At times I feel constrained on how to assess historical thinking because I want to ensure that students are able to do well on their SOL end of year testing, which is heavily based on factual knowledge.  I would like to extend this discussion to our department of education to rethink how we assess our social studies classes.  Which makes me wonder -- does OER reach out to district and state level administrators/curriculum specialists, or only teacher-focused?

Hi Dawn!

We do work with districts and state level admin. What state/district are you in? I can forward that info to our PD/Outreach team members and see if we can help in some way.

Hi Bridgette OConnor and DAWN MERKLE ! I noticed Dawn is from VA. Here are some planning resources from the OER Project that align with your state, and it also incudes a link to contact a member of our Outreach team. Let us know if we can help with anything else!

Thanks Bridgette!  As Kathy Hays noted, I am in Virginia.  I was in Norfolk, but this year will be teaching in Gloucester.  I was concerned about the state SOL tests, which students have to take to receive a verified credit for the high school course I will be teaching (World History 1500-present).  Previously I taught 7th grade, which did not have an SOL test.  When I reviewed the SOLs that have been released for the HS course, I was disheartened to see how heavily it relied on knowing facts versus skills or understanding concepts.

Thanks Bridgette!  As Kathy Hays noted, I am in Virginia.  I was in Norfolk, but this year will be teaching in Gloucester.  I was concerned about the state SOL tests, which students have to take to receive a verified credit for the high school course I will be teaching (World History 1500-present).  Previously I taught 7th grade, which did not have an SOL test.  When I reviewed the SOLs that have been released for the HS course, I was disheartened to see how heavily it relied on knowing facts versus skills or understanding concepts.