Description Of Bulleted Items In Each Rubric

• The first bullet references the use of content and vocabulary
• The second bullet references the manipulation/application of critical thinking skills.
• The third bullet references communication including organization and clarity.

These rubric bullets are used across the grade levels for all sub-domain open response models, thus providing a grading consistency K-12. The rubric was designed to reflect the proposed performance standards for the CATS open response questions in the social studies section of the state assessment. The proposed state social studies performance standards include:

• Content knowledge
• Decisions, concepts, problems (Critical Thinking Skills)
• Vocabulary
• Communication
• Connections (Critical Thinking Skills)

Government and Civics

Sample Government and Civics Open Response Questions

Standard I: The study of government and civics allows students to understand the nature of government and the unique characteristics of American democracy including its fundamental principles, structure and role of citizens.

Academic Expectation 2.14: Students should understand the democratic principles of justice, equality, responsibility and freedom and apply them to real-life situations.

Academic Expectation 2.15: Students can accurately describe various forms of government and analyze issues that relate to the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a democracy.

Core Content

Demonstrators

• Governments derive their power from different sources: (e.g. democracy – its citizens, monarchies – by decree, dictatorship – by conquest political maneuvering and /or military power)
• Democratic governments preserve and protect the rights and liberties of their constituents through different sources (e.g. UN Charter; Declaration of the Rights of Man; UN Declaration of Human Rights).

• Evaluate roles of conflict and consensus.
• Analyze the impact of ethical beliefs on political systems.
• Analyze the relationship between authority and power in political systems.
• Assess newly generated solutions/ ideas/ products to test validity and utility. (5.2)
• Gather and organize information on alternative solutions to a defined problem. (5.5)

Program of Studies

• Analyze how governments impact their human and physical geography. *

  * Found in the Program of Studies but not contained in Core Content. This item should be integrated in the overall focus on Government (2.15) and Civics (2.14).

Culture and Society

Sample Culture and Society Open Response Question

Standard II: Culture is the way of life by a group of people, including their ideas and traditions. In America’s multicultural society, students need to understand that culture influences viewpoints, social rules and social institutions.

Academic Expectation 2.16: Students observe, analyze and interpret human behaviors; social groupings and institutions to better understand people and the relationships among individuals and among groups.

Academic Expectation 2.17: Students interact effectively and work cooperatively with the many diverse ethnic and cultural groups of our nation and world.

Core Content

Demonstrators

• Philosophy, religion, values, technology, and behavior patterns help define culture.
• All cultures develop institutions, customs, beliefs, and holidays reflecting their unique histories, situations, and perspectives.
• Various human needs are met through interaction in social institutions. (e.g., family, education, government, economy).
• As cultures emerge and develop, conflict and competition may occur (e.g., violence, difference of opinion, stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, genocide).
• Compromise and cooperation are characteristics that social interaction (e.g., peace studies, treaties, conflict resolutions).

• Design strategies to resolve and effect change within a social system.
• Analyze how individual and group beliefs affect social systems.
• Establish and apply evaluative criteria for testing alternative solutions.

Program of Studies

• Analyze how cultures and belief systems are reflected in different forms of government. *

  * Found in the Program of Studies but not contained in Core Content. This item should be integrated in the overall focus on Culture (2.17).

Economics

Sample Economics Open Response Question

Standard III: Economics includes the study of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Students need to understand how their economic decisions affect them, others and the nation as a whole.

Academic Expectation 2.18: Students understand economic principles and are able to make economic decisions that have consequences in daily living.

Core Content

Demonstrators

• Scarcity of resources necessitates choice at both the personal and societal levels.
• Economic systems can be evaluated by their abilities to achieve broad social goals such as freedom, efficiency, equity, security, and growth.
• The interdependence of personal national, and international economic activity often results in international issues and concerns (e.g. natural resource dependencies, economic sanctions, environmental and humanitarian issues).

• Analyze the interdependence of personal, national, and global economic issues and concerns.
• Adjust a personal or group position based on evaluation of alternate perspectives. (6.1)

Program of Studies

• Analyze how nations deal with the issues of production, distribution, and consumption.*
• Examine how people in various civilizations made choices that helped or hindered their economic growth.*

  * Found in the Program of Studies but not contained in Core Content. This item should be integrated in the overall focus on Economics. (2.18).

Geography

Sample Geography Open Response Question

Standard IV: Geography is the study of people, places and environments. Students need geographic knowledge to understand the world and their relationship to it. A geographic perspective also enables students to better understand the past and present and to prepare for the future.

Academic Expectation 2.19: Students recognize and understand the relationship between people and geography and apply their knowledge in real-life situations.

Core Content

Demonstrators

• Representations of Earth and databases can be used to analyze the distribution of physical and human features on Earth’s surface
• The location and distribution of human features on Earth’s surface is based on reasoning and patterns (e.g., available transportation, location of resources and markets, individual preference, centralization versus dispersion).
• Places and regions serve as meaningful symbols for individuals and societies (e.g., Jerusalem as a holy city, Ellis Island, Appalachian Region, Vietnam Memorial).
• People from different cultures or with different perspectives view regions in different ways sometimes producing conflict. (e.g., Middle East, Balkans).
• Mental maps, the mental image a person has of an area, including knowledge of features and spatial relationships become more complex as experience, study, and the media bring new geographic information.
• Human actions modify the physical environment (e.g. a canal’s impact on trade, cleaning of rain forest reducing oxygen production, damming a river, and its impact on climate) has possible global effects.
• Humans develop strategies (e.g. transportation, communication, technology) to overcome limits of their physical environment.
• Group and individual perspectives impact the use of natural resources (e.g., mineral extraction, land reclamation).
• Human migration has major physical and cultural impact and can be the result of pressures or events that pull populations from one place or pull them to another (e.g., push factors such as famines or military conflicts; pull factors such as climate or economic opportunity).

• Evaluate the impact of geographic factors on real-life issues.
• Analyze and evaluate geographic considerations in making decisions.
• Select and implement appropriate strategies to extend knowledge, skills, and experiences. (6.2)

Program of Studies

• Understand that the location and distribution of human features on the earth’s surface change overtime due to human needs and events. *
• Understanding that regions are areas on the surface of the earth that are defined by certain unifying characteristics, both physical and human. *

  * Found in the Program of Studies but not contained in Core Content. This item should be integrated in the overall focus on Geography (2.19)

History

Sample History Open Response Question

Standard V: History is the interpretation of events, people, ideas and their interaction over time. In order for students to understand the present and make plans for their future, they must understand the past.

Academic Expectation 2.20: Students understand, analyze and interpret historical events, conditions, trends and issues to develop historical perspective.

Core Content

Demonstrators

• Interpretations of history are subject to change as new information is uncovered.
• Primary sources allow individuals to experience history from the perspectives of people who lived it.
• Cause and effect relationships can be analyzed by looking at multiple causation (e.g. individual differences, ideas and beliefs, technology, resources).
• During the Renaissance and Reformation, humans began to rediscover the ideas of the Classical Age and to question their place in the universe.
• New ideas and technologies led to an Age of Exploration by Europeans that brought great wealth to the absolute monarchies and significant changes to other regions of the world.
• An Age of Revolution brought about changes in science, through government, and industry that shaped the modern world.
• Nationalism, militarism, and imperialism led to world conflicts, economic booms and busts, and the rise of totalitarian governments.
• After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as super powers; a Cold War developed; and new nations formed in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
• The second half of the 20^th century is characterized by rapid social, political, and economic changes that created new challenges (e.g., population growth, diminishing natural resources, human rights issues, technological and scientific advances, shifting political alliances, globalization of the economy).

• Interpret events utilizing historical investigation.
• Interpret events using historical perspective.
• Evaluate consequences of ideas and actions from personal or multiple perspectives. (cause and effect). (6.1)

Program of Studies

• Use a variety of tools (e.g. primary and secondary sources, data, artifacts) to explore world civilizations.*
• Examine the impact of significant individuals and groups. *

  * Found in the Program of Studies but not contained in Core Content. This item should be integrated in the overall focus on History (2.20).