Minnesota Social Studies Standards: Revising With an Equity Lens

Minnesota is currently reviewing its K-12 Social Studies Academic Standards—a once in a decade opportunity to scrutinize and revise what students learn in social studies. EE's policy director Danyika Leonard serves on the 38-person review committee along with other parents, educators, and community leaders.

We believe that social studies standards must be inclusive of more lenses, narratives, and histories—and honest about both the achievements and atrocities that mark our nation’s story. In other words: the standards must be rooted in equity.

Only then can all students find relevance in what they’re learning, feel recognized for who they are and what they bring to their community, participate in an increasingly globalized world, and develop a patriotic commitment to advancing the American promises of liberty and justice.

Some of our specific goals are that the new, revised standards standards:

• Are student-centered and relevant to students' lived experiences
• Include ethnic studies and the histories, cultures, and lenses of historically marginalized groups
• Depart from a European-American lens as the “default,” and suggest texts and curriculum by diverse authors
• Teach about history and the current role of race, racism, and anti-racist work
• Ultimately, prepare students to become informed and active citizens who see and and challenge injustice in society