Benchmarks

Local norms for local students when combined with no standards are problematic.

Ohio state standards…are pretty good and local assessment should be grounded on them.

Grant Wiggins

History
Students use materials drawn from the diversity of human experience to analyze and interpret significant events, patterns and themes in the history of Ohio, the United States and the world.

People in Societies
Students use knowledge of perspectives, practices and products of cultural, ethnic and social groups to analyze the impact of their commonality and diversity within local, national, regional and global settings.

Geography
Students use knowledge of geographic locations, patterns and processes to show the interrelationship between the physical environment and human activity, and to explain the interactions that occur in an increasingly interdependent world.

Economics
Students use economic reasoning skills and knowledge of major economic concepts, issues and systems in order to make informed choices as producers, consumers, savers, investors, workers and citizens in an interdependent world.

Government
Students use knowledge of the purposes, structures and processes of political systems at the local, state, national and international levels to understand that people create systems of government as structures of power and authority to provide order, maintain stability and promote the general welfare.

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities
Students use knowledge of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in order to examine and evaluate civic ideals and to participate in community life and the American democratic system.

Social Studies Skills and Methods
Students collect, organize, evaluate and synthesize information from multiple sources to draw logical conclusions. Students communicate this information using appropriate social studies terminology in oral, written or multimedia form and apply what they have learned to societal issues in simulated or real-world settings.

These benchmarks provide facilitators with a starting place. The Benchmarks are the larger concepts that are further broken down into detailed goals at each grade level via the standards and indicators. One of the main objectives of this online workshop is for the participant to become comfortable with the standards and indicators that correspond with these benchmarks and the grade level taught. One suggestion for you while you review the standards and indicators through the ODE website: keep in mind lessons that you already do that achieve a variety of these standards and indicators. Since the content standards for Social Studies integrate the Humanities and English and other disciplines, it becomes imperative for facilitators to be interdisciplinarians, ready with connections to other disciplines and life centered themes. One mantra that helps me prepare lessons: how do I teach them these objectives through an active, engaging, and challenging approach...then, how many ways can they prove what they've learned...and finally, how can this lesson be more effective for future learners?

Take your time and review the standards and indicators for Social Studies provided by the ODE website.