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District 200 plans fall pilot of new middle‑school social‑studies materials including DBQ Project
Summary
District 200 staff outlined a planned fall pilot for middle‑school social‑studies materials—History Alive (TCI), My World (Savvas) and the DBQ Project—covering roughly 15 classrooms; the board will be asked in May to approve pilot purchases after cost estimates are finalized.
District 200 staff told the board on April 22 that the middle‑school social‑studies curriculum will enter a fall pilot of new core materials and supplementary resources designed to align with recently updated Illinois standards and frequent instructional mandates.
Mr. Chichester described the district’s three‑phase adoption work and said the steering committee reviewed multiple vendors before choosing two core texts—History Alive (Teachers’ Curriculum Institute) and My World (Savvas)—and the DBQ Project, which provides scaffolded document‑based question units. The committee intends the pilot to be classroom‑scale: nearly every middle‑school social‑studies teacher (roughly 15 classrooms across grades six through eight) will pilot units from each vendor for one semester and use DBQ mini‑units to bolster reading and writing in social studies.
Presenters told the board that social‑studies teachers face a high number of state instructional mandates (presenters estimated approximately 40 statewide mandates, with about 10–12 specific to social studies) and that many current textbooks are dated or out of print. The planned pilot would replace current textbooks in tested units and include both classroom hardcovers and digital access for students; exact long‑term costs will be forecast after the pilot, and a purchase request will be presented to the board in May.
During questions, presenters said national vendors vary in how thoroughly they include Illinois‑specific mandates and that the district can add Illinois‑specific materials where needed. Presenters also emphasized teacher involvement in selecting pilot units and outreach to partner districts that currently use the materials. The DBQ Project—developed with district partners in Illinois—was singled out as a targeted tool to give middle‑school students manageable primary‑source practice; steering‑committee teachers recommended using DBQ units as focused writing and reading supplements rather than a standalone curriculum.
What happens next: the district will pilot materials in the fall, gather teacher and student feedback and return cost estimates and a formal recommendation to the board in May for purchase approval.
