SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Board of Educational Standards will hold four public hearings on the state’s proposed new social studies standards.
The board will hold the first hearing Sept. 20 in Aberdeen. The other three will be later in the school year in Sioux Falls, Pierre, and Rapid City. The board will take final action at the last of these meetings next spring. The board is also taking written comments.
Educators would teach to the new standards in the 2023-24 school year.
The work is part of a regular review by the state Department of Education. It’s separate from Gov. Kristi Noem’s $900,000 push to create a new, state-specific civics and history curriculum resource. The state’s fine arts and career and technical education standards are going through a similar review.
“Content standards provide a road map for what students should know and be able to do by the end of each grade,” Secretary of Education Tiffany Sanderson said. “They set broad expectations for student learning, and we look forward to South Dakotans weighing in on this important conversation.”
Friday’s release of the new standards followed last month’s announcement that a pair of conservatives quit a work group tasked with revising the social studies standards. They did not publicly say why they resigned.