January 5, 2023

The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Virginia Council for the Social Studies (VCSS) announce their endorsement of the Collaborative History and Social Science Standards developed by VSSLC, VASCD, & AHA. NCSS and VCSS urge the Virginia Board of Education to adopt the Collaborative History and Social Science Standards at their upcoming meeting on February 2, 2023. 

On December 20, 2022, a joint work group of the Virginia Social Studies Leaders Consortium (VSSLC), the Virginia Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (VASCD), and the American Historical Association (AHA) released a set of collaborative standards for History and Social Science education and submitted their draft to the Virginia Board of Education (VBOE). At their November 17, 2022 meeting, the VBOE declined to accept State Superintendent Jillian Balow’s redraft standards and asked for a combined standards document that brings together the respective strengths of the original August 2022 standards with the November 2022 redraft standards, along with consideration of public comment. Our associations feel strongly that the collaborative standards developed by VSSLC, VASCD, & AHA meet this specific request made by the Virginia Board of Education. 

The collaborative standards ensure that history and social science content is accurate, age-appropriate, inclusive, and vertically articulated in a manner that supports a natural progression of content, depth, and skill acquisition. These new standards represent a diverse range of perspectives in addressing Governor Glenn Youngkin’s charge to teach the entirety of Virginia, United States, and world history. The collaborative standards also emphasize the development of historical thinking skills as complementary to the acquisition of important historical content knowledge. This integration of content and skills is critical to ensuring that students develop and master the Virginia Department of Education’s “Profile of a Virginia Graduate” and the “5C’s” (Critical Thinking, Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, and Citizenship). 

Our associations are committed to a mission to “advocate and build capacity for high-quality social studies by providing leadership, services, and support to educators.” We firmly believe that the collaborative standards developed by VSSLC, VASCD, and AHA represent a balanced and fair compromise whose development reflects the very critical thinking, collaboration, and citizenship skills that we should be modeling for our students. We believe the collaborative standards will help move history and social science instruction forward in Virginia, and we strongly encourage the Virginia Board of Education to adopt this document at their next meeting on February 2, 2023. 

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Founded in 1921, National Council for the Social Studies is the largest professional association in the country devoted solely to social studies education. NCSS engages and supports educators in strengthening and advocating social studies. With members in all the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 35 countries, NCSS serves as an umbrella organization for elementary, secondary, and college teachers of history, civics, geography, economics, political science, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and law-related education. The NCSS membership represents K-12 classroom teachers, college and university faculty members, curriculum designers and specialists, social studies supervisors, and leaders in the various disciplines that constitute the social studies.

For media inquiries, contact:

Joy D. Lindsey
Deputy Executive Director
jlindsey@ncss.org
301-850-7458