North Allegheny social studies review recommends K–12 authentic assessments, revised pathways and a civic portfolio

Joelle Keats, social studies department chair for the North Allegheny School District, presented a curriculum review to the school board on March 12 recommending common authentic assessments, a review of course pathways and a civic-portfolio initiative to document students' civic learning and engagement.

Keats said the review began in September and involved teachers across grade levels, outside interviews with higher-education faculty and alignment with the district's strategic performance indicators. "Our job is really just to prepare them for whatever comes next and that is unknowable," Keats said, adding that the department's goal is to prepare students to be "critical thinkers" and engaged citizens.

The review identified five major needs: strengthening elementary curriculum structure after post‑COVID schedule changes, meeting diverse learners' needs at the middle‑school level, reinforcing reading and writing skills tied to social studies, increasing interdisciplinary collaboration (especially with the library and ELA), and improving assessment quality. Frank (last name not specified in the transcript), who presented the assessment recommendation, said current district assessments lean heavily on factual recall and recommended performance-based tasks to measure historical thinking, source analysis and argument development.

Key recommendations were: develop common authentic assessments and expand performance-based learning across K–12; review and update pathways and scope and sequence so content and civic education are distributed deliberately; build a student civic portfolio that records research, community engagement and skills development across grades and culminates in practical civic steps such as voter-registration support for eligible students; and embed media literacy and research skills in the curriculum.

Keats cited feedback from five universities that pointed to college-level gaps in reading endurance and information literacy, which helped shape the department's emphasis on research and writing skills. The department plans to work with the library department to provide common research experiences across middle schools and to sequence skill development so students build capacity year over year.

Board members praised the student-centered focus and the emphasis on skills. Board member Mrs. Blackburn said she especially appreciated the cross-grade approach and the library collaboration. "I especially appreciated how you were, bringing it across from elementary on up through and the collaboration with everyone including the library," Blackburn said. Miss Hardy asked Keats to clarify "historical thinking"; Keats described it as evaluating sources, connecting past and present and developing argumentation rather than rote memorization.

The presentation also addressed instructional materials. Keats said the district's current K–5 resource will expire next year and that the department will evaluate vendors in late April and May. Keats told the board she did not anticipate a substantially different budget impact from past adoptions but said the curriculum will drive resource selection: "I don't want the resource to drive curriculum. I want to know what the best curriculum looks like and find resources that align with it." The board asked for updates on vendor choices and budget implications as the review proceeds.

No formal board actions were recorded during the presentation; the department asked the board to consider the recommendations and next steps for curriculum revision and implementation.