Saint Paul Public Schools

Effective 2008/2009

High School Core Social Studies Course Offerings

The social studies curriculum is being updated on its Wiki site. The link is http://socialstudiesk-12stpaul.pbwiki.com. Please check this site for the most up to date syllabi, lessons, and curriculum.

Social Studies education in St. Paul schools prepares students to disseminate information, critically think, analyze primary and secondary sources, write and speak effectively through a variety of subject areas. All district Social Studies courses embed state standards and follow a common scope and sequence among all high schools effective 2008/2009.

Courses include regular, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate instruction in the subject areas of History, Economics, Government, World History, Human Geography, and related elective courses.

Social Studies curriculum is developed to meet the needs of our student population, state standards, and district goals. Teachers across school sites share common syllabi, create model lessons, work in teams, and teach anchor lesson across shared courses.

The St. Paul Public Schools social studies department works as partners with a variety of community organizations including The Historical Society, Global Classrooms, and Historians in the Schools, MAGE, and Kids Voting. Through these relationships, students and staff participate in events locally and nationally including Model United Nations, History Day, GeoFest, school elections, guest speakers, and daily symposiums.

Grade	Regular	IB	AP
9^th	World History (.5 or 1.0)	IB Prep U.S. History (1.0)	Pre AP Social Studies with a world history focus (.5 minimum) and/or Pre AP Social Studies with a human geography focus – Elective (.5 minimum)
10^th	Human Geography (.5 or 1.0)	World History IB Prep (1.0)	AP Human Geography (1.0) or AP European History (1.0) or AP World History (1.0)
11^th	U.S. History (1.0)	History of the Americas (1.0)	AP U.S. History (1.0)
12^th	Econ & Government (.5)	20^th Century Topics (1.0)	AP Government (.5) and AP Economics (.5)

The state requirement for Social Studies is 3 ½ years.

Note regarding IB courses:

• Students who want to challenge themselves or who are excelling in regular social studies courses should be encouraged to do so early in their high school careers. Example; moving from 9^th grade Regular to 10^th grade World History IB Prep. By offering 9^th grade Regular World History, students will receive content knowledge that will help transition regular students to IB Prep for those who wish to challenge themselves.

• Students moving from IB Prep to Regular courses for 11^th and 12^th grade will have the option to take electives in 11^th grade if they met the U.S. History standard by successfully completing IB Prep U.S. History, or its comparable course. These students will also be required to meet the government and economics standard in 12^th grade.