Students growing up in the 21st Century face new and exciting challenges unfamiliar to previous generations. These students will need to be open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives with an understanding of how cultural differences impact the interpretation of events at the local, state, national, and international levels. The purpose of the Nevada Academic Content Standards for Social Studies is to articulate a foundation of skills and content knowledge necessary for Nevada’s students to be successful in our increasingly diverse and global community.

The expectation is that all students will receive grade level, standard align instruction in their social studies classroom, making connections, asking questions, and becoming civically engaged in their community. Nevada students’ will become college, career, civic, and community ready by achieving the following goals:

• Demonstrate actions that promote civic engagement, including knowledge of our government systems, understand roles in the community, and participate in the democratic process.
• Develop a greater awareness of diverse cultures through the examination of multiple perspectives and their contributions throughout history.
• Investigate the patterns of the interconnectedness of politics, economics, culture, language, geography, and human environment interaction through making connection of the past to the present.
• Utilize critical thinking skills through the use of thought-provoking questions and creating opportunities to form arguments incorporating evidence in academic inquiry.
• Implement and practice the appropriate use of technology to make informed decisions empowering college, career, and civic readiness.
• Demonstrate literacy skills through analysis and evaluation of primary and secondary sources while at the same time synthesizing the material and engaging in academic discourse.