This year, the Social Studies Department has begun implementing a significant change to our U.S. History and Government curricula. In past years, and in most NYC public schools, students take U.S. History in Grade 11, take the NYS Regents exam in June of that same year, and then take a class in Government for one semester of Grade 12.
After a great deal of internal discussion among our U.S. History teachers and departmental and school administration, the decision was made to adopt a new approach. Under this revised curriculum, the formerly separate U.S. History (Grade 11) and Government (Grade 12) classes will be combined into a three-semester program. The new course will enable our U.S. History teachers to better integrate the material from both courses and foster deeper exploration and classroom discussion. In addition, the Social Studies Department anticipates that Regents exam pass rates (already 81% for 2006-07) will increase, particularly the percentage of students scoring greater than an 85 (what NY State calls “mastery level”). A similar program has been implemented at Brooklyn Tech with tremendous success. Their over-65 pass rate for 2006-07 was 99%, and an impressive 85% of their students scored better than 85. By comparison, only 15% of MCSM students scored better than 85 that same year.
A big change for Grade 11 students is that they will not take their U.S. History Regents exam until January of their Senior year. Each semester successfully completed will still earn one credit, with a total of three for the full course just as students now earn for the separate U.S. History and Government courses.
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