SUBJECT: / SPECIFIC GRADE:
COURSE: / TITLE
Review Account URL: / Review Account Username:
Date of last revision: / Review Account Password:
SECTION 1: NON-NEGOTIABLE EVALUATION CRITERIA
2019-2025
Group I – Social Studies
CCR6th Grade
To be completed by the reviewers
Equity, Accessibility and FormatYes / No / CRITERIA / NOTES
- INTER-ETHNIC
The instructional materials meet the requirements of inter-ethnic: concepts, content and illustrations, as set by WV Board of Education Policy 2445.41.
- EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
The instructional material meets the requirements of equal opportunity: concepts, content, illustration, heritage, roles contributions, experiences and achievements of males and females in American and other cultures.
- FORMAT
This resource includes an interactive electronic/digital component for students.
- BIAS
The instructional material is free of political bias.
- COMMON CORE
SECTION 2: iNACOL Checklist for Evaluating Online Courses
2019-2025
Group I – Social Studies
Grade 6
To be completed by the reviewers
Review Committee ResponsesI=In-depth / A=Adequate / M=Minimal / N=Nonexistent / I / A / M / N
- Content
Academic Content Standards and Assessments
A1. The goals and objectives clearly state what the participants will know or be able to do at the end of the course. The goals and objectives are measurable in multiple ways.
A2. The course content and assignments are aligned with the state’s content standards, common core curriculum, or other accepted content standards set for Advanced Placement® courses, technology, computer science, or other courses whose content is not included in the state standards.
A3. The course content and assignments are of sufficient rigor, depth and breadth to teach the standards being addressed.
A4. Information literacy and communication skills are incorporated and taught as an integral part of the curriculum.
A5. Multiple learning resources and materials to increase student success are available to students before the course begins
Course Overview and Introduction
A6. A clear, complete course overview and syllabus are included in the course
A7. Course requirements are consistent with course goals, are representative of the scope of the course and are clearly stated.
A8. Information is provided to students, parents and mentors on how to communicate with the online instructor and course provider
A9. The course reflects multi-cultural education, and the content is accurate, current and free of bias or advertising.
A10. Expectations for academic integrity, use of copyrighted materials, plagiarism and netiquette (Internet etiquette) regarding lesson activities, discussions, and e-mail communications are clearly stated.
A11. Privacy policies are clearly stated.
Instructor Resources
A12. Online instructor resources and notes are included.
A13. Assessment and assignment answers and explanations are included.
B.Instructional Design
Description: The course uses learning activities that engage students in active learning; provides students with multiple learning paths to master; the content is based on student needs; and provides ample opportunities for interaction and communication — student to student, student to instructor and instructor to student.
Instructional and Audience Analysis
B1. Course design reflects a clear understanding of all students’ needs and incorporates varied ways to learn and master the curriculum.
Course Unit and Lesson Design
B2. The course is organized by units and lessons that fall into a logical sequence. Each unit and lesson includes an overview describing objectives, activities, assignments, assessments, and resources to provide multiple learning opportunities for students to master the content..
Instructional Strategies and Activities
B3. The course instruction includes activities that engage students in active learning
B4. The course and course instructor provide students with multiple learning paths, based on student needs that engage students in a variety of ways.
B5. The course provides opportunities for students to engage in higher-order thinking, critical reasoning activities and thinking in increasingly complex ways.
B6. The course provides options for the instructor to adapt learning activities to accommodate students’ needs.
B7. Readability levels, written language assignments and mathematical requirements are appropriate for the course content and grade-level expectations.
Communication and Interaction
B8. The course design provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student interaction, including opportunities for timely and frequent feedback about student progress.
B9. The course design includes explicit communication/activities (both before and during the first week of the course) that confirm whether students are engaged and are progressing through the course
B10. The course provides opportunities for appropriate instructor-student and student-student interaction to foster mastery and application of the material.
Resources and Materials
B11. Students have access to resources that enrich the course content.
C. Student Assessment
Description: The course uses multiple strategies and activities to assess student readiness for and progress in course content and provides students with feedback on their progress.
Evaluation Strategies
C1. Student evaluation strategies are consistent with course goals and objectives, are representative of the scope of the course and are clearly stated.
C2. The course structure includes adequate and appropriate methods and procedures to assess students’ mastery of content.
Feedback
C3. On-going, varied, and frequent assessments are conducted throughout the course to inform instruction.
C4. Assessment strategies and tools make the student continuously aware of his/ her progress in class and mastery of the content.
Assessment Resources and Materials
C5. Assessment materials provide the instructor with the flexibility to assess students in a variety of ways
C6. Grading rubrics are provided to the instructor and may be shared with students.
C7. The grading policy and practices are easy to understand.
D. Technology
Description: The course takes full advantage of a variety of technology tools, has a user-friendly interface and meets accessibility standards for interoperability and access for learners with special needs
Course Architecture
D1.The course architecture permits the online instructor to add content, activities and assessments to extend learning opportunities.
D2. The course accommodates multiple school calendars; e.g., block, 4X4 and traditional schedules.
User Interface
D3.Clear and consistent navigation is present throughout the course.
D4. Rich media are provided in multiple formats for ease of use and access in order to address diverse student needs.
Technology Requirements and Interoperability
D5. All technology requirements (including hardware, browser, software, etc...) are specified.
D6. Prerequisite skills in the use of technology are identified.
D7. The course uses content-specific tools and software appropriately.
D8. The course is designed to meet internationally recognized interoperability standards.
D9. Copyright and licensing status, including permission to share where applicable, is clearly stated and easily found
Accessibility
D10. Course materials and activities are designed to provide appropriate access to all students. The course, developed with universal design principles in mind, conforms to the U.S. Section 504 and Section 508 provisions for electronic and information technology as well as the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0).
Data Security
D11. Student information remains confidential, as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
E. Course Evaluation and Support
The course is evaluated regularly for effectiveness, using a variety of assessment strategies, and the findings are used as a basis for improvement. The course is kept up to date, both in content and in the application of new research on course design and technologies. Online instructors and their students are prepared to teach and learn in an online environment and are provided support during the course.
Assessing Course Effectiveness
E1. The course provider uses multiple ways of assessing course effectiveness.
E2. The course is evaluated using a continuous improvement cycle for effectiveness and the findings used as a basis for improvement.
Course Updates
E3. The course is updated periodically to ensure that the content is current.
Certification
E4. Course instructors, whether face-to- face or virtual, are certificated and “highly qualified.” The online course teacher possesses a teaching credential from a state-licensing agency and is “highly qualified” as defined under ESEA.
Instructor and Student Support
E5. Professional development about the online course delivery system is offered by the provider to assure effective use of the courseware and various instructional media available.
E6. The course provider offers technical support and course management assistance to students, the course instructor, and the school coordinator.
E7. Course instructors, whether face-to- face or virtual, have been provided professional development in the behavioral, social, and when necessary, emotional, aspects of the learning environment.
E8. Course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, receive instructor professional development, which includes the support and use of a variety of communication modes to stimulate student engagement online.
E9. The provider assures that course instructors, whether face-to-face or virtual, are provided support, as needed, to ensure their effectiveness and success in meeting the needs of online students.
E10. Students are offered an orientation for taking an online course before starting the coursework.
SECTION 3: SPECIFIC EVALUATION CRITERIA
2019-2025
Group I – Social Studies
Grade 6
The following four areas of social studies form all the courses in grades K-8 and the majority of the high school courses that are not content specific (e.g. geography and economics):
Civics
Civics addresses both citizenship and political systems. Citizenship education prepares students to be informed, active and effective citizens who accept their responsibilities, understand their privileges and rights and participate actively in society and government. To be successful participants in society, students must understand how to build social capital (a network of social relationships) that encourages reciprocity and trust, two characteristics of civic virtue and good citizenship. Students must be able to research issues, form reasoned opinions, support their positions and engage in the political process. Students exercise tolerance and empathy, respect the rights of others, and share a concern for the common good while acting responsibly with the interests of the larger community in mind. Students must learn and practice intellectual and participatory skills essential for an involved citizenry. To develop these skills, the curriculum must extend beyond the school to include experiences in the workplace and service in the community. While studying political systems, students develop global awareness and study the foundations of various world governments and the strategies they employ to achieve their goals. With respect to the United States, students learn the underlying principles of representative democracy, the constitutional separation of powers and the rule of law. Students learn the origins and meaning of the principles, ideals and core democratic values expressed in the foundational documents of the United States. Students recognize the need for authority, government and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
Economics
Economics analyzes the production, allocation, distribution and use of resources. The economic principles include an understanding of scarcity and choice, productivity, markets and prices, supply and demand, competition, role of government, international trade factors and consumer decisions in a global economy. Understanding economic principles, whole economies and the interactions between different types of economies helps students comprehend the exchange of information, capital and products across the globe. Learners investigate economic principles and their application to historical situations. Learners will work cooperatively and individually to analyze how basic economic principles affect their daily lives. Students become financially responsible by examining the consequences of and practicing personal financial decision-making.
Geography
Geography encompasses physical and human systems and the interactions between them on local and global scales. People interact with the natural world in culturally distinct ways to produce unique places, which change over time. New technologies and perspectives of geography provide students with an understanding of the world, and the ability to evaluate information in spatial terms. The geography standards stress the world in which we live and the role of the U.S. in the global community. Students use geographic perspectives and technology to interpret culture, environment and the connection between them. Students collaborate with one another and work individually using geographic skills and tools to ask geographic questions based on the five themes of geography (location, place, human-environmental interaction, movement and regions). They acquire the necessary information, organize and analyze the information and respond to those geographic questions. Students examine the varying ways in which people interact with their environments and appreciate the diversity and similarities of cultures and places created by those interactions.
History
History organizes events and phenomena in terms of when they occurred and examines where, how and why they took place. Students study how individuals and societies have changed and interacted over time. They organize events through chronologies and evaluate cause-and-effect relationships among them. Students analyze how individuals, groups and nations have shaped cultural heritages. They gather historical data, examine, analyze and interpret this data, and present their results in a clear, critical manner. Students study origins and evolutions of culture hearths, settlements, civilizations, states, nations, nation-states, governments and economic developments. Through history, students understand the identity and origins of their families, communities, state and nation. Through history, students recognize the influence of world events on the development of the United States and they evaluate the influence of the United States on the world. Understanding the past helps students prepare for today and the events of the future.
College- and Career-Readiness Indicators for Social Studies
The grades K-12 standards on the following pages define what students should know, understand, and be able to do by the end of each grade band. They correspond to the College- and Career-Readiness Indicators for Social Studies by grade band (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12). The College- and Career-Readiness Indicators and grade-specific standards are necessary complements – the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity – that together define the skills and understandings that all students must demonstrate.
Integration of Literacy in Social Studies
Literacy strategies and skills are applied as students acquire information and communicate their learning and understanding of social studies. Integration of literacy in social studies is critical for student success. It is essential that literacy strategy and skill instruction be purposefully and appropriately planned and embedded within social studies instruction.
Sixth Grade Standards
Sixth Grade Social Studies expands the role of citizenship and patriotism. Students learn about the roles and functions governments play in world events and organizations that help resolve conflicts. Students will use both current and historical maps to explain the effects of major events on political boundaries around the world. Students will learn how the economy is affected by trade and trade organizations, technology, and renewable and nonrenewable resources as well as world conflicts. The causes and responses to world conflicts from World War I to present day will be evaluated.
(Vendor/Publisher)COMPLETE CORRELATION OF SPECIFIC LOCATION OF
CONTENT WITHIN PRODUCT / IMR Committee Responses
I=In-depth / A=Adequate / M=Minimal / N=Nonexistent / I / A / M / N
A. Civics
1. Apply the process of how a bill becomes a law to follow a current legislative bill.
2. Compare and contrast different forms of government worldwide and their influence on historic world events:
- The Great Depression
- World War I
- World War II
- 9/11
3. Identify the structure of the United States Congress and the constitutional requirements of congressional membership.
4. Identify current key figures in United States government:
- President
- Vice President
- Speaker of the House
- Secretary of State
- Current members of Congress from West Virginia
5. Examine and analyze various acts of patriotism and civil discourse in response to events throughout United States history (e.g., support of American military during wartime, Vietnam protests, Civil Rights, respect for the flag and response of Americans to 9/11).
6. Identify global relief and development organizations and examine how they provide global aid and support (e.g., Red Cross, UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, Engineers without Borders and World Health Organization).
7. Research and organize information about an issue of global concern from multiple points of view (e.g., ecology, natural resources, and human rights).
B. Economics
8. Compare and contrast the basic characteristics of communism, socialism and capitalism.
9. Identify examples of renewable and non-renewable resources and analyze the factors that affect these resources on the individual, local and national economies (e.g., hurricanes, floods, etc.).
10. Define NAFTA and summarize its effects on the United States economy.
11. Compare and contrast government economic policy beginning with the Reagan era through present day.
12. Classify and evaluate the different types of world trade organizations (e.g., trade, military and health).
13. Assess the economic impact of technology on world regions throughout history.
C. Geography
14. Identify geographic features that have influenced the safety of the United States and isolated it from conflicts abroad.
15. Compare and contrast historical maps and identify the changes in political boundaries as a result of conflicts.