Illinois State Content Standards - Social Studies

Illinois State Content Standards - Social Studies

1. Challenges

   • Some subareas (i.e. psychology) don't have standards
   • Illinois is adopting Common Core standards in other content areas, which poses some challenges to interdisciplinary planning
   • Standards are static; they do not take into account the context in which one is teaching

2. Strengths

   • Standards for different subareas (history, political science, etc.) are separated, making it easier to find standards based on which subarea one is teaching within
   • Related standards for different grade levels are shown side-by-side, allowing teachers to see what students should have already learned and what they should be prepared to learn
   • An abstract detailing the "why" of the standards is provided