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eLECTIONS State Standards - New Jersey


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Standard 6.1

Social Studies Skills

ALL STUDENTS WILL UTILIZE HISTORICAL THINKING, PROBLEM SOLVING, AND RESEARCH SKILLS TO MAXIMIZE THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF CIVICS, HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND ECONOMICS.

Building upon the knowledge and skills gained in the previous grades, by the end of Grade 8 students will:

6.1.8 A. Social Studies Skills
  1. Analyze how events are related over time.
  2. Use critical thinking skills to interpret events, recognize bias, point of view, and context.
  3. Assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources.
  4. Analyze data in order to see persons and events in context.
  5. Examine current issues, events, or themes and relate them to past events.
  6. Formulate questions based on information needs.
  7. Use effective strategies for locating information.
  8. Compare and contrast competing interpretations of current and historical events.
  9. Interpret events considering continuity and change, the role of chance, oversight and error, and changing interpretations by historians.
  10. Distinguish fact from fiction by comparing sources about figures and events with fictionalized characters and events.
  11. Summarize information in written, graphic, and oral formats.
Building upon the knowledge and skills gained in the previous grades, by the end of Grade 12 students will:

6.1.12 A. Social Studies Skills
  1. Analyze how historical events shape the modern world.
  2. Formulate questions and hypotheses from multiple perspectives, using multiple sources.
  3. Gather, analyze, and reconcile information from primary and secondary sources to support or reject hypotheses.
  4. Examine source data within the historical, social, political, geographic, or economic context in which it was created, testing credibility and evaluating bias.
  5. Evaluate current issues, events, or themes and trace their evolution through historical periods.
  6. Apply problem-solving skills to national, state, or local issues and propose reasoned solutions.
  7. Analyze social, political, and cultural change and evaluate the impact of each on local, state, national, and international issues and events.
  8. Evaluate historical and contemporary communications to identify factual accuracy, soundness of evidence, and absence of bias and discuss strategies used by the government, political candidates, and the media to communicate with the public.
Standard 6.2

Civics

ALL STUDENTS WILL KNOW, UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE THE VALUES AND PRNCIPLES OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY AND THE RIGHTS, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND ROLES OF A CITIZEN IN THE NATION AND THE WORLD.

Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8, students will:

6.2.8 A. Civic Life, Politics, and Government
  1. Discuss the sources, purposes, and functions of law and the importance of the rule of law for the preservation of individual rights and the common good.
  2. Describe the underlying values and principles of democracy and distinguish these from authoritarian forms of government.
  3. Discuss the major characteristics of democratic governments.
  4. Explain how non-governmental organizations influence legislation and policies at the federal, state, and local levels.
6.2.8 B. American Values and Principles
  1. Analyze how certain values including individual rights, the common good, self-government, justice, equality and free inquiry are fundamental to American public life.
  2. Describe representative government and explain how it works to protect the majority and the minority.
  3. Describe the continuing struggle to bring all groups of Americans into the mainstream of society with the liberties and equality to which all are entitled, as exemplified by individuals such as Susan B.Anthony, Frederick Douglass, Nat Turner, Paul Robeson, and Cesar Chavez.
6.2.8 C. The Constitution and American Democracy
  1. Discuss the major principles of the Constitution, including shared powers, checks and balances, separation of church and state, and federalism.
  2. Compare and contrast the purposes, organization, functions, and interactions of the legislative,executive, and judicial branches of national, state, and local governments and independent regulatory agencies.
  3. Discuss the role of political parties in the American democratic system including candidates, campaigns, financing, primary elections, and voting systems.
  4. Research contemporary issues involving the constitutional rights of American citizens and other individuals residing in the United States, including voting rights, habeas corpus, rights of the accused, and the Patriot Act.
6.2.8 D. Citizenship
  1. Discuss the rights and responsibilities of American citizens, including obeying laws, paying taxes,serving on juries, and voting in local, state, and national elections.
  2. Discuss how the rights of American citizens may be in conflict with each other (e.g., right to privacy vs. free press).
  3. Describe major conflicts that have arisen from diversity (e.g., land and suffrage for Native Americans,civil rights, women's rights) and discuss how the conflicts have been addressed.
  4. Explain the benefits, costs, and conflicts of a diverse nation.
  5. Discuss basic contemporary issues involving the personal, political, and economic rights of American citizens (e.g., dress codes, sexual harassment, fair trial, free press, minimum wage).
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 12, students will:

6.2.12 A. Civic Life, Politics, and Government
  1. Analyze how reserved and jointly held powers in the United States Constitution result in tensions among the three branches of government and how these tensions are resolved (e.g., Marbury v. Madison-1803; Federalist #78; United States v. Nixon-1974, claims of Executive Privilege by Presidents Nixon, Clinton, and Bush).
  2. Apply the concept of the rule of law to contemporary issues (e.g., impeachment of President Clinton, use of Executive Privilege, recess appointments to federal courts, the Senate's advise and consent process, and the use of litmus tests).
  3. Analyze how individual responsibility and commitment to law are related to the stability of American society.
  4. Evaluate competing ideas about the purpose of the national and state governments and how they have changed over time (e.g., the American version of federalism, the powers of the federal government and the states, differing interpretations of Article I, Sections 8-10).
  5. Discuss how participation in civic and political life can contribute to the attainment of individual and public good.
  6. Evaluate ways that national political parties influence the development of public policies and political platforms, including political action committees, McCain-Feingold Act, platform committees, and political campaigns.
  7. Analyze how public opinion is measured and used in public debate (e.g., electronic polling, focus groups, Gallup polls, newspaper and television polls) and how public opinion can be influenced by the government and the media.
6.2.12 B. American Values and Principles
  1. Analyze major historical events and important ideas that led to and sustained the constitutional government of the United States, including the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the Judiciary Act of1789, the first Cabinet under George Washington, and Amendments 1-15.
  2. Propose and justify new local, state, or federal governmental policies on a variety of contemporary issues (e.g., definition of marriage, voting systems and procedures, censorship, religion in public places).
  3. Describe historic and contemporary efforts to reduce discrepancies between ideals and reality in American public life, including Amendments 13-15, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and 1875, the Abolitionist movement, the Civil War, and the end of slavery in the United States.
  4. Discuss how a common and shared American civic culture is based on commitment to central ideas in founding-era documents (e.g., United States Constitution) and in core documents of subsequent periods of United States history (e.g., Washington's Farewell Address; Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions-1848; The Gettysburg Address; President Franklin Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech -1941; President Kennedy's Inaugural Address-1961; the 17th, 19th, and 24th Amendments; Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and the "Letter from Birmingham Jail").
  5. Analyze the successes of American society and disparities between American ideals and reality in American political, social, and economic life and suggest ways to address them (e.g., rights of minorities, women, physically and mentally challenged individuals, foreign born individuals).
6.2.12 C. The Constitution and American Democracy
  1. Debate current issues and controversies involving the central ideas of the American constitutional system, including representative government (e.g., Electoral College and the popular vote), civic virtue (e.g., increasing voter turnout through registrations and campaigns), checks and balances, and limits on governmental power.
  2. Compare the American system of representative government with systems in other democracies such as the parliamentary systems in England and France.
  3. Describe the nature of political parties in America and how they reflect the spectrum of political views on current state and federal policy issues.
  4. Explain the federal and state legislative process and analyze the influence of lobbying, advocacy groups,the media, and campaign finance on the development of laws and regulations.
6.2.12 D. Citizenship
  1. Evaluate the characteristics needed for effective participation in civic and political life.
  2. Compare and contrast the rights and responsibilities of government and its citizens as delineated in the United States Constitution, the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, and the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
  3. Compare and contrast the benefits of American citizenship (e.g., habeas corpus, secret ballots, freedom of movement and expression) with those of citizens of other nations, including democratic and nondemocratic countries.
  4. Recommend ways that citizens can use knowledge of state or federal government policies and decisionmaking processes to influence the formation, development, or implementation of current public policy issues (e.g., First Amendment right to petition for redress of grievances).
  5. Discuss how citizens can participate in the political process at the local, state, or national level (e.g., registering to vote, voting, attending meetings, contacting a representative, demonstrating, petitions, boycotting) and analyze how these forms of political participation influence public policy.