Key Legislation and Issues in New Hampshire

The Executive Board of the NHCSS is working on behalf of membership to stay abreast of current legislation and movements in New Hampshire. In addition, Board members are actively involved to advance social studies education in this state.

Follow The Child

Department of Education Commissioner Lyonel Tracy is proposing New Hampshire's Follow The Child initiative which emphasizes personalized learning, timely interventions, and following each child's progress over time. The Department of Education is pleased to announce that several schools have received grant awards for implementation of activities that support, measure and document the personal, social, physical, and academic growth of their students.

State Standards on the Social Studies

Now that the State Board has adopted a new Social Studies Framework, it is time to consider next steps.

How should the document be "rolled-out?" What professional development is necessary to implement the new framework? Should there be an "addendum" to this framework? How should the new framework be assessed?

The NH Department of Education expects to constitute a committee to discuss these and related issues. We are interested in volunteers and/or nominees to serve on this committee.

Contact Kenneth Relihan, 271-6151, krelihan@ed.state.nh.us

Minimum Standards

On May 18, 2005 The Minimum Standards for Public School Approval were adopted by the State Board of Education. These new changes will be effective July 1, 2005.

The new social studies changes are that civics and world history/global studies requirements replace the previous one credit "elective" requirement. The number of social studies credits remains the same:

Table 306-2 Required Subjects and Credits for High School Graduation

In addition:

Ed 306.27 (d) By the 2008-2009 school year, the local school board shall require that a high school credit can be earned by demonstrating mastery of required competencies for the course, as approved by certified school personnel.

By the 2008-2009 school year, the local school board shall require that a high school have in place competency assessments for all courses offered through the high school.

No Child Left Behind Act

The NHCSS Executive Board has been following closely how this federal legislation affects social studies in New Hampshire. Two major areas are:

The New Hampshire Legislature eliminated funding to the NHEIP thus eliminating the social studies portion of the assessment.

New Hampshire is required to abide by the federal guidelines for a Highly Qualified social studies teacher. The New Hampshire contact person for this is Tina Green. Plans are underway by the Executive Board to assist New Hampshire social studies teachers trying to fulfill these guidelines.

Resources:
No Child Left Behind Act
U.S. Department of Education No Child Left Behind Act Web Site

Contact Information for Anne Davis
Phone: 603-271-6052
Email: adavis@ed.state.nh.us