh grade focuses on geography and the early part of U.S. history; ninth and tenth graders may take either World Cultures or World History, and eleventh-grade U.S. history covers Reconstruction to the present.

Sedrick highlighted new advanced offerings: AP Human Geography (recently implemented for ninth and tenth graders) and a new AP World History course planned to focus on modern world history. The district also offers college-level U.S. history options and electives such as psychology, sociology and criminal justice.

Sedrick described benefits for students coming through the district’s dual-language immersion (DLI) pathway: students who studied social studies in Spanish at lower grades continue to see strong retention and take world-culture and other courses in Spanish at the high-school level.

Both presenters said curriculum work has included literacy strategies, primary-source use, and districtwide planning with outside partners to create guaranteed, viable curricula across schools.

Trustees asked questions and later thanked the presenters for the update.