New York State Regulations for Social Studies

I. Student Requirements:

A. State Learning Standards for Social Studies:

1) Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

2) Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.

3) Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live -- local, national and global -- including the distribution of people, places and environments over the earth's surface.

4) Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the United States and other national economies and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and nonmarket mechanisms.

5) Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

Students will be required to pass, with a grade of 65 or better, two Regents Exams to demonstrate these skills, one in American History and Government and the other in Global History and Geography. These two Regents Exams are among the five students need to pass to obtain the New York State High School Diploma, which means that Social Studies exams constitute 40% of the required exams to get a diploma. (The other subjects are exam each in Language Arts, Math and Science.)

B. State regulations recommend coursework in Social Studies as follows:

Social Studies, four units of credit including one unit of credit in American history, the Regents examination in United States history and government or an approved alternative pursuant to section 100.2(f) of this Part, the Regents examination in global history and geography or an approved alternative pursuant to section 110.2(f) of this Part, and half a unit of credit in Economics and half a unit of credit in Participation in Government or their equivalent as approved by the local public school superintendent or his or her designee or by the chief administrative office of a registered nonpublic high school.

An "approved alternative" to this is described as follows:

Use of alternative assessments. With the approval of the commissioner, assessments which measure the equivalent level of knowledge and skill may be substituted for the assessments specified in this Part. Alternative assessments for the Regents examinations for global history and geography, United States history and government . . . shall meet the following criteria:

1) assessments shall measure the State learning standards for the respective content area;

2) alternative assessments shall be at least as rigorous as the corresponding required State assessments;

3) alternative assessments shall be consistent with technical criteria for validity, reliability, and freedom from bias;

4) alternative assessments shall be developed by an entity other than the local school or district;

5) alternative assessments shall be available for use by any school or school district in New York State; and

6) alternative assessments shall be administered under secure conditions approved by the commissioner.

II. Teacher Requirements:

Regarding certification, the new regulations require a content core comprised of "a major or the equivalent in . . . social studies; provided that the content core in social studies shall include study in economics, government, and at least a total of 21 semester hours of study in the history and geography of the United States and the world." This content core shall provide "a knowledge base for assisting students in grades 7 through 12 in meeting the State Learning Standards for students . . . provided that the content core in social studies shall include study in economics, government, and at least a total of 21 semester hours of study in the history and geography of the United States and the world." Elsewhere, the regulations require that the candidate for State certification "complete study in the subject(s) to be taught which shall prepare candidates with the knowledge base to teach the subject(s), in accordance with the State Learning Standards for students, as prescribed in Part 100 of this Title, and shall prepare candidates for refining and expanding that knowledge base."

III. State Education Department Responds to a Few Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Social Studies Regulations Pertaining to Teacher Certification:

Question: If in order to receive certification to teach Social Studies at the secondary level, students can meet Learning Standards #4 & #5 only by taking courses in Economics and Political Science, where does that leave the History major? As it stands now, the History major contains only History courses (though of course political and economic matters are major components in most of them).

Answer: Certification in social studies requires, among other requirements, a major in one of the liberal arts and sciences that provides a knowledge base for assisting students in grades 7 through 12 in meeting the State Learning Standards in social studies. The regulation states, "The content core in social studies shall include study in economics, government, and at least a total of 21 semester hours of study in the history and geography of the United States and the world." If the history major by itself or in combination with the general education core does not include study in economics and government (political science), then the education program must require candidates for the social studies certificate with a history major to take that study in addition to completing the history major.

Question: If the History major will no longer be valid for certification in Social Studies, then aren't we facing a situation in which all students who want to be certified to teach Social Studies at the secondary level will have to major in Social Studies?"

Answer: No. See approach above.

Question: On the other hand, if the current History major will be an acceptable major under the new standards for social studies certification at the secondary level, there would seem to be a contradiction. To be specific: if students majoring in History can satisfy Learning Standards #4 & #5 through the political and economic content incorporated in their History courses, why will students majoring in Social Studies have to take courses in Political Science and Economics to achieve the same goal?"

Answer: If the proposed program can demonstrate sufficient study in economics and government within the history major for teaching to the State Learning Standards, then that major would suffice for the purpose of certification in social studies.

IV. References and Further Reading Courtesy of the State Education Department (exit site):

Revised New York State Regulations Pertaining to Certification in Social Studies.

Revised Student High School Diploma Regulations.

State Assessment Guidelines, including Regents Exam Schedules and Test Samples.

Download Social Studies Resource Guide Documents, including Sample Units and Teaching Ideas.

Download Documents Pertaining to Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment in the Social Studies, including the Complete NYS Learning Standards for Social Studies.

Read About Alternate Levels of the Learning Standards for Special Education Students.