FCPS to roll out new sixth‑ and seventh‑grade social‑studies frameworks; district emphasizes civic skills and student programs

Dr. Colin Bernard, curriculum supervisor for social studies and student leadership, presented the district’s social‑studies curriculum work and related student programs, outlining curriculum alignment, assessment changes and extracurricular civic opportunities.

Bernard said Maryland’s state frameworks define six social‑studies standards and that FCPS is embedding environmental and financial literacy where the standards require them. He described a content and skills approach that emphasizes disciplinary literacy — reading, writing and source analysis — and presented a timeline for revised middle‑school coursework: FCPS plans to implement the new sixth‑grade geography‑centered framework in 2026 and the new seventh‑grade framework in 2027 to allow a phased roll‑out that aligns with students moving through the pipeline.

On assessment, Bernard said government (the civics/government end‑of‑course assessment) is now an end‑of‑course MCAP assessment and that the assessment was included as 20 percent of the overall course grade in the most recent administration. The social‑studies team also uses district benchmarks — evidence‑based argument sets (EBAs) that mirror MCAP document‑based tasks — and an eleventh‑grade research project in modern world history that requires annotated bibliographies and source evaluation.

Bernard described numerous student programs and community partnerships that supplement classroom learning: a county Envirothon (Catoctin High won county competition and will advance to Maryland Envirothon), Climate Youth Institute chapters at several high schools, a county Law Day and Civics & Law Academy with the Bar Association of Frederick County, Mock Trial in partnership with Maryland Bar and local judiciary, Model United Nations hosted with Hood College support, National History Day coordination with Rose Hill Manor, and a Maryland General Assembly page program that sends seniors to Annapolis. He also reviewed the Frederick County Association of Student Councils (FCASC), which runs four general assemblies and elects an executive board and a student member of the Board of Education through an electoral‑college style system.

Committee members raised concerns about civic knowledge and the constitution. Bernard said the curriculum introduces foundational civic concepts in early grades (K–3: rules, freedom, equality) and introduces the U.S. Constitution by third grade, with more in‑depth work on the founding documents and amendments in fourth and fifth grades and continued spiral through middle and high school. On potentially sensitive or controversial topics, Bernard referenced district Policy 516 and its implementing regulation to stress curricular connection, developmental appropriateness and multiple perspectives. He said, “We present. We do not promote. We teach students how to think. How look at this document. How do you know it's credible? How can you corroborate the information in it?”

Bernard also noted the state’s upcoming guidance on high‑quality instructional materials for social studies; FCPS supervisors have provided feedback to the Maryland State Department of Education and expect the state rubric to guide future material selection. No policy adoptions were decided at the meeting; the presentation was informational and the district invited further questions and follow up by email.

Speakers highlighted that the social‑studies program connects classroom content to extracurricular experiences and community partners, and they requested continued emphasis on disciplinary literacy, source evaluation and civic knowledge across grade levels.