From Public Education Department:
NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release
MEDIA CONTACT: Judy Robinson
505-469-5496
Nov. 10, 2021
Public hearing for new social studies standards is Friday
Hearing begins at 1 p.m.; online public comments taken through 5 p.m.
SANTA FE — A virtual public hearing will be held Friday on the Public Education Department’s proposed revisions to New Mexico’s social studies standards to include important events and movements that occurred after the last major overhaul 20 years ago.
The department is taking written comments through 5 p.m. Friday:
· By regular mail addressed to John Sena, Policy Division, New Mexico Public Education Department, 300 Don Gaspar Ave., Room 121, Santa Fe, NM, 87501.
· By fax to 505-827-6520.
The public may speak about the proposed standards by participating in a virtual public hearing from 1-5 p.m. Friday via Zoom (passcode Policy2021). Those without computer access may phone into the hearing at 669-900-6833. Speakers will have up to 3 minutes each to comment.
Standards are set by the state and indicate what a student should learn at each grade level. The last time New Mexico’s social studies standards got a complete overhaul was in 2001 -- before major world events such as 9/11, the Great Recession and the Afghan War. As a result, schools are not required to teach students about them.
“Our out-of-date standards leave New Mexico students with an incomplete understanding of the complex, multicultural world they live in,” Public Education Secretary (Designate) Kurt Steinhaus said. “It’s our duty to provide them with a complete education based on known facts. That’s what these proposed standards will do.”
The previous standards included four knowledge areas: history, geography, civics and economics. The proposed standards add two categories: ethnic, cultural and identity studies and inquiry. The ethnic, cultural and identity studies area aligns with the court order in the Martinez-Yazzie Consolidated Lawsuit that the state provide each student with an education that is culturally and linguistically responsive. The inquiry area is a move to help students learn to think deeply, ask good questions and evaluate sources of information.
Education standards are updated -- usually every 10 years -- through the state’s rulemaking process. Per that process, when the public comment period ends Friday, all feedback will be considered and incorporated as needed, leading to a final rule that the department will file with the New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.
The department’s goal is to release the new standards early in 2022 along with a teacher-friendly version and the first professional development module to help educators incorporate them into the curriculum -- the day-to-day instruction students receive. Curriculum is developed locally with input from school boards, families and educators.
The department will also convene a team of K-12 educators to write a New Mexico Instructional Scope for social studies -- a tool to provide classroom teachers with guidance and instructional strategies for implementing the updated standards at each grade level. Instructional Scopes are currently available for language arts, math and science.
This timeline shows that educators would explore the new standards and prepare to teach them throughout the 2022-2023 school year. Full implementation would follow in 2023-2024.
