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Committee unanimously recommends Maryland social studies framework revisions for full‑board adoption
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Summary
The committee voted unanimously to recommend the revised Maryland social studies frameworks to the full State Board; staff said the edits were limited in scope, developed by a Social Studies Framework and Validation Committee and shaped by LEA and public input.
The Education Policy Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the full Maryland State Board of Education consider adopting revisions to the state social studies frameworks.
Peter Phineas Ramsey, director of social studies at the Maryland State Department of Education, said the committee took a "scalpel approach": limited, precise edits rather than a wholesale rewrite. He said about 3% of high‑school objectives, 7% of middle‑school objectives and 9% of elementary objectives would be revised, largely for clarity and alignment rather than to change major content.
Ramsey described a sequence of engagement: unanimous SFEC approval of initial revisions in December 2024, targeted feedback from local social studies supervisors in February, a public comment period and four three‑hour workshops in May attended by supervisors from 23 of 24 LEAs. “The final edits…are focused, purposeful, and responsive to the needs of the field,” Ramsey told the committee.
Committee members praised the responsiveness to feedback. Dr. Monica Lewis raised a technical question about the use of “and/or” language in objectives and the process used to decide where that construction would remain. Ramsey said staff and supervisors reviewed each instance and removed most uses, keeping a single, discussed instance in grade 6 where supervisors recommended retention.
Motion and vote: Committee member Monica Lewis moved to recommend that the full board give permission to adopt the revised social studies frameworks; the motion was seconded by a committee member identified as Monica in the record and passed unanimously. The committee chair announced the motion carried and said the recommendation will be sent to the full board for action.
Ramsey told the committee the revisions preserve the strengths of Maryland’s existing frameworks while clarifying language, updating examples to promote inclusivity and local relevance and removing redundancy to improve alignment across grade levels.
The committee’s vote was a procedural recommendation to the full board; the full State Board of Education will consider final adoption at a future meeting.
