We have attempted to create a framework for Social Studies education which is challenging and supports the ideal of preparing young people to become effective citizens. Delaware's adoption of this curriculum framework will have decided implications for our children, our schools, and our state. New kinds of assessment will require a rethinking of instruction. New instructional methods will require new tools. Specific populations of students---special education, gifted and talented, or those who speak English as a second language---will require assistance or accommodation to help them meet or exceed these standards. If these standards and the assessments which follow are to have a positive impact in the upcoming years, then it is necessary to make the fundamental implications of their adoption clear from the start.
We assume that learning in Delaware classrooms will be active rather than passive. The transfer of factual knowledge through formal presentation will always be necessary, but these standards also require an emphasis on critical analysis, problem-solving, and application of knowledge. Assessments will center on students demonstrating proficiencies rather than selecting correct answers, but these standards cannot simply be handed to teachers, who are then expected to manufacture instructional miracles without materials or support. Students must be provided with the materials with which to learn, and teachers the materials with which to teach. Given our charge to produce world-class content standards, however, we did not want to dilute our vision of what should be done to prepare Delaware's children by accepting current limitations. We are suggesting in these standards that there is no higher civic responsibility for our public schools than the preparation of effective citizens, and that implies the necessity for insuring that the resources exist to discharge this responsibility.
Training and other forms of teacher support must be provided to make the adoption of these standards a reality. Creating new units or performance assessment tasks will be extremely challenging. It requires time for research and reflection, input from content-area experts, and the opportunity to test ideas in the classroom. There is material currently available that can be adapted for use with these standards, and many Delaware teachers will find elements of their current practices already anticipate them, but the first years after adoption can be expected to make great demands on staff members. The state, the districts, and the citizens of Delaware must support the teachers during that time. Staff development needs to be emphasized, and institutions which train new teachers will have to review their own practices in light of these standards. Without such efforts, these standards run the risk of becoming admirable intellectual goals which have little relevance in our classrooms.
Achieving these standards will also require a commitment from Delaware students and their parents. Students have to come to school prepared to learn, prepared to accept a major share of the responsibility for their own education. High standards simply accountability in terms of behavior, process, and content. Parents are an integral part of citizenship education as well. Meeting these standards will require their active assistance, from participation in teacher conferences to helping with projects, from expecting a consistent effort at homework to visiting classes and sharing their own experiences.
Finally, the commission has assumed that the ultimate responsibility for instruction will remain in the committed and competent hands of Delaware teachers. State content standards provide a benchmark by which to measure progress, but our teachers have to breathe life into those standards and transform them into a meaningful curriculum. The traditional intellectual and creative autonomy of Delaware's teachers will have to be supported at the same time we challenge them to greater excellence. This is the only way that the First State will be able to answer the continuing challenge of educating responsible citizens who can be entrusted with the future of our nation.