Accelerating Access & Adoption
Discover resources that streamline access and adoption of culturally responsive social studies to implement, update, or shift to new, transformative curriculum and teaching methods.
Here, you'll find information on:
Frameworks and roadmaps to implement high-quality, culturally sustaining social studies at the school system-level
Strategies for successfully identifying and adopting a new social studies curriculum at your school or distric including ways to build capacity and set the stage for success in adopting a new approach to social studies
Frameworks to Define High-Quality, Culturally-Sustaining Social Studies
Origin: Social Studies Accelerator
The Social Studies Accelerator produced this definition of quality in collaboration with our Advisory Committee and Teacher Advisory Group - an alliance of nine classroom educators and education professionals - to emphasize current trends in social studies education. It reflects a shift towards inquiry and project- based learning, civic engagement, and culturally sustaining instructional materials and resources.
Audience: Everyone
Origin: College, Career, and Civic Life (C3)
The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History has two aims. First, to support states in creating standards that prepare young people for effective and successful participation in college, careers, and civic life. And second, the C3 Framework will help educators provide students with a robust social studies curriculum through inquiry, building essential critical thinking skills and practical ideas to engage in their communities.
Audience: Everyone
Origin: National Council for the Social Studies
The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) curriculum standards provide a framework for professional deliberation and planning about what should occur in a social studies program in grades pre-K through 12. The framework provides ten themes that represent a way of organizing knowledge about the human experience in the world.
Audience: Everyone
Origin: Boston Public Schools
Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Practices (C.L.S.P.) draw upon, infuse and evoke students’ existing schema, experiences, funds of knowledge, and perspectives to optimally facilitate learning. This framework outlines the competencies, attributes, observable behaviors, and practices for different levels of proficiency.
Audience: Teachers, Educators
Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education Framework
Origin: New York State Education Department
The CR-S framework is intended to help education stakeholders create student-centered learning environments that affirm cultural identities; foster positive academic outcomes; develop students’ abilities to connect across lines of difference; elevate historically marginalized voices; empower students as agents of social change; and contribute to individual student engagement, learning, growth, and achievement through the cultivation of critical thinking. The framework was designed to support education stakeholders in developing and implementing policies that educate all students effectively and equitably, as well as provide appropriate supports and services to promote positive student outcomes.
Audience: Teachers, Educators
Origin: Center for Antiracist Education
The CARE Framework provides a roadmap for an antiracist educator's journey. Based on a deep body of research, this framework details knowledge, skills, and behaviors of antiracist educators.
Audience: Everyone
Taking Action to Implement Culturally-Responsive Curriculum
Adoption and Implementation Roadmap
Origin: Social Studies Accelerator
This Adoption and Implementation Roadmap will guide you in selecting and implementing culturally responsive and sustaining instructional materials and professional learning strategies that celebrate diversity and foster inclusivity. The Roadmap is built on the principle that high-quality, inquiry-based, and diverse educational content is crucial for preparing students to understand and shape the complex world around them. Key features include:
Six detailed implementation phases
A focus on culturally sustaining pedagogy
Support for professional learning
Audience: Educators, District-level decision makers
inquireED’s Curriculum Review Guide
Origin: inquirED
While many instructional leaders seek to develop or purchase curriculum, they are finding little or no guidance around what constitutes an effective social studies curriculum, or what criteria define high-quality instructional materials. In consultation with our partner schools and districts, inquirED has created a Curriculum Review Guide to support instructional leaders as they develop and search for social studies curriculum. The Curriculum Review Guide provides evaluation rubrics across five key domains:
Inquiry-Based Instruction
Culturally Responsive Education
Standards-Based Instruction and Assessment
High-Quality, Diverse Sources
Learner Supports and Continuous PD
Audience: Educators, District-level decision makers
Origin: Educating for American Democracy
An inquiry-based content framework for excellence in history and civics for all learners that is organized by major themes and questions, supported by key concepts. It is vertically spiraled across four grade bands (K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12),and offers a vision for the integration of history and civic education throughout grades K–12.
Audience: Everyone
A Brief Guide to Making Your Schools More Culturally Responsive
Origin: NYU Steinhardt Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and The Transformation of Schools
This document was developed to provide guidance on how to make your school and district more culturally responsive. Through examples and resources, this document concretely outlines ways to use research and/or policy to advance any of the following four aspects of culturally responsive education in your school: Curriculum; School climate; Recruitment, retention and retainment of teachers and staff; and Parent and family engagement.
Audience: District-level decision makers
Origin: Boston Public Schools
Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Practices (C.L.S.P.) draw upon, infuse and evoke students’ existing schema, experiences, funds of knowledge, and perspectives to optimally facilitate learning. This framework outlines the competencies, attributes, observable behaviors, and practices for different levels of proficiency.
Audience: Teachers, Educators
Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education Framework
Origin: New York State Education Department
The CR-S framework is intended to help education stakeholders create student-centered learning environments that affirm cultural identities; foster positive academic outcomes; develop students’ abilities to connect across lines of difference; elevate historically marginalized voices; empower students as agents of social change; and contribute to individual student engagement, learning, growth, and achievement through the cultivation of critical thinking. The framework was designed to support education stakeholders in developing and implementing policies that educate all students effectively and equitably, as well as provide appropriate supports and services to promote positive student outcomes.
Audience: Teachers, Educators
Center for Antiracist Education (CARE) Resources
Origin: Center for Antiracist Education
The Center for Antiracist Education (CARE) features several implementation resources for educators and advocates seeking to implement the CARE Framework in their contexts, including discussion guides, reading guides, self-reflection practices, and support principles.
Audience: Everyone
A New Canon: Designing Culturally Sustaining Humanities Curriculum
Origin: Evan Gutiérrez
Written by Social Studies Accelerator advisory board member Evan Gutiérrez, A New Canon is the first book to provide a framework for designing and utilizing rigorous, standards-aligned curriculum to address the lack of representation for marginalized communities in formal education. Grounded in literature around cultural relevance and responsive teaching practice, the book provides step-by-step guidance for curriculum development that connects students to the intellectual traditions of their communities.
Audience: Everyone