Social Studies Review 2024

Review Details

Revision Timeline and Summary

Winter 2024 Spring 2024 Summer 2024 Fall 2024 Winter 2025 Spring 2025 

 
  • Winter 2024 – Public comment sought, and public hearing held, on current standards.
    • On March 28th, 2024, as part of the scheduled periodic review of the Maine Learning Results, the Maine Department of Education sought public comments regarding the current social studies standards. These comments will be used to inform the work of the standards revision teams and can be found here. The public comment period ended on April 29th, 2024. This was advertised through the Maine DOE newsroom, Maine DOE social media outlets, Maine Education Association listservs, and the Maine Council for the Social Studies. An invitation to submit public comment was also e-mailed to all k-12 social studies teachers in Maine DOE's NEO system.
    • On March 29th, 2024, from 3-5pm, in Room 103 of the Burton Cross Building, in Augusta, Maine DOE held a public hearing. 
  • Spring 2024 – Steering Committee is formed and convened.
    • On May 3, the Department of Education convened the Steering Committee to begin the revision process for the state’s social studies standards. This committee was composed of various stakeholders from across Maine, including classroom teachers, district administrators, university faculty, and representatives from the Wabanaki nations. Given that the Education and Cultural Affairs Committee did not provide substantive feedback on the 2023 revision when asking the Department to restart the social studies standards review process, the 2024 Steering Committee determined that, because they did not know what specific issues members of the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs wanted amended, they decided to support resubmitting the proposed 2023 Social Studies revised standards in the 132nd legislative session.
  • Summer 2024
  • Fall 2024
  • Winter 2025
  • Spring 2025
Writing Team Members
Since the Steering Committee decided to resubmit the 2023 revision to the 132nd legislative session, there is no need to convene a writing team for this revision. 
Steering Committee Members

Melanie Brown

Nicole Chan

Terri Cooper

Dolores Crofton MacDonald is a Wolastoqiyik Maliseet Elder with the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, and Welamuktuk (Oromocto First Nations, Canada). She has a Bachelor's in Education from the University of New Brunswick. As a Wolastoqewi Latuwewakon teacher, she has taught in an outdoor kindergarten classroom in a K-5 school with a Montessori/Wabanaki approach introducing body systems to grades four and five at the Kingsclear Bilick First Nations School. She is an advisor for the Maine Department of Education Moose Project, a contributor to the American Friends Service Committee, a not-for-profit organization in Wabanaki Education, and works with the local Houlton schools providing Wabanaki activities for grades K-5.  Dolores is active in her Wolastoqey communities and a lifelong learner of Wabanaki worldviews, stories, and culture. 

John Dennis

Samantha Drost

James Ford

Angela Hardy was a member of a critical review committee of the original set of Maine Learning Results, while earning her undergraduate degree in elementary education with a focus on international studies at the UMF. Considering standards and their direct implication to curriculum and instruction has been part of her professional practice across her entire career, spanning PK-16. As the Assistant Superintendent in MSAD 11, she has shepherded a significant revision process across the curriculum and, in the last two years, has engaged in a collaborative learning series with social studies educators focused on best practices and Wabanaki studies. This district-level perspective, supported by her background in experiential learning and interdisciplinary studies, will enable her to engage critically in the writing process. Additionally, Angela brings extensive leadership experience in developing a cohesive and aligned system.

Tomasz Herzog holds a Ph.D. in Education, a graduate degree in Sociology, 33 years of experience that includes teaching social studies in high school and teaching social studies methods courses for elementary and secondary Education majors (both in the US and abroad). Tomasz has the content and pedagogical background knowledge necessary to understand the pedagogy needed to implement the knowledge, skills, and dispositions embedded in the standards. He has served as a member of the ETS (Educational Testing Service) National Advisory Board for Social Studies, collaborated with the Maryland Center for Civic Education and civic education organizations in Europe (Poland, Germany). Over the last few years, he has been a Review Board member of a peer-reviewed “The Journal of Social Studies Research”. Currently Tomasz serves on the Board of the Maine Council for the Social Studies.

Kaya Lolar is a Panawahpskek citizen and a third-year at Harvard College, studying Anthropology, English, and Educational Studies. In 2019, she served on the LD291 task force, working to amplify the inclusion of Wabanaki Studies in the classroom, and she has experience as a substitute teacher, long term ed tech, and regular classroom volunteer within her local school district, RSU #34. Last year, she was an instructional designer, working with educators and other Wabanaki citizens to create Wabanaki Studies-centered MOOSE modules to be used across what is now called Maine. Currently, she continues to work alongside the DOE in efforts to expand Wabanaki Studies resources and provide guidance for educators on how best to weave this into their own teaching, in both an instructional design and advisory capacity. Her time spent in the classroom in an educator role, as well as her relatively recent experiences as a K-12 student, compliment her role as an involved Wabanaki citizen to give her a unique perspective on how to implement Wabanaki Studies into everyday teaching in ways that can be received most effectively by today’s learners.

Brianne Lolar

Keith Mahoney

Gretchen McNulty serves as Superintendent of Falmouth Public Schools in Falmouth, Maine. Gretchen has worked in both public and private education, in both domestic and international settings. She has developed curriculum and taught history, government, contemporary issues, philosophy & ethics, and English at standard and Advanced Placement levels; and has served as department head, instructional coach and K-12 curriculum leader.  Her focus on global understanding has inspired her to pursue a Fellowship in Korea, lead expeditionary travel with student groups throughout Asia, Europe, and the U.S., and to develop a High School World Affairs Council, a series of Model UN Teams, and a TedX Conference at ISKL Malaysia.  Gretchen represents Maine on the New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission for Public Schools (NEASC).

Erica Nadelhaft is the Education Coordinator for the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine. Erica earned a B.A. Magna Cum Laude from Brandeis University; an M.A. Summa Cum Laude from the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; and is A.B.D. from the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis. She reads and works in four languages: Hebrew, Yiddish, Polish and German. Professionally, she has taught courses on world history, the history of genocide, World War II, the history of the Middle East, women’s history, introduction to Judaism, and Hebrew, among others, in the University of Maine system. She has also taught at the University of Moncton in Edmunston, New Brunswick. In her current role, Erica oversees the HHRC educators, coordinates school visits, develops new programs, and works with Maine school districts to address bias, prejudice, and hate speech in schools.

Nicole Rancourt is a former middle school humanities teacher and has the content background knowledge necessary to understand the pedagogy needed in Maine's educational standards. For five years, she participated in Teaching American History, a program supported by National Endowment for the Humanities and directed by the U.S. Department of Education, and was teacher leader for Maine Humanities Council's History Camps in Maine, before joining that organization's staff. Nicole is currently the Program Manager at the Maine Humanities Council where her background and work fosters a deep awareness of how the connections between the Social Studies content and the necessary disciplinary literacy skills of both reading and writing in the field of Social Studies, appear in schools statewide. This perspective aligns with the growing interest both nationally and in Maine to ensure disciplinary literacy is supported and highlighted in each of the specific content areas. Nicole currently serves on the board of the Maine Council for the Social Studies, helps coordinate and run the National History Day judging room for National History Day contests in Maine, and partners with the Civil Rights Team Project run through the Maine Office of the Attorney General.

Adam Schmidt

Earl Watts is a veteran of the US Army, having a total of 31 years in service, including a deployment to Afghanistan in 2009.  He has been an adjunct instructor at Thomas College for ten years and a high school social studies teacher at Waterville Alternative High School (WAHS) for 5 years.  This year he has also assumed the administrative duties for WAHS. Earl has a Master of Arts in American History and a Master of Arts in Political Science with a concentration in American Government.  He is a 2021 James Madison Fellow and has been selected to attend the 2023 Midway Institute for Teachers. Earl is also a member of the School Board for the Winslow Public Schools system, and he has had two sons go through the Winslow Public School system.  As a military veteran, a parent, a college instructor, a high school teacher & administrator and a municipal government member, Earl brings a well-rounded point of view to the table and is uniquely positioned to understand the intersection of social studies in our society today and moving forward.

Shane Yardley has spent the past 17 years teaching and working in Maine schools. He began in Baileyville at Woodland Junior/Senior High School teaching middle school social studies before moving to Howland to join the team at Hichborn Middle School/Penobscot Valley High School. Shane spent the next 10 years teaching grades 6 through 12 social studies, including geography, U.S. History, world history, civics, and economics. During that time, Shane developed the geography courses and the world history courses that are currently taught at the school. He has served as a middle school teacher, high school teacher, president of the local union, assistant principal, and, for the past four years, as the principal of both the middle school and the high school. His experience in the classroom and the valuable lessons he has learned during this time in administration will provide the committee with a unique perspective as this important work is undertaken.

Public Comment