Dec. 6, 2023

Social Studies standards bring change, support


To help educators prepare for implementing new Social Studies standards in 2025-26, the Department of Education (DOE) has instituted professional development opportunities aimed at helping teachers become proficient at teaching in accordance with the standards.

  • In June, the department will host another Civics & History Summit in Sioux Falls for K-12 teachers. Educators who attend will have opportunities to discuss strategies to implement the standards, to obtain lessons and resources aligned to the standards, and to share activities and lessons from their own classrooms with their peers. Summit dates for 2024 are June 3-4.
  • Teachers are also invited to go on the South Dakota Road Trip in July; participants will visit locations and attractions that figure prominently in South Dakota’s rich history. As they travel, they will collaborate with colleagues to find new and engaging ways to infuse the study of South Dakota civics, history, and geography into daily lessons. Road Trip dates in 2024 are July 15-19.
The DOE has also launched the South Dakota History Hub. This website contains resources from the South Dakota Historical Society and the South Dakota State Library; these resources are tagged by their connection to the Social Studies standards so that teachers can easily find free, relevant, and reliable materials to use in class.

Reenactor presending at South Dakota Civics and History Summit 2023.

The department is currently preparing lesson plans for K-5 that incorporate the new standards. Before they are released to all South Dakota teachers, the DOE will be gathering a group of interested educators in 2024 to review those resources and provide feedback on them. When completed, the lesson plans will be available for educators to access online. These lessons will be a major feature of the June 3-4 Civics & History Summit.

Finally, the DOE is planning to purchase limited K-5 instructional materials that align to the standards. District leaders will receive information about the materials that have been selected and will be able to secure orders for them.