Change is on the horizon for South Dakota teachers. With the rollout of new social studies standards starting the two-year implementation clock, now is the time to get ready for what’s to come.
In Sioux Falls, hundreds of teachers gathered for a summertime history and civics summit.
The Department of Education event sought to get teachers together and set the stage for the rollout of the new social studies standards.
After heated debate surrounding those standards this spring, Rapid City teacher Carrie Huber said the meeting was something of a spectacle.
“Initial impressions was this was just so different from a lot of the professional developments I had done through the Department of Education," Huber said. "The Department of Education was definitely putting a lot into hosting a really nice event and pushing the bounds of what really is necessary. I mean, we’re teachers. We’re happy with pretty much anything.”
Huber said despite the conference she’s still daunted by the practicality of new standards.
“I think it’s intimidating to think about what implementation looks like. I teach an AP course which, I at least, think there is a lot of question of how do the new standards function with AP courses – just not knowing," Huber said. "Looking up the new standards for my course, we would have to tick off a standard every 25 minutes.”
Huber isn’t the only one with unanswered questions. Brookings teacher Kelsey Lovseth says there’s still much direction needed from state government.
“What kind of resources will be available," Lovseth asked. "Will they be from a specific source? How will they be utilized? We keep hearing that there’s a tool that’s going to be used to help school districts adopt some type of curriculum that will match the standards. We haven’t seen that.”
For Lovseth, she said clarity will be essential as the implementation process continues.