Alabama is about to finally make updates to social studies standards for K-12 public schools.

Social studies has come under scrutiny in recent years, as other states and school districts have wrestled with how to teach factual history. A number of states, including Alabama, also recently banned teaching or discussion of divisive topics.

Geneva City Superintendent Ron Snell, leading the update effort, said the state plans to increase an emphasis on civics education and include more Alabama history. Current standards have been in place since 2010.

“We certainly want to make sure that we continue to build a love for history – American history and world history,” Snell said. “We want to build those but it’s been a real point of emphasis that we don’t ignore Alabama history.”

A 2021 effort to rewrite the standards stalled after the state board passed a resolution banning critical race theory from K-12 schools. At the time, Fordham Institute researcher David Griffith said delaying updates further would be problematic.

“A lot could happen in two decades,” Griffith said. “Per the report, Alabama’s history standards for the post-1970 era are already a little thin, so it’s concerning that the problem could get worse before it gets better.”

Social studies is taught at all grade levels in elementary and middle school. Currently, Alabama history is a focus in fourth grade and civics education is a focus in seventh grade.

“We want to bring it into the other grades,” Snell said, “and so there’s been an intentionality to drop Alabama history throughout our courses so that we can do that in more than one grade.”

The committee is looking at the NAEP and Advanced Placement framework, as well as at other states’ standards, Snell said. Those states include Louisiana, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Virginia, along with the Department of Defense’s standards.

A draft of new standards should be ready for public review by August.

The board also heard about work being done to rewrite Alabama’s arts education standards. Talladega City Superintendent Quentin Lee leads that committee. The arts education framework the committee is working with includes five areas: dance, media arts, music, theater and visual arts.

The arts education standards were last updated in 2017.

The board could vote on the new standards in social studies and arts education as early as December. After standards are approved, a textbook committee will be appointed and work throughout 2025 to compile a list for board approval in January 2026. The standards will be implemented statewide during the 2026-27 school year.

The current schedule for review of each subject area’s standards is on the Alabama Department of Education at this link.