Accelerating Access & Adoption

DIVERSE CONTENT & CREATORS | EDUCATOR RESOURCES | SHIFTING THE NARRATIVE

Discover resources that streamline access and adoption of culturally responsive social studies to implement, update, or shift to new, transformative curriculum and teaching methods.

Here, you'll find information on:

Frameworks and roadmaps to implement high-quality, culturally sustaining social studies at the school system-level
Strategies for successfully identifying and adopting a new social studies curriculum at your school or distric including ways to build capacity and set the stage for success in adopting a new approach to social studies

Resource	Origin	Purpose	Audience
Defining Quality	Social Studies Accelerator	The Social Studies Accelerator produced this definition of quality in collaboration with our Advisory Committee and Teacher Advisory Group - an alliance of nine classroom educators and education professionals - to emphasize current trends in social studies education. It reflects a shift towards inquiry and project- based learning, civic engagement, and culturally sustaining instructional materials and resources.	Everyone
C3 Framework	College, Career, and Civic Life (C3)	The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History has two aims. First, to support states in creating standards that prepare young people for effective and successful participation in college, careers, and civic life. And second, the C3 Framework will help educators provide students with a robust social studies curriculum through inquiry, building essential critical thinking skills and practical ideas to engage in their communities.	Everyone
Standards for Social Studies	NCSS	The NCSS curriculum standards provide a framework for professional deliberation and planning about what should occur in a social studies program in grades pre-K through 12. The framework provides ten themes that represent a way of organizing knowledge about the human experience in the world.	Everyone
Cultural Competence Framework	Boston Public Schools	Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Practices (C.L.S.P.) draw upon, infuse and evoke students’ existing schema, experiences, funds of knowledge, and perspectives to optimally facilitate learning. This framework outlines the competencies, attributes, observable behaviors, and practices for different levels of proficiency.	Teachers, Educators
Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education Framework		The CR-S framework is intended to help education stakeholders create student-centered learning environments that affirm cultural identities; foster positive academic outcomes; develop students’ abilities to connect across lines of difference; elevate historically marginalized voices; empower students as agents of social change; and contribute to individual student engagement, learning, growth, and achievement through the cultivation of critical thinking. The framework was designed to support education stakeholders in developing and implementing policies that educate all students effectively and equitably, as well as provide appropriate supports and services to promote positive student outcomes.

FRAMEWORKS TO DEFINE HIGH-QUALITY, CULTURALLY-SUSTAINING SOCIAL STUDIES

TAKING ACTION TO IMPLEMENT CULTURALLY-RESPONSIVE CURRICULUM

Resource	Origin	Purpose	Audience
inquireED’s Curriculum Review Guide	inquirED	While many instructional leaders seek to develop or purchase curriculum, they are finding little or no guidance around what constitutes an effective social studies curriculum, or what criteria define high-quality instructional materials. In consultation with our partner schools and districts, inquirED has created a Curriculum Review Guide to support instructional leaders as they develop and search for social studies curriculum. The Curriculum Review Guide provides evaluation rubrics across five key domains: Inquiry-Based Instruction Culturally Responsive Education Standards-Based Instruction and Assessment High-Quality, Diverse Sources Learner Supports and Continuous PD	Educators; District-Level Decision-Makers
Roadmap	Educating for American Democracy	An inquiry-based content framework for excellence in history and civics for all learners that is organized by major themes and questions, supported by key concepts. It is vertically spiraled across four grade bands (K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12),and offers a vision for the integration of history and civic education throughout grades K–12.	Everyone
A Brief Guide to Making Your Schools More Culturally Responsive"/>	NYU Steinhardt Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and The Transformation of Schools	This document was developed to provide guidance on how to make your school and district more culturally responsive. Through examples and resources, this document concretely outlines ways to use research and/or policy to advance any of the following four aspects of culturally responsive education in your school: Curriculum; School climate; Recruitment, retention and retainment of teachers and staff; and Parent and family engagement.	District-level Decision-Makers
Cultural Competence Framework	Boston Public Schools	Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Practices (C.L.S.P.) draw upon, infuse and evoke students’ existing schema, experiences, funds of knowledge, and perspectives to optimally facilitate learning. This framework outlines the competencies, attributes, observable behaviors, and practices for different levels of proficiency.	Teachers, Educators
Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education Framework		The CR-S framework is intended to help education stakeholders create student-centered learning environments that affirm cultural identities; foster positive academic outcomes; develop students’ abilities to connect across lines of difference; elevate historically marginalized voices; empower students as agents of social change; and contribute to individual student engagement, learning, growth, and achievement through the cultivation of critical thinking. The framework was designed to support education stakeholders in developing and implementing policies that educate all students effectively and equitably, as well as provide appropriate supports and services to promote positive student outcomes.