By Summer of 2010, my plan is to implement a course structure for all Summer School Social Studies courses in which students take a pre-test based on the State Core Standards.  Since the Summer School courses are remediation courses, it will be assumed that any student who demonstrates proficiency on certain parts of the core does not need remediation in those areas.  Students will then complete assignments in the other areas of the core to demonstrate proficiency.

For this course, the state core standards as identified by a team of BESD teachers are as follows:

1. Expand Knowledge of Pre-Reconstruction America.
   • Examine American Colonial Experience.
     • Identify reasons for the establishment of the colonies in America.
     • Identify the 13 Colonies and the 3 main regions.
     • Examine rise of American culture in NE, Middle, and Southern Colonies.
     • Compare Mayflower Compact and the House of Burgesses.
     • Explain how the French & Indian War led to the Revolutionary War.
     • Explain the causes of the Revolutionary War.
     • Explain the purposes of the 1st & 2nd Continental Congresses.
     • Identify major battles of the Revolutionary War.
     • Explain how the Treaty of Paris promoted westward expansion.
   • Investigate the development of the United States government, its institutions, and its politics.
     • Explain the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
     • Explain the purpose of the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
     • Identify the philosophies which influenced the development of the Constitution, separation of powers, balance of power, and the elastic clause.
     • Analyze the Constitution's creation and impact on the new US.
     • Explain the transition from Federalism to Jacksonian Democracy.
     • Explain how the Alien and Sedition Acts promoted the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions which evolved into the SC Exposition and Protest, and ultimately secession.
     • Explain how the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis & Clark Expedition led to the expansion of the US.
   • Analyze the growth and division of the United States from 1820-1877.
     • Trace US expansion and growth from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
     • Recognize sectional differences that appeared in the antebellum period.
     • Evaluate causes, course, and consequences of the Civil War.
     • Analyze the successes and failures of the Reconstruction period following the Civil War.
     • Examine US policies relating to Native Americans.
2. Understand how the growth of industry changed the United States.
   • Assess how transportation, communication, and marketing improvements and innovations transformed the American economy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
   • Evaluate the prominent business leaders and the business organizations that influenced the growth of industrialization in the United States.
   • Assess how the growth of industry affected the movement of people into and within the United States.
   • Investigate the challenges presented to urban inhabitants.
3. Recognize how social reform occured at the turn of the century.
   • Investigate reform movements and their prominent leaders.
   • Assess the growth and development of labor unions and their key leaders.