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Dominic A. Pizarro

Professor Hollie Schillig

HIST 250-01

3 September 2014

Essay Response 2 on CA 6th Grade Standards and CCSS

Every day teachers tackle the task of creating a lesson plan which will provide their students with

the necessary knowledge to continue on in the students’ educational career. Created by the California

State Board of Education (CSBOE) in October 1998, the California (CA) 6th Grade History-Social

Science Content Standards (HSSCS) were developed to assist teachers achieve the previously stated

task. 12 years later in August 2010, the CSBOE adopted the CA Common Core State Standards

(CCSS), a revised and more intricately developed set of standards designed to replace the CA Content

Standards. The CA 6th Grade HSSCS focused primarily on the origins of humankind and multiple

ancient civilizations; focusing solely on one geographic location at a time, the CA 6th Grade HHSCS

fails to display the larger picture connection of the specific civilizations on the world stage. Correcting

this flaw, the CA CCSS displays connections between civilizations and withdraws the topical or

singular geographic approach to World History, therefore establishing a more effective method of

teaching the content to students.

Within the CA 6th Grade HHSCS, the terms “early civilization” and “ancient” are

continuously used displaying a common focus on the development and genesis of ancient civilizations

(California Department of Education 23-26, 1998). Students are expected to “analyze the geographic,

political, economic, religious, and social structures” of each of the following civilizations: Mesopotamia,

Egypt, Kush, the Ancient Hebrews, Ancient Greece, India, China, and Ancient Rome (California

Department of Education 24-26, 1998). Standards 6.1-6.7 individually isolate one civilization and its

particular geographic location creating a false sense of a lack of outside influence or interaction; a proper

study of World History displays and highlights the interaction and interdependence of civilizations

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upon each other for assistance in establishing their respective roles on the world stage. The CA 6th

Grade HHSCS only display the internal factors which caused “development,” “dominance,” and

“decline” of specific civilizations and fails to mention the numerous other external factors (California

Department of Education 23, 1998). This failure to display the larger world stage when studying World

History robs students of an inclusive and comprehensive understanding of civilization interaction

throughout history.

The study of World History requires geographical integration in order to provide students with

a proper learning experience; accomplishing this goal, the CA CCSS draw connections between

previously isolated civilizations, solidifying the interaction between civilizations. Curriculum founded

on the CA CCSS allows students to clearly identify “central ideas or conclusions” concerning historical

concepts (California Department of Education 83, 2013). This development of critical thinking skills

employs a more active learning process than the previous method of fact reiteration. The CA CCSS are

an expansion and improvement upon the faulty CA 6th Grade HHSCS, providing students with the

necessary knowledge to critically comprehend World History. The implementation of the CA CCSS is a

positive change for World History education and has provided a remedy for the shortcomings within

the CA 6th Grade HHSCS.

The study of World History has become closely integrated with Geography and curriculum

must reflect this important connection between the two disciplines. Utilizing only the CA 6th Grade

HHSCS, teachers are limited to providing only a Historical viewpoint with limited geographical input;

the sole integration of Geography lies within the recognition of where specific civilizations reside,

therefore isolating each geographical location as if that civilization is the entire picture. Providing a more

extensive world picture, the CA CCSS reflect a World Historical Geography viewpoint; this viewpoint

displays both social interactions between civilizations and the influence of geographical locations upon

the emergence of civilizations and their specific cultures. This change from separation of World History

and Geography to their integration of World Historical Geography is a positive shift for students,

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displaying a thorough study of previously mentioned civilizations. All studies of World History should

be focused on presenting a World Historical Geography viewpoint, or otherwise fall short in providing

the entire world picture.

The CA CCSS corrects the shortcomings of the CA 6th Grade HHSCS and steps away from

the singular topic approach to World History, therefore establishing a stronger foundation of historical

knowledge in the curriculum. The tendency for the CA 6th Grade HHSCS to simply focus on one

geographical location at a time presents a false sense of isolation regarding the individual civilizations of

study. This approach may be thorough in its presentation of the internal development of ancient

civilizations, but will consistently fail to account for the external factors of other world-wide interaction

and geographical input. Students should be provided with the best curriculum regarding World History

possible, so to better prepare them for their future educational careers. Establishing this proper

curriculum early in 6th grade is essential to guiding students on their discovery of World History,

Geography, and most importantly World Historical Geography.

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Works Cited

California Department of Education. History–Social Science Content Standards for California Public Schools Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve. CA: California State Board of Education, October, 1998. PDF.

California Department of Education. California Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. CA: California State Board of Education, March, 2013. PDF.

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