PED adopts new social studies standards

The New Mexico Public Education Department last week adopted a rule to replace the state’s social studies standards for public schools, despite pleas from two Quay County school districts to pause the process until at least next year.

Extensive public feedback did, however, result in three major changes to the standards: including personal financial literacy; language revision throughout to be more concise, cohesive and balanced; and editing throughout to assure the standards describe high-level expectations without suggesting curriculum, according to a news release fro PED.

The PED’s announcement Wednesday finished a months-long process involving hundreds of stakeholders to update the social studies standards.

The rule, which establishes academic content and performance standards for social studies for kindergarten through 12th grade, was adopted Feb. 10.

The standards will not be implemented in classrooms until the 2023-2024 school year.

The San Jon and Logan school boards, wary of the possible influence of critical race theory and other concerns, each voted in October to petition the state’s education department to “pause” or slow a planned update of social studies standards.

Critical race theory espouses that race is a social construct in the United States and that racism is embedded in its legal systems and policies. Critical race theory typically is taught in college-level courses.

San Jon Municipal Schools superintendent Janet Gladu, urging a slowdown of updating the standards, said at the time that staff were “stressed” because of extra workloads and obstacles presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. She said such an update came with too short of a time frame — especially when the proposed new standards were 129 pages, versus the previous 26 pages.

Several San Jon board members echoed her concerns.

Reached Thursday by email, Gladu wrote: “I have not seen the new social studies standards in their final form. When I see them, it will take me several days to thoroughly review them.”

Logan Municipal Schools superintendent Dennis Roch also at the time advocated a slowdown in implementing the standards.

Citing an analysis by the libertarian Rio Grande Foundation, Roch said the update contains phrases such as “systemic inequality” and “unequal power relations among identity groups.”

“This is classic critical race theory theology,” he said.

Roch also said teachers and administrators, still dealing with the effects of the pandemic, lacked the time to study the PED’s draft.

Roch did not answer an email last week requesting comment.

The adopted rule incorporates changes based on feedback received during a 45-day public comment period after the rule was first proposed Sept. 1, including 2,900 pages of written feedback and more than five hours of oral comments given during a public hearing Nov. 12.

“We are incredibly grateful to the many New Mexicans who got involved in this important process. That includes the teachers from across the state who stepped up to write and edit the standards and the many parents and community members who provided valuable feedback that we’ve incorporated into this final, improved version,” Public Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus stated in the release.

The implementation phase, including development of site-specific curricula and professional development for teachers, will continue through the 2022-2023 school year.

Goals of the standards-writing process were to include historic events and social changes that have occurred since the last update of standards in 2009 and “to ensure all children see themselves reflected in culturally and linguistically responsive classrooms where the backgrounds and perspectives of all New Mexicans come alive,” the release stated.

The PED noted local school boards and governing boards will determine how students achieve the learning goals.

“Local control in implementing these standards is so important. I know school leaders across the state will be working hard to develop curricula that align with the standards and best suit the needs of their communities,” said Stan Rounds, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition of Educational Leaders.

An education advocate hailed the addition of personal finance standards.

“New Mexico will now join 45 states that have adopted strong personal finance standards,” said Abenicio Baldonado, education reform director for Think New Mexico. “Our students will not only benefit from learning how to manage their own finances, but will also bring these skills home to their parents, grandparents and other family members, helping to combat intergenerational poverty.”

The social studies revision process began in July 2020, when the PED convened a committee of statewide stakeholders, including experts in the social studies disciplines, representatives from New Mexico higher education institutions and tribal and Diné education representatives, to identify areas that needed updating and establish core principles for the work.

The department appointed a writing committee of 61 New Mexico social studies teachers in K-12 schools from across the state who responded to an open call to participate. The proposed rule was submitted Sept. 1, followed by the 45-day public comment period.

When the comment period ended Nov. 12, PED invited members of the writing committee to join a revision committee, of which 29 original writers did. The revision committee reviewed public comment and revised the original rule, resulting in the new social studies standards.

The adopted rule was in the New Mexico Register on Feb. 22.

PED stated it next will work with school boards, governing councils and tribal education leaders to develop and implement site-specific curricula and professional development for classroom teachers.

A concise explanation of the new standards can be found at https://tinyurl.com/yckzkp2r.