What Happened to Intensified 8th Grade Social Studies?

The School Board and Dr. Durán previously directed APS to offer an 8 th grade intensified Social Studies course. However, it is not currently being offered nor have there been public discussions thus far about offering it next year. As noted below, we think the explanations given by APS staff are not conclusive. The APS Office of Academics is managing the implementation of Dr. Durán and the School Board’s direction to offer intensified English, Science and Social Studies courses. In November 2022, APS announced middle schools would not be offering intensified 6 th grade classes for the 2023-24 school year because of planning issues. Dr. Durán has since made multiple public promises (School Board Work Session video at 1:10:15-1:11:39; video at 45:00-45:47 and 47:52- 48:18) that such classes would be offered for the 2024-25 school year.

An 8th grade intensified Social Studies class was also removed; the official reason given by APS is that the 8 th grade social studies course is a high school credit course, so it is “already advanced” (December 15, 2022 School Board meeting at 2:36:30). However, APS middle schools offer regular and intensified Algebra I for high school credit (as well as intensified Geometry).

In our conversations with APS staff, their stated reasons for not offering 8th grade intensified Social Studies are noted as follows (our response follows each bolded statement):

1. It’s a high school credit course. Middle school students can take intensified Algebra I and intensified Geometry, which are also high school credit courses. The fact that the 8th grade social studies class is for high school credit is irrelevant as to whether an intensified course can be created, considering APS’ middle school math offerings.

2. It’s an advanced course, so everyone is intensified. The entire purpose of intensified middle school courses was to offer those students who want to go deeper the opportunity to do so in their own separate class. Whether 8 th grade social studies’ content is considered advanced is irrelevant as to whether to offer the subset of kids who want to go deeper a separate class (e.g., the middle school intensified math courses).

3. Social studies students take the same course, whereas middle school math students are in different courses based on acceleration. The fact an entire class is in the same course (vs different courses based on acceleration) should instead provide further reasoning for why an intensified class should be created.

4. Middle school students test into those intensified accelerated math courses. The Math Department provides recommendations for middle school math classes, but APS honors any parent placement into the non-recommended math course (as long as the child meets the course prerequisites).

5. Students still can access deeper content in the heterogenous course. The entire purpose of intensified middle school courses was to offer the subset of students who want to go deeper the opportunity to do so in their own separate class, and with a mandate to provide extra content and testing on that content. In fact, this logic would negate the intensified/AP levels of any course that any school teaches because students are theoretically always able to access deeper content in the non-AP/IB/intensified classes.

When asked about this contradiction at a public forum in May, Dr. Durán stated (see video at 45:47- 47:52) that he would bring this issue to the committee that determines the intensified middle school course offerings.

Why It Matters: Proponents of these intensified classes, including ACTL’s Gifted Advisory Board, have argued that giving the option for advanced classes will help keep students engaged in middle school and keeps APS competitive with other neighboring districts that also offer these classes. Additionally, it was the wish of the School Board and Dr. Durán that these classes be offered. We therefore ask that the 8 th grade intensified Social Studies course be offered in the 2024-25 school year.

We asked APS about this. Their unedited responses, along with our questions in italics, are below:

Is there any further formal explanation as to why the intensified 8th grade social studies course was not offered, especially considering intensified MS math courses being offered?

The intensified math courses that are offered, offer accelerated course content (instruction on above grade level standards in lieu of grade level course content at a deeper level).  Students have to be selected for, or intentionally opt into this accelerated content for math classes.  As a result, we need both an intensified and standard version of the course as not all students engage with the accelerated course content.

The open-enrollment intensified courses at the middle school level in ELA, Science, and Social Studies offer grade level content with opportunities to explore the concepts at a deeper level.

For 8th Grade World Geography, all students are provided with the challenge of accelerated course content, we just haven’t called it intensified.  All 8th grade students have been accelerated to engage with high school level content.  As a result, all students are receiving the accelerated content similar to the math model, without the need to place or opt into that content.  As a result, there is no need to have an intensified version as all students are engaging in the intensified/accelerated course content.

Was this opposite approach of 8th grade social studies to intensified MS math offerings discussed by the committee?    If so, why was the distinction made? If not, was this simply an oversight?

The decision to not label World Geography as an intensified course was intentional.  We do not believe that this is an opposite approach to that of math.  In the case of World Geography, all students are automatically enrolled in the above grade level course so a course recommendation is not needed, unlike math. 

When will the committee meet to discuss whether APS will offer an intensified 8th grade social studies course next school year?

The Office of Academics staff in the content and program offices meet regularly to consider courses that are offered and how they are meeting the needs of our students.  Courses are added to the APS Program of Studies through a process that begins each spring with courses being proposed for addition, deletion, or revision.  In spring of 2023, the content offices proposed the addition of intensified courses in 6th grade ELA, Science, and Social Studies to align with the commitment to add these courses for the 2024-25 school year.  These offerings will be approved by the school board this fall.  World Geography Intensified is not a course offering that was proposed for the 2024-25 school year.  We are collecting data on the effectiveness of the intensified courses, as we do with any course, in order to make decisions about the academic programming that meets the needs of our students.  

Who is on that committee this year to determine the intensified courses for the next school year?

There is no committee that determines intensified courses.  The process for adding courses to the program of studies includes the following steps:

• Content offices (or schools in consultation with content offices) propose courses for addition, deletion, or revision. Course additions are often driven by VDOE requirements.  Other ideas for proposed courses may come from students, schools, or ACTL subcommittee recommendations. 

• Additions, deletions, and revisions are discussed with the Office of Academics, Principals, and Directors of Counseling.  This allows multiple perspectives on the changes to occur.

• The official list of additions and deletions are presented to the School Board for information and then action. The School Board has final approval of the Program of Studies.