The College, Career, And Civic Life (C3) Framework For Social Studies State Standards C3

User Manual: C3

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Table of Contents
Introduction
How to Read the C3 Framework
The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework
Appendices
References
Glossary of Key Terms in the C3 Framework
Biographical Sketches of the C3 Framework Writing Team

TITLE PAGE

Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History

C3 FRAMEWORK

FOR SOCIAL STUDIES STATE STANDARDS

COLLEGE, CAREER & CIVIC LIFE

e College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards:

Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History is

the product of a collaboration among the following een professional organizations

committed to the advancement of social studies education:

American Bar Association

American Historical Association

Association of American Geographers

Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools

Center for Civic Education

Constitutional Rights FoundationChicago

Constitutional Rights Foundation USA

Council for Economic Education

National Council for Geographic Education

National Council for History Education

National Council for the Social Studies

National Geographic Society

National History Day

Street Law, Inc.

World History Association

e publisher of the document is National Council for the Social Studies, Silver Spring, MD.

e text of the document, and/or excerpts from it, may be freely reproduced. ere is no

need to apply to National Council for the Social Studies for permission to reproduce the

text or excerpts.

e following reference information should be used in the citation of this document:

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), e College, Career, and Civic Life (C3)

Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12

Civics, Economics, Geography, and History (Silver Spring, MD: NCSS, 2013).

C3 Framework • 3

Table of

INTRODUCTION

The Process of Developing the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework

for Social Studies State Standards ...................................................................................................................... 7

C3 Framework Leadership Team ....................................................................................................................... 7

Writing Team ........................................................................................................................................................ 8

Project Participants .............................................................................................................................................. 9

C3 Framework Task Force of Professional Organizations .................................................................................. 9

C3 Framework Teacher Collaborative Council ................................................................................................. 10

HOW TO READ THE C3 FRAMEWORK

Overall Document Organization ....................................................................................................................... 12

Inquiry Arc .......................................................................................................................................................... 12

Overview of English Language Arts/Literacy Common Core Connections .................................................... 12

Dimensions and Subsections ............................................................................................................................ 12

Unique Structure of Dimension 2 ...................................................................................................................... 12

C3 Framework Indicators and K-12 Pathways ................................................................................................... 13

Appendices ........................................................................................................................................................ 13

What Is Not Covered ......................................................................................................................................... 14

THE INQUIRY ARC OF THE C3 FRAMEWORK

Narrative of the Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework ........................................................................................... 16

Overview of the Connections with the English Language Arts/Literacy Common Core Standards .............. 20

DIMENSION 1. Developing Questions and Planning Inquiries ..................................................................23

English Language Arts/Literacy Common Core Connections .............................................................. 26

DIMENSION 2. Applying Disciplinary Concepts and Tools .......................................................................29

CIVICS .................................................................................................................................................... 31

Civic and Political Institutions

Participation and Deliberation: Applying Civic Virtues and Democratic Principles

Processes, Rules, and Laws

CONTENTS

4 • C3 Framework

ECONOMICS ........................................................................................................................................35

Economic Decision Making

Exchange and Markets

The National Economy

The Global Economy

GEOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................................40

Geographic Representations: Spatial Views of the World

Human-Environment Interaction: Place, Regions, and Culture

Human Population: Spatial Patterns and Movements

Global Interconnections: Changing Spatial Patterns

HISTORY ................................................................................................................................................45

Change, Continuity, and Context

Perspectives

Historical Sources and Evidence

Causation and Argumentation

English Language Arts/Literacy Common Core Connections ..............................................................50

DIMENSION 3. Evaluating Sources and Using Evidence ............................................................................53

Gathering and Evaluating Sources .........................................................................................................54

Developing Claims and Using Evidence ................................................................................................55

English Language Arts/Literacy Common Core Connections ..............................................................56

DIMENSION 4. Communicating Conclusions and Taking Informed Action .............................................59

Communicating and Critiquing Conclusions .........................................................................................60

Taking Informed Action .......................................................................................................................... 62

English Language Arts/Literacy Common Core Connections ..............................................................63

APPENDICES

Appendix A: C3 Framework Disciplinary Inquiry Matrix ..................................................................................66

Appendix B: Psychology Companion Document for the C3 Framework ........................................................69

Appendix C: Sociology Companion Document for the C3 Framework ......................................................... 73

Appendix D: Anthropology Companion Document for the C3 Framework ...................................................77

Appendix E: Scholarly Rationale for the C3 Framework ..................................................................................82

References ...................................................................................................................................................... 92

Glossary of Key Terms in the C3 Framework ...............................................................................................96

Biographical Sketches of the C3 Framework Writing Team ....................................................................107

Introduction • 5

INTRODUCTION

IN THE COLLEGE, CAREER, AND CIVIC LIFE (C3) FRAMEWORK FOR

SOCIAL STUDIES STATE STANDARDS, THE CALL FOR STUDENTS TO

BECOME MORE PREPARED FOR THE CHALLENGES OF COLLEGE

AND CAREER IS UNITED WITH A THIRD CRITICAL ELEMENT:

PREPARATION FOR CIVIC LIFE. ADVOCATES OF CITIZENSHIP

EDUCATION CROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM, BUT THEY ARE

BOUND BY A COMMON BELIEF THAT OUR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

WILL NOT SUSTAIN UNLESS STUDENTS ARE AWARE OF THEIR

CHANGING CULTURAL AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS; KNOW

THE PAST; READ, WRITE, AND THINK DEEPLY; AND ACT IN WAYS

THAT PROMOTE THE COMMON GOOD. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE

DIFFERING PERSPECTIVES ON THESE OBJECTIVES. THE GOAL

OF KNOWLEDGEABLE, THINKING, AND ACTIVE CITIZENS,

HOWEVER, IS UNIVERSAL.

6 • C3 Framework

Representatives from a group of state education

agencies and from the leading organizations in social

studies and its individual disciplines collaborated to

create a Framework to provide states with voluntary

guidance for upgrading existing social studies stan-

dards. is Framework does not include all that can

or should be included in a set of robust social studies

standards, and intentionally preserves the critical

choices around the selection of curricular content

taught at each grade level as a decision best made by

each state. e Framework aims to support states in

creating standards that prepare young people for ef-

fective and successful participation in college, careers,

and civic life.

e C3 Framework1 is centered on an Inquiry Arc—a

set of interlocking and mutually supportive ideas that

frame the ways students learn social studies content. By

focusing on inquiry, the framework emphasizes the dis-

ciplinary concepts and practices that support students

as they develop the capacity to know, analyze, explain,

and argue about interdisciplinary challenges in our

social world. It includes descriptions of the structure

and tools of the disciplines, as well as the habits of mind

common in those disciplines. Taken together, the C3

Fra mework provides guidance to states on upgrading

state social studies standards to include the application

of knowledge within the disciplines of civics, econom-

ics, geography, and history as students develop ques-

tions and plan inquiries; apply disciplinary concepts

and tools; evaluate and use evidence; and communicate

conclusions and take informed action.

e C3 Framework focuses on inquiry skills and key

concepts, and guides—not prescribes—the choice

of curricular content necessary for a rigorous social

studies program. Content is critically important to the

disciplines within social studies, and individual state

leadership will be required to select appropriate and

relevant content. States that decide to incorporate the

Inquiry Arc and concepts of the C3 Framework into

their state standards will then need to engage in a rig-

orous local process of selecting the appropriate content

to be taught at each grade level to ensure that students

develop the knowledge and skills to be civic-ready

before graduation. e concepts expressed in the C3

Framework illustrate the disciplinary ideas, such as

political structures, economic decision making, spatial

patterns, and chronological sequencing, that help

organize the curriculum and content states select.

As a core area in the K-12 curriculum, social studies

prepares students for their postsecondary futures, in-

cluding the disciplinary practices and literacies needed

for college-level work in social studies academic cours-

es, and the critical thinking, problem solving, and

collaborative skills needed for the workplace. e C3

Framework encourages the development of state social

studies standards that support students in learning to

be actively engaged in civic life. Engagement in civic

life requires knowledge and experience; children learn

to be citizens by working individually and together as

citizens. An essential element of social studies educa-

tion, therefore, is experiential—practicing the arts and

habits of civic life.

NOW MORE THAN EVER, students need the intellectual power to recognize

societal problems; ask good questions and develop robust investigations into them;

consider possible solutions and consequences; separate evidence-based claims from

parochial opinions; and communicate and act upon what they learn. And most

importantly, they must possess the capability and commitment to repeat that process

as long as is necessary. Young people need strong tools for, and methods of, clear and

disciplined thinking in order to traverse successfully the worlds of college, career,

and civic life.

1 The abbreviation “C3 Framework” will be used regularly in this

document to refer to the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3)

Framework for Social Studies State Standards.

Introduction • 7

Reecting the shared responsibility for literacy learn-

ing put forward by the Common Core State Standards

for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/

Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (NGA

and CCSSO, 2010a),2 the C3 Framework fully incor-

porates and extends the expectations from the grades

K–5 English Language Arts standards and the grades

6–12 standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies,

Science, and Technical Subjects. e C3 Framework

also recognizes the importance of literacy within the

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (NGA

and CCSSO, 2010b), and acknowledges mathematical

practices as they apply to social studies inquiry.

National Council for the Social Studies, one of een

collaborating organizations, is publishing the C3

Framework to provide this signicant resource for all

states to consider in their local processes for upgrad-

ing state social studies standards.

The Process of Developing the College,

Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework

for Social Studies State Standards

e College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework

for Social Studies State Standards was conceptualized

by individual state leaders in social studies education

and supported by een professional organizations

representing four core social studies content areas:

civics, economics, geography, and history. e C3

Framework was written by experts in the academic

disciplines and social studies education in collabo-

ration with classroom teachers, state social studies

education leaders, and representatives of professional

organizations.

Work on the C3 Framework began in 2010 with the de-

velopment of an initial conceptual guidance document

written by individuals from the Council of Chief State

School Ocers (CCSSO) Social Studies Assessment,

Curriculum, and Instruction state collaborative and by

representatives from the professional associations. e

framework writers were selected in consultation with

the participating professional associations. Feedback

was solicited throughout the process from stakehold-

ers, including invitational reviews with professional

organizations, teachers, and critical friends.

C3 Framework Leadership Team

e following members of the C3 Framework

Leadership Team worked collaboratively to guide

and manage the C3 Framework project:

Project Director and Lead Writer

Kathy Swan, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor,

Social Studies Education,

University of Kentucky

Chair, C3 Framework Task Force of

Professional Organizations

Susan Grifﬁn,

Executive Director,

National Council for the Social Studies

Senior Advisors and

Contributing Writers

S.G. Grant, Ph.D.,

Founding Dean of the Graduate School of Education,

Binghamton University

John Lee, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Social Studies Education,

North Carolina State University

C3 Framework Design Team:

Citizen: Me worked with the Leadership Team to

visualize the Inquiry Arc and to design the C3

Framework. ank you to designers Becky Colley,

Sarah O’Connor, and especially to Monica Snellings

and DK Holland, for their professionalism, talent and

commitment to the teaching of civics in our schools.

C3 Framework Production Team:

Gene Cowan and Monica Snellings

2 The abbreviations “Common Core Standards for ELA/Literacy” and

“ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards” will be used regularly in this

document to refer to the Common Core State Standards for English

Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and

Technical Subjects. Citations of the Common Core State Standards in

this document identify their publishers and date of publication (NGA

and CCSSO, 2010) . The detailed reference information can be found

in the References section on page 92 below.

8 • C3 Framework

Kathy Swan, Ph.D. (Lead Writer),

Associate Professor, Social Studies Education,

University of Kentucky

Keith C. Barton, Ed.D.,

Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and

Adjunct Professor of History, Indiana University

Stephen Buckles, Ph.D.,

Senior Lecturer in Economics, Vanderbilt University

Flannery Burke, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of History, Saint Louis University

Jim Charkins, Ph.D.,

Professor Emeritus of Economics at California

State University, San Bernardino; Executive Director

of the California Council on Economic Education

S.G. Grant, Ph.D.,

Founding Dean of the Graduate School of Education,

Binghamton University

Susan W. Hardwick, Ph.D.,

Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University

of Oregon

John Lee, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Social Studies Education,

North Carolina State University

Peter Levine, D.Phil.,

Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship and Public

Aairs and Director of the Center for Information

and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement

(CIRCLE), Tus University’s Jonathan Tisch

College of Citizenship and Public Service

Meira Levinson, D.Phil.,

Associate Professor of Education, Harvard University

Anand Marri, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Social Studies Education,

Teachers College, Columbia University

Chauncey Monte-Sano, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Educational Studies,

University of Michigan

Robert Morrill, Ph.D.,

Professor Emeritus of Geography, Virginia

Polytechnic Institute and State University

Karen Thomas-Brown, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Social Studies Education and

Multiculturalism, University of Michigan-Dearborn

Cynthia Tyson, Ph.D.,

Professor of Social Studies Education, e Ohio State

University

Bruce VanSledright, Ph.D.,

Professor of History and Social Studies Education,

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Merry Wiesner-Hanks, Ph.D.,

Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department

of History, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Note: A special thank you to Lauren Colley, Rebecca

Mueller, and Emma acker, Graduate Assistants at

the University of Kentucky, who each provided sup-

port to the C3 Framework Writers and Team.

C3 Framework Writing Team

e writing team included experts in K-12 social studies education and the academic disciplines of civics,

economics, geography and history. Individuals were selected based on recommendations from the professional

associations engaged in the process of developing the C3 Framework. e writing team worked in both dis-

ciplinary and interdisciplinary teams, and solicited feedback from stakeholders on dras at regular intervals

throughout the development process. Biographical sketches of the following writing team members are included

at the end of this publication:

Introduction • 9

C3 FRAMEWORK TASK FORCE OF

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

e Task Force of Professional Organizations was

formed in 2010, and with the state social studies col-

laborative, initiated and guided the development of the

C3 Framework. Representatives from the Task Force

organizations provided feedback to the writers.

American Bar Association

American Historical Association

Association of American Geographers

Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools

Center for Civic Education

Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago

Constitutional Rights Foundation USA

Council for Economic Education

National Council for Geographic Education

National Council for History Education

National Council for the Social Studies

National Geographic Society

National History Day

Street Law, Inc.

World History Association

C3 FRAMEWORK ADVISORY WORKING

GROUP OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL

SCIENCE PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

e Advisory Working Group of Behavioral and Social

Science Professional Organizations rst met in 2013 to

advise on the role of the behavioral and social sciences

in the C3 Framework and provide feedback on the

document. ese organizations worked together to

create Appendices B, C, and D as companion docu-

ments to the C3 Framework. Although the organiza-

tions have contributed these appendices, their partici-

pation does not necessarily imply the endorsement of

the C3 Framework.

American Anthropological Association

American Psychological Association

American Sociological Association

C3 FRAMEWORK EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

e following state collaborative members and teach-

ers provided additional guidance to the writing team

to ensure eective individual state implementation of

the Framework:

Editorial Committee Co-Chair

Fay Gore, North Carolina

Editorial Committee Co-Chair

William Muthig, Ohio

Kim Eggborn, Maryland

Maggie Herrick, Arkansas

Mitzie Higa, Hawaii

Marcie Taylor Thoma, Maryland

Jessica Vehlwald, Missouri

C3 Framework Project Participants

e C3 Framework writing team worked in collaboration with the following project participants to rene the

document. Representatives from the CCSSO Social Studies Assessment, Curriculum, and Instruction (SSACI)

state collaborative, Los Angeles County Oce of Education and University of Delaware (which are aliate mem-

bers of SSACI), the C3 Framework Task Force of Professional Organizations, and the C3 Framework Teacher

Collaborative Council critiqued early dras and provided feedback to the writers. In the last year of the project,

additional stakeholders were asked to provide feedback on the C3 Framework.

10 • C3 Framework

C3 FRAMEWORK CRITICAL VOICES

Listed below are the stakeholders contacted for an invitational review prior to publication of the C3 Framework.

American Association of School Administrators

American Association of School Librarians

American Federation of Teachers

American Heritage

Bill of Rights Institute

C-SPAN

Citizen: Me

Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship,

University of Delaware

Colonial Williamsburg

DBQ Project

Junior Achievement

Federal Judicial Center-History Oce

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis,

Economic Education

Heritage Education Services-National Park Service

Library of Congress

National Archives

National Center for Literacy Education

National Constitution Center

National Council for Accreditation of

Teacher Education

Newseum

Partnership for 21st Century Skills

Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian American Art Museum

National Museum of the American Indian

Teaching for Change

What So Proudly We Hail

C3 FRAMEWORK TEACHER COLLABORATIVE COUNCIL

e state social studies collaborative chose highly qualied K-12 educators from 21 states to provide feedback on

early dras of the C3 Framework. Members of the Teacher Collaborative Council are listed below by state:

Arkansas

Lisa Laceeld

John White

California

Michael A. Long

Rebecca K. Valbuena

Colorado

Charlee Passig Archuleta

Anton Schulzki

Delaware

Wendy Harrington

Georgia

Sally J. Meyer

William S. Rakosnik

Hawaii

Mitzie Higa

Pamela M.T.

(Takehiro) King

Carrie Sato

Illinois

Beth Levinsky

Jerey W. Lightfoot

Indiana

Michael Hutchison

Callie Marksbary

Iowa

Rob Dittmer

Nancy Peterson

Kansas

Amanda Jessee

James K. Robb

Kentucky

ad Elmore

Barry Leonard

Maine

Shane Gower

Barbara Perry

Maryland

Kimberly Eggborn

Donna Phillips

Michigan

David Johnson

Raymond Walker

Missouri

Roxanna Mechem

Debra Williams

Nebraska

Lonnie Moore

Mary Lynn Reiser

North Carolina

Traci Barger

Mary G. Stevens

Ohio

Tim Dove

Laura Finney

Gloria Wu

Oklahoma

Pam Merrill

Washington

Tara Gray

Sabrina Shaw

Wisconsin

Tina Flood

Lauren Mitterman

How to Read the C3 Framework • 11

HOW TO READ

THE C3 FRAMEWORK

12 • C3 Framework

Inquiry Arc. e Inquiry Arc highlights the structure

of and rationale for the organization of the Frame-

work’s four Dimensions. e Arc focuses on the nature

of inquiry in general and the pursuit of knowledge

through questions in particular.

Overview of the Connections with the ELA/

Literacy Common Core Standards. e C3

Framework recognizes the important role that the

Common Core State Standards for ELA/Literacy play

in dening K-12 literacy expectations in most states.

is overview outlines how the C3 Framework con-

nects to and elaborates on the ELA/Literacy Common

Core Standards for social studies inquiry.

In addition to the overview of Common Core connec-

tions, each of the four Dimensions includes graphical

and narrative descriptions of how the C3 Framework

connects with the standards to guide states and local

jurisdictions in incorporating these expectations as

they upgrade their state social studies standards.

Dimensions and Subsections. e C3 Framework

is organized into the four Dimensions, which support

a robust social studies program rooted in inquiry.

Dimensions 2, 3 and 4 are further broken down into

subsections. For example, Dimension 2, Applying

Disciplinary Concepts and Tools, includes four

subsections—civics, economics, geography, and

history—which include descriptions of the structure

and tools of the disciplines as well as the habits of

mind common in those disciplines. See Table 1 for a

graphical representation of the organization of the C3

Framework.

Unique Structure of Dimension 2. Dimension

2 has an additional layer of three to four categories

OVERALL DOCUMENT ORGANIZATION e C3 Framework begins with

two narrative explanations: the Inquiry Arc, which provides the organizing structure

for the document; and the Overview of English Language Arts/Literacy Common Core

Connections, which highlights the important relationship between the C3 Framework

and the Common Core State Standards for ELA/Literacy. Next, the C3 Framework

presents the following four Dimensions: 1 Developing questions and planning

inquiries; 2 Applying disciplinary concepts and tools; 3 Evaluating sources and

using evidence; and 4 Communicating conclusions and taking informed action.

e C3 Framework closes with ve appendices.

DIMENSION 1:

DEVELOPING QUESTIONS

AND PLANNING INQUIRIES

DIMENSION 2:

APPLYING DISCIPLINARY

TOOLS AND CONCEPTS

DIMENSION 3:

EVALUATING SOURCES

AND USING EVIDENCE

DIMENSION 4:

COMMUNICATING

CONCLUSIONS AND

TAKING INFORMED

ACTION

Developing Questions and

Planning Inquiries

Civics Gathering and Evaluating

Sources

Communicating and

Critiquing Conclusions

Economics

Geography Developing Claims and Using

Evidence

Taking Informed Action

History

TABLE 1: C3 Framework Organization

How to Read the C3 Framework • 13

within each disciplinary subsection. ese categories

provide an organizing mechanism for the founda-

tional content and skills within each discipline. For

example, within the subsection of economics, there

are four categories: (1) Economic Decision Making;

(2) Exchange and Markets; (3) e National Economy;

and (4) e Global Economy. See Table 2 for a graph-

ical representation of the categories within the four

disciplinary subsections in Dimension 2.

C3 Framework Indicators and K-12 Pathways.

Within each subsection or category is a set of College,

Career, and Civic Readiness Indicators for the end of

grade 12. For each C3 Indicator, there is a suggested

K-12 Pathway for how students might develop pro-

ciency for a particular skill or concept. ese Pathways

acknowledge students’ developing capacity for un-

derstanding more sophisticated ideas and completing

more demanding inquiries across the grade bands of

K–2, 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12. Each Pathway includes three

developmental Indicators and the culminating C3

Indicator. e Indicators suggest student prociency

by the end of grades 2, 5, 8, and 12 with an under-

standing that these skills and concepts will be taught

within and throughout the grade band. States will

decide how these suggested Pathways inform their

processes for developing and upgrading state social

studies standards.

Appendices. e C3 Framework concludes with ve

appendices:

• Appendix A: C3 Framework Disciplinary

Inquiry Matrix. e Disciplinary Inquiry Matrix

articulates how the four Dimensions of the C3

Framework connect to and build upon one another

through the use of a content-specic example.

• Appendix B: Psychology Companion Document

for the C3 Framework. e Psychology

Companion Document was created by the

American Psychological Association and articu-

lates the key disciplinary tools and concepts central

to the discipline of psychology. C3 Indicators

are listed for the 9-12 grade band, a corollary for

Dimension 2. Psychology adds its unique and

important perspective to the content-specic

example presented in Appendix A: C3 Framework

Disciplinary Inquiry Matrix.

• Appendix C: Sociology Companion Document

for the C3 Framework. e Sociology Companion

Document was created by the American

Sociological Association and articulates the key

disciplinary tools and concepts central to the

discipline of sociology. C3 Indicators are listed for

the 9-12 grade band, a corollary for Dimension 2.

Sociology adds its unique and important perspec-

tive to the content-specic example in Appendix A:

C3 Framework Disciplinary Inquiry Matrix.

• Appendix D: Anthropology Companion

Document for the C3 Framework. e

Anthropology Companion Document was created

CIVICS ECONOMICS GEOGRAPHY HISTORY

Civic and Political Institutions Economic Decision Making Geographic Representations:

Spatial Views of the World

Change, Continuity, and

Context

Participation and

Deliberation: Applying Civic

Virtues and Democratic

Principles

Exchange and Markets Human-Environment

Interaction: Place, Regions,

and Culture

Perspectives

Processes, Rules, and Laws The National Economy Human Population: Spatial

Patterns and Movements

Historical Sources and

Evidence

The Global Economy Global Interconnections:

Changing Spatial Patterns

Causation and Argumentation

TABLE 2: Dimension 2—Applying Disciplinary Tools and Concepts

14 • C3 Framework

by the American Anthropological Association

and articulates the key disciplinary tools and

concepts central to the discipline of anthropology.

Anthropology adds its unique and important per-

spective to the content-specic example in Appendix

A: C3 Framework Disciplinary Inquiry Matrix.

• Appendix E: Scholarly Rationale for the C3

Framework. is appendix articulates the reason-

ing behind the creation of the C3 Framework and

addresses the research base that supports the ideas

represented. Now more than ever, students need

the intellectual power to recognize societal prob-

lems; ask good questions and develop robust in-

vestigations into them; consider possible solutions

and consequences; separate evidence-based claims

from parochial opinions; and communicate and

act upon what they learn. And most importantly,

they must possess the capability and commitment

to repeat that process as long as is necessary. Young

people need strong tools for, and methods of,

clear and disciplined thinking in order to traverse

successfully the worlds of college, career, and civic

life. e C3 Framework and its Inquiry Arc mark a

signicant departure from past attempts to devel-

op a robust social studies program. e scholarly

argument supports and underpins the funda-

mental shi in direction and practice that the C3

Framework embodies.

e appendices are followed by references and two

concluding sections.

• Glossary of Key Terms in the C3 Framework.

e glossary denes and provides examples of key

concepts and terms. e examples are illustrative

but are not exhaustive. e denitions and exam-

ples are intended to encourage a broad exchange of

ideas about social studies content, and should con-

tribute to a coherent vision of how social studies

might be enlivened and enriched by the use of the

C3 Framework.

• C3 Framework Writing Team Biographical

Sketches. e writing team includes members who

have expertise in K-12 social studies education and

the academic disciplines of civics, economics, geog-

raphy, and history. e selection of individuals was

based on recommendations from the professional

associations and state education agencies engaged

in the process of developing the C3 Framework.

What Is Not Covered in the C3 Framework

e C3 Framework is intended to serve as a resource

for states to consider as they upgrade their existing

state social studies standards. e Framework pro-

vides guidance on the key concepts and skills students

should develop through a robust social studies pro-

gram of study, but intentionally does not address all of

the elements states will need to consider in developing

and upgrading standards. ere are three main areas

not addressed by the framework:

• Content Necessary for a Rigorous Social Studies

Program. e C3 Framework focuses on the

concepts that underlie a rich program of social

studies education. e foundational concepts in

Dimension 2 outline the scope of the disciplinary

knowledge and tools associated with civics,

economics, geography, and history. References

are made to a range of ideas, such as the U.S.

Constitution, economic scarcity, geographical

modeling, and chronological sequences. However,

the particulars of curriculum and instructional

content—such as how a bill becomes a law or the

dierence between a map and a globe—are im-

portant decisions each state needs to make in the

development of local social studies standards.

• Other Disciplines Beyond Civics, Economics,

Geography, and History e disciplines repre-

sented in the C3 Framework are not the only ones

relevant to a rich social studies curriculum. Other

disciplines, such as anthropology, psychology, and

sociology, while not covered in the main body of

the C3 Framework, are important lenses for under-

standing the human experience (see Appendices

B, C, and D). Anthropology is the scientic study

of humans, past and present; psychology is the

scientic study of the mind and behavior; and

sociology is the scientic study of the social lives of

people, groups and societies. All have countless ap-

plications to everyday life. Indeed, the study of the

behavioral and social sciences enhances student

preparation for college, careers, and civic life by

promoting critical thinking, inquiry, problem-solv-

ing, evidence-based reasoning and communication

How to Read the C3 Framework • 15

skills, as well as multi-cultural and global under-

standings, the ability to work with diverse groups,

and a deep sense of personal and social respon-

sibility (American Anthropological Association,

2013; American Psychological Association, 2011;

American Sociological Association 2009). 3

e behavioral and social sciences align well to

the C3 Framework, which focuses on the four core

social studies disciplines, but some are not includ-

ed in the body of the framework. ese behavioral

and social sciences are most frequently taught at

the high school level, though eorts are underway

to better integrate behavioral and social science

concepts in the K-8 age bands. e C3 Framework

has been constructed as a K-12 Framework oering

specic guidance across the grade bands of K-2,

3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. e tough decision was made

early in the development of this framework to

focus only on the four federally dened core social

studies areas (i.e., civics, economics, geography,

and history) to streamline the development process

and produce a concise document.

e exclusion of some behavioral and social sci-

ences from the main body of this document should

not be seen as minimizing the importance of these

other disciplines in a robust social studies curric-

ulum. To that extent, professional organizations

aliated with these areas have been consulted

and have created discipline-specic resources to

align to this framework document. For example,

Appendices B and C were created by the American

Psychological Association and American

Sociological Association to align with Dimension

2 as well as other aspects of the C3 Framework.

Appendix D is a parallel companion document cre-

ated by the American Anthropological Association.

ese supporting documents should be seen as an

extension of this framework, as complementary

materials that will further the intention of prepar-

ing students for civic life. We encourage all readers

to refer to and use these additional resources.

• e Dierent Abilities Children Bring to their

Schooling. e C3 Framework is largely silent on

the dierent abilities children bring to their school-

ing. e C3 Indicators and K-12 Pathways individ-

ually and together describe the concepts and skills

students develop in a rich, ambitious program of

studies. Some students will need far more assis-

tance and support than others in reaching the

aims of each Dimension. All children deserve the

opportunity to learn. To be successful, students

will need varying degrees of scaolding to support

their learning. Smart, thoughtful, and imaginative

teachers are widely recognized as key to powerful

learning experiences; for English language learn-

ers, students with special needs, and struggling

readers and writers, such teachers are invaluable.

YOUNG PEOPLE need strong tools for, and

methods of, clear and disciplined thinking in

order to traverse successfully the worlds of

college, career, and civic life.

3 The detailed reference information for works cited can be found in the

References section on page 92 below.

Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History

C3 FRAMEWORK

FOR SOCIAL STUDIES STATE STANDARDS

COLLEGE, CAREER & CIVIC LIFE

THE INQUIRY ARC

OF THE C3 FRAMEWORK

16 • C3 Framework

THE PRIMARY PURPOSE of the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework

for Social Studies State Standards is to provide guidance to states on the concepts,

skills, and disciplinary tools necessary to prepare students for college, career, and

civic life. In doing so, the C3 Framework oers guidance and support for rigorous

student learning. at guidance and support takes form in an Inquiry Arc—a set

of interlocking and mutually reinforcing ideas that feature the four Dimensions of

informed inquiry in social studies: 1Developing questions and planning inquiries;

2Applying disciplinary concepts and tools; 3Evaluating sources and using evidence;

and 4Communicating conclusions and taking informed action.

Dimension 1 features the development of questions

and the planning of inquiries. With the entire scope

of human experience as its backdrop, the content of

social studies consists of a rich array of facts, concepts,

and generalizations. e way to tie all of this content

together is through the use of compelling and support-

ing questions.

Questioning is key to student learning. e C3

Framework encourages the use of compelling and

supporting questions, both teacher- and student-gen-

erated, as a central element of the teaching and

learning process. For example, a compelling question

like “Was the American Revolution revolutionary?” is

both intriguing to students and intellectually honest.

Such a question can be vigorously explored through

the disciplines of civics, economics, geography, and

history. It is also sensitive to the idea that students are

interested in how and why events are characterized

as they are. Supporting questions assist students in

addressing their compelling questions. For example,

questions like “What were the regulations imposed on

the colonists under the Townshend Acts?” will help

students understand the many dimensions of the war

as they form their conclusions about the magnitude of

change associated with those Acts.

Developing compelling and supporting questions

is challenging, and teachers will need to provide

guidance and support in craing them, especially

for young learners. e Indicators for Dimension 1

present a developmentally appropriate, scalable, and

assessable set of ideas through which students can

demonstrate their increasingly independent facility

with recognizing, developing, and articulating power-

ful questions.

Dimension 2, Applying Disciplinary Concepts and

Tools, provides the backbone for the Inquiry Arc.

Working with a robust compelling question and a set

of discrete supporting questions, teachers and students

determine the kind of content they need in order to

develop their inquiries. is process is an artful bal-

ancing act because the interplay between Dimensions

1 and 2 is dynamic: students access disciplinary

knowledge both to develop questions and to pursue

those questions using disciplinary concepts and tools.

Children typically begin proposing solutions to com-

pelling questions based on their experiences. Because

social studies content is based in human experience,

students will have hunches about the questions under

study. Rich social studies teaching, however, oers

students opportunities to investigate those questions

more thoroughly through disciplinary (civic, econom-

ic, geographical, or historical) and multi-disciplinary

means. Dimension 2 sets forth the conceptual content

that denes the disciplines, such as the historian’s

habit of describing how the perspectives of people in

the present shape their interpretations of the past. is

practice, along with the curricular content and the

distinctive habits of mind from the other social science

disciplines, informs students’ investigations and con-

tributes to an inquiry process for social studies.

In some cases, the compelling questions posed will

draw on content largely from a single discipline.

Teachers and students may pull primarily from

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 17

economics, for example, to answer the compelling

question, “How will an increase in the minimum

wage aect local job opportunities for teens?”

“Why are there rules?” invites inquiry into key civics

concepts. Many compelling questions, however, can

best be explored through the use of multiple dis-

ciplines. Recall the question, “Was the American

Revolution revolutionary?” Students will need to

examine a range of economic, geographic, historical,

and civic concepts in order to cra a full-bodied,

evidence-based response to this question. In similar

fashion, a contemporary environmental question

such as “What path should a new transcontinental

pipeline take?” or “Should the pipeline be built at all?”

demands the use of economic, historical, and civic as

well as spatial concepts and tools.

With compelling and supporting questions in hand

and a sense of the relevant concepts and ideas, the

Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework turns toward the

matter of sources and evidence. Social studies is an

evidence-based eld. e disciplinary concepts

represented in Dimension 2 provide a solid base

from which students can begin constructing answers

to their questions. Equally important, however, is

knowing how to ll in the gaps in their knowledge

by learning how to work from sources and evidence in

order to develop claims and counter-claims.

HELPING STUDENTS DEVELOP a capacity

for gathering and evaluating sources and

then using evidence in disciplinary ways is

a central feature of the Inquiry Arc represented

by Dimension 3, Evaluating Sources and Using

Evidence.

Sources come in many forms, including historical and

contemporary documents, data from direct observa-

tion, graphics, economic statistics, maps, legislative

actions, objects, and court rulings. Access to these

and other digital sources is now more readily available

than ever. e availability of source materials, how-

ever, does not translate automatically into their wise

use. Students must be mindful that not all sources

are equal in value and use and that sources do not, by

themselves, constitute evidence. Rather, evidence con-

sists of the material students select to support claims

and counter-claims in order to construct accounts,

explanations, and arguments. Helping students devel-

op a capacity for gathering and evaluating sources and

then using evidence in disciplinary ways is a central

feature of the Inquiry Arc represented by Dimension 3,

Evaluating Sources and Using Evidence.

A compelling question such as “Was the Civil Rights

Movement of the 1960s a success?” demands that

students draw evidence from more than one or two

sources. A wide range of perspectives is available in

both primary and secondary form. Having students

gather, evaluate, and use a rich subset of those sourc-

es oers them opportunities to identify claims and

counter-claims and to support those claims with

evidence. Making and supporting evidence-based

claims and counter-claims is key to student capacity to

construct explanations and arguments.

18 • C3 Framework

Developing explanations and making and supporting

arguments can take form in individual essays, group

projects, and other classroom-based written assess-

ments, both formal and informal. But students need

not be limited to those avenues. Although there is

no substitute for thoughtful and persuasive writing,

the Framework advocates expanding the means by

which students communicate their preliminary and

nal conclusions. As the Indicators for Dimension 4

(Communicating Conclusions and Taking Informed

Action) demonstrate, those means include a range of

venues and a variety of forms (e.g., discussions, de-

bates, policy analyses, video productions, and portfo-

lios). Moreover, the manner in which students work to

create their solutions can dier. Students need oppor-

tunities to work individually, with partners, in small

groups, and within whole class settings. Readiness

for college, career, and civic life is as much about the

experiences students have as it is about learning any

particular set of concepts or tools. us, the learning

environments that teachers create are critical

to student success. Students will ourish to the extent

that their independent and collaborative eorts are

guided, supported, and honored.

Active and responsible citizens identify and analyze

public problems; deliberate with other people about

how to dene and address issues; take constructive,

collaborative action; reect on their actions; create

and sustain groups; and inuence institutions both

large and small. ey vote, serve on juries, follow the

news and current events, and participate in voluntary

groups and eorts. Teaching students to act in these

ways—as citizens—signicantly enhances preparation

for college and career. Many of the same skills that are

needed for active and responsible citizenship—work-

ing eectively with other people, deliberating and

reasoning quantitatively about issues, following the

news, and forming and sustaining groups—are also

crucial to success in the 21st century workplace and in

college. Individual mastery of content oen no longer

suces; students should also develop the capacity to

work together to apply knowledge to real problems.

us, a rich social studies education is an education

for college, career, and civic life.

In one sense, Dimension 4 closes the Inquiry Arc.

But learning is reexive and recursive—new disci-

plinary knowledge can be the source of new ques-

tions, communicating ideas in one setting can lead to

new ideas about evidence, and new historical sources

can lead to new disciplinary and interdisciplinary

concepts. e Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework

oers states guidance for developing standards with

multiple opportunities for students to develop as

thoughtful, engaged citizens.

ACTIVE AND RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS

identify and analyze public problems; deliberate

with other people about how to deﬁne and

address issues; take constructive, collaborative

action; reﬂect on their actions; create and

sustain groups; and inﬂuence institutions

both large and small.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 19

e Common Core State Standards for English

Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies,

Science, and the Technical Subjects call on social

studies teachers to share in the responsibilities for

literacy instruction in K-12 education (NGA and

CCSSO, 2010a). e expectations for literacy learn-

ing in grades K–5 are established through the four

strands of Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening,

and Language. For grades 6–12, the ELA/Literacy

Common Core Standards provide specic literacy

standards for Reading and Writing in History/Social

Studies. e C3 Framework fully incorporates and

extends the expectations for literacy learning put

forward in the Common Core Standards for ELA/

Literacy on three levels (Table 3).

Connections between the C3 Framework

and the College and Career Readiness (CCR)

Anchor Standards. Each strand of the Common

Core State Standards for English Language Arts/

Literacy is headed by a set of College and Career

Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standards that are identical

across all grades and content areas, including social

studies. e authors of the C3 Framework view the

literacy skills detailed in the ELA/Literacy Common

Core College and Career Readiness (CCR) Anchor

Standards as establishing a foundation for inquiry in

social studies, and as such all CCR Anchor Standards

should be an indispensable part of any state’s so-

cial studies standards. Many specic CCR Anchor

Standards are directly supportive of the C3 Framework,

DIMENSION

ANCHOR

STANDARDS

DIMENSION

ANCHOR

STANDARDS

DIMENSION

ANCHOR

STANDARDS

DIMENSION

ANCHOR

STANDARDS

Developing

Questions

and Planning

Inquiries

SL1

Civics

R1-10

SL1

Gathering

and

Evaluating

Sources R1-10

W1, 2, 7-10

SL1

Communi-

cating and

Critiquing

Conclusions R1

W 1-8

SL1-6

Economics

Geography Developing

Claims

and Using

Evidence

Taking

Action

History

TABLE 4: Connections between the C3 Framework and the CCR Anchor Standards in the ELA/Literacy

Common Core Standards

FOUNDATIONAL

All ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards

SUPPORTIVE

Reading 1-10; Writing 1, 7-9; Speaking and Listening 1-6; Language 6

VITAL

Reading 1; Writing 7; Speaking and Listening 1

TABLE 3: Connections between the C3 Framework and the CCR Anchor Standards in the ELA/Literacy

Common Core Standards

OVERVIEW OF THE CONNECTIONS WITH THE ENGLISH

LANGUAGE ARTS/LITERACY COMMON CORE STANDARDS

✪

20 • C3 Framework

while three of these CCR Anchor Standards are vital

to social studies inquiry.

e connections between the C3 Framework and the

ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards are compre-

hensive and consistent. e CCR Anchor Standards

for the ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards, par-

ticularly those in the Reading, Writing, and Speaking

and Listening strands, provide a useful context for

illustrating the broader connections across and within

each Dimension. ese supportive connections are

detailed for each of the Dimensions in Table 4.4

e CCR Anchor Standards in Table 4 focus on a wide

range of inquiry practices that contribute to the litera-

cy foundations in social studies. Social studies students

should use and attend to the skills described in these

standards to assist them in focusing their inquiries

and research practices. e C3 Framework emphasizes

and elaborates on those skills in the Common Core

Standards that explicitly connect to inquiry, and rec-

ognizes the shared responsibility social studies plays in

honing key literacy skills.

ree CCR Anchor Standards (and their correspond-

ing grade-specic standards) are particularly vital

to social studies inquiry. Common Core Anchor

Standard for Reading 1 asks students to read texts

closely to both determine “explicit” information

lodged within the body of the text as well as draw

“logical inferences” based on the text (NGA and

CCSSO, 2010a, p. 10). Students are also expected to

“cite specic textual evidence when writing or speak-

ing to support conclusions drawn from the text” (NGA

and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 10). e C3 Framework stresses

the role evidence plays in the four Dimensions: ex-

plicitly in Dimension 3, which focuses on developing

claims and using evidence, and inferentially in devel-

oping questions answered with evidence in Dimension

1 or communicating conclusions supported by evi-

dence in Dimension 4. e emphasis on evidence also

connects the disciplines in Dimension 2.

Additionally, Common Core Anchor Standard for

Writing 7 is broadly relevant for inquiry in social stud-

ies. Writing Standard 7 calls on students to “conduct

short as well as more sustained research projects based

on focused questions, demonstrating understanding

of the subject under investigation” (NGA and CCSSO,

2010a, p. 18). e C3 Framework elevates research

as a process of inquiry that informs the Indicators

in all four Dimensions. Dimension 2 establishes the

tools and concepts from the social studies disciplines

that are relevant for inquiry. Dimensions 1, 3, and 4

describe the general social studies inquiry skills and

processes that support argumentation, explanation,

and taking informed action.

Finally, Common Core Anchor Standard for Speaking

and Listening 1 has broad application across the four

Dimensions. Speaking and Listening Standard 1 calls

on students to “prepare for and participate eectively

in a range of conversations and collaborations with

diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and ex-

pressing their own clearly and persuasively” (NGA and

CCSSO, 2010a, p. 22). Indicators in the C3 Framework

describe the types of collaboration needed for specic

skills and understandings. For example, a Dimension

1 Indicator states, “By the end of grade 2, individually

and with others, students construct compelling ques-

tions….” e C3 Framework acknowledges civil and

democratic discourse within a diverse, collaborative

context as both a purpose and outcome of a strong,

meaningful, and substantive social studies education.

Shared Language. Language and concepts from

the ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards were

deliberately used in specic Indicators across the

C3 Framework Dimensions. For example, the terms

argument and explanation; claim and counterclaim; in-

formation and evidence; and point of view and opinion

appear regularly in the ELA/Literacy Common Core

Standards and throughout the Dimensions of the C3

Framework.5

4 As Common Core states upgrade their social studies standards, they

will want to incorporate the grade-speciﬁc standards for K-5 and the

grade-band speciﬁc standards for literacy in social studies for grades

6-12 that correspond to the CCR anchor standard with the same

number.

5 Although the ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards and the C3

Framework both emphasize the unique skill of constructing evidence-

based arguments, different terms are used: opinion in the ELA/

Literacy Common Core Standards for grades K–5 and argument

throughout the C3 Framework.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 21

22 • C3 Framework

Developing

Questions

& PLANNING

INQUIRIES

QUESTIONS AND THE DESIRE TO ANSWER THEM give life to inquiry

and thus to the C3 Framework. Questions arise from students’ innate curiosity about

the world and from their eorts to make sense of how that world works.

Central to a rich social studies experience is the

capability for developing questions that can frame

and advance an inquiry. ose questions come in

two forms: compelling and supporting questions.

Compelling questions focus on enduring issues and

concerns. ey deal with curiosities about how things

work; interpretations and applications of disciplinary

concepts; and unresolved issues that require students

to construct arguments in response. In contrast, sup-

porting questions focus on descriptions, denitions,

and processes on which there is general agreement

within the social studies disciplines, and require stu-

dents to construct explanations that advance claims

of understanding in response.

Consider an example relevant to early elementary

students. A compelling question that students might

generate is, “Why do we need rules?” is question

reects the two primary qualities of a compelling

question: (1) It reects a social concern that students

nd engaging; and (2) It reects an enduring issue in

the eld of civics. A teacher and her students might

take such a question in a number of directions, but

for curricular purposes, it makes sense to dene some

parameters that give shape to the inquiry. Supporting

questions help dene those curriculum parameters.

Examples of supporting questions include, “What

are some rules that families follow?” “What are some

school rules?” or “What classroom rules have you

Dimension 1

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 23

Constructing Compelling Questions

e construction of compelling questions should

include the following Indicators, which are detailed

in the suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career,

and Civic Readiness in Table 5.

TABLE 5: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 1, Constructing Compelling Questions

BY THE END OF GRADE 2* BY THE END OF GRADE 5* BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS CONSTRUCT COMPELLING QUESTIONS, AND …

D1.1.K-2. Explain why the

compelling question is im-

portant to the student.

D1.1.3-5. Explain why compel-

ling questions are important

to others (e.g., peers, adults).

D1.1.6-8. Explain how a ques-

tion represents key ideas in

the ﬁeld.

D1.1.9-12. Explain how a ques-

tion reﬂects an enduring issue

in the ﬁeld.

D1.2.K-2. Identify disciplinary

ideas associated with a com-

pelling question.

D1.2.3-5. Identify disciplinary

concepts and ideas associat-

ed with a compelling question

that are open to different

interpretations.

D1.2.6-8. Explain points of

agreement experts have

about interpretations and ap-

plications of disciplinary con-

cepts and ideas associated

with a compelling question.

D1.2.9-12. Explain points of

agreement and disagreement

experts have about inter-

pretations and applications

of disciplinary concepts and

ideas associated with a com-

pelling question.

* Students, particularly before middle school, will need considerable guidance and support from adults to construct questions that are suitable for

inquiry.

followed in the past?” Supporting questions, then,

help guide the development of an inquiry into a

compelling question.

e development of compelling and supporting ques-

tions is a sophisticated intellectual activity. Students,

particularly before middle school, will need consid-

erable guidance and support from adults to construct

questions that are suitable for inquiry. Beginning in

grade 6, students should be able to take increasing

responsibility for their learning so that by grade 12

they are able to construct questions and plan inquiries

more independently.

Questions are just the starting point for an inquiry.

To develop an inquiry, students will also determine

the data sources needed to help answer compelling

and supporting questions. e ve indicators in

Dimension 1 describe the questioning and planning

skills needed to initiate inquiry.

CENTRAL to a rich social studies experience

is the capability for developing questions that

CAN FRAME AND ADVANCE AN INQUIRY.

Those questions come in two forms: compelling

and supporting questions.

24 • C3 Framework

Constructing Supporting Questions

e construction of supporting questions includes

the following Indicators, which are detailed in the

suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic

Readiness in Table 6.

TABLE 6: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 1, Constructing Supporting Questions

BY THE END OF GRADE 2* BY THE END OF GRADE 5* BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS CONSTRUCT SUPPORTING QUESTIONS, AND …

D1.3.K-2. Identify facts and

concepts associated with a

supporting question.

D1.3.3-5. Identify the disci-

plinary concepts and ideas

associated with a supporting

question that are open to

interpretation.

D1.3.6-8. Explain points of

agreement experts have

about interpretations and ap-

plications of disciplinary con-

cepts and ideas associated

with a supporting question.

D1.3.9-12. Explain points of

agreement and disagreement

experts have about inter-

pretations and applications

of disciplinary concepts and

ideas associated with a sup-

porting question.

D1.4.K-2. Make connec-

tions between supporting

questions and compelling

questions.

D1.4.3-5. Explain how

supporting questions help

answer compelling questions

in an inquiry.

D1.4.6-8. Explain how the rela-

tionship between supporting

questions and compel-

ling questions is mutually

reinforcing.

D1.4.9-12. Explain how

supporting questions con-

tribute to an inquiry and how,

through engaging source

work, new compelling and

supporting questions emerge.

* Students, particularly before middle school, will need considerable guidance and support from adults to construct questions that are suitable for

inquiry.

Determining Helpful Sources

e third set of Indicators for Dimension 1 is detailed

in the suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career,

and Civic Readiness in Table 7: Determine the kinds

of sources that will be helpful in answering compelling

and supporting questions, taking into consideration

the multiple points of view represented in an argu-

ment, the structure of an explanation, the types of

sources available, and the potential uses of the sources.

TABLE 7: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 1, Determining Helpful Sources

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS …

D1.5.K-2. Determine the kinds

of sources that will be helpful

in answering compelling and

supporting questions.

D1.5.3-5. Determine the kinds

of sources that will be helpful

in answering compelling

and supporting questions,

taking into consideration the

different opinions people

have about how to answer the

questions.

D1.5.6-8. Determine the kinds

of sources that will be helpful

in answering compelling and

supporting questions, taking

into consideration multiple

points of views represented in

the sources.

D1.5.9-12. Determine the kinds

of sources that will be helpful

in answering compelling and

supporting questions, taking

into consideration multiple

points of view represented

in the sources, the types of

sources available, and the

potential uses of the sources.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 25

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS/LITERACY COMMON CORE

CONNECTIONS: DIMENSION 1

Questioning plays an important role in social stud-

ies as well as in the ELA/Literacy Common Core

Standards. Expectations for using questions to interro-

gate texts are consistently communicated in the ELA/

Literacy Common Core Standards. One of the key

design features of the ELA/Literacy Common Core

Standards is to emphasize research skills through-

out the standards. Specically, the Common Core

Standards argue, “to be ready for college, workforce

training, and life in a technological society, students

need the ability to gather, comprehend, evaluate, syn-

thesize, and report on information and ideas, to con-

duct original research in order to answer questions”

(NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 4). e C3 Framework

elaborates on the emphasis of the ELA/Literacy

Common Core Standards on answering questions

by establishing specic Indicators for students con-

structing compelling questions to initiate inquiry and

supporting questions to sustain that inquiry.

Table 8 details connections between Dimension 1 and

the College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards

in the ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards. ese

connections are further elaborated with examples.

Connections between the C3 Framework and

the College and Career Readiness Anchor

Standards. While the connections between the C3

Framework and the ELA/Literacy Common Core

Standards are comprehensive and consistent, three

CCR Anchor Standards (and their corresponding

grade-specic standards) within the ELA/Literacy

Common Core Standards have deeper connections

within Dimension 1.

Common Core Anchor Reading Standard 1 clearly in-

dicates the importance of evidence in framing and an-

swering questions about the texts students are reading

and researching. is crucial standard asks students

to look for “explicit” information lodged within the

body of the text as well as to draw “logical inferences”

based on what they read (NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p.

10). Reading Standard 1 also expects students to “cite

specic textual evidence when writing or speaking

to support conclusions drawn from the text” (NGA

and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 10). e C3 Framework stresses

this focus on evidence by prioritizing a wide range

of inquiry-based activities that result in information

gathering on the part of students in response to plan-

ning and developing lines of inquiry.

Common Core Anchor Writing Standard 7 is particu-

larly relevant for posing questions as an initial activity

in research and inquiry in social studies. Writing

Standard 7 calls on students to base their research on

“focused questions, demonstrating understanding of

the subject under investigation” (NGA and CCSSO,

2010a, p. 18). e C3 Framework elaborates on the pro-

cess of developing questions by making distinctions

about the types of questions useful for initiating and

sustaining an inquiry, and by having students explain

how the construction of compelling and supporting

questions is connected to the disciplinary process of

inquiry.

TABLE 8: Connections between Dimension 1 and the CCR Anchor Standards in the ELA/Literacy

Common Core Standards

ELA/LITERACY CCR ANCHOR

STANDARDS CONNECTIONS

Anchor Reading Standard 1

Anchor Writing Standard 7

Anchor Speaking and Listening Standard 1

SHARED LANGUAGE Questioning; Argument; Explanation; Point of View

✪

26 • C3 Framework

Common Core Anchor Speaking and Listening

Standard 1 also has broad application for Dimension 1.

Speaking and Listening Standard 1 calls on students to

“prepare for and participate eectively in a range of

conversations and collaborations with diverse part-

ners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their

own clearly and persuasively” (NGA and CCSSO,

2010a, p. 22). Dimension 1 asks students to engage in

the sophisticated intellectual activity of constructing

compelling and supporting questions. Students,

particularly before middle school, will need consider-

able guidance and support from adults and peers to

construct suitable questions for inquiry. Such guidance

and support will play out through conversations and

collaboration. Learning in social studies is an inher-

ently collaborative activity, and Speaking and

Listening Standard 1 is thus especially relevant in

Dimension 1.

A student’s ability to ask and answer questions when

reading, writing, and speaking and listening is an

important part of literacy and represents a founda-

tion for learning in social studies. roughout the

C3 Framework, students are expected to practice and

improve the questioning skills specied in the ELA/

Literacy Common Core Standards. In Dimension 1 of

the C3 Framework, students turn to questions as a way

to initiate and sustain inquiry, and connect these ques-

tioning literacies to those suggested by ELA/Literacy

Common Core Writing Standard 7. In alignment with

the Common Core Standards, the C3 Framework

views the skill of asking questions and the desire to

answer them as being so fundamental to the inquiry

process that inquiry cannot begin until students have

developed questioning skills.

e questioning skills emphasized in the C3

Framework reect the academic intentions of the

disciplines that make up social studies and the special

purposes of social studies as preparation for civic life.

Social studies teachers have an important role to play

in supporting students as they develop the literacy

questioning skills found in the ELA/Literacy Common

Core Standards, and can do this most eectively

through helping their students learn the habits and

skills needed to conduct inquiry in social studies and

to live productively as democratic citizens.

Shared Language. e ELA/Literacy Common

Core Standards closely align with the Indicators in

Dimension 1. In places, the connections between the

Common Core Standards and the C3 Framework

Indicators are so close that the same language is used.

e concept of questioning is part of this shared

language, but in addition, the terms argument, ex-

planation, and point of view are consistently used in

both the ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards and

Dimension 1.

e ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards em-

phasize questioning as a mechanism for supporting

reading and as a tool to prompt research. e C3

Framework emphasizes the use of questioning as a

prompt for disciplinary inquiry. A unique distinction

is made in the C3 Framework between compelling and

supporting questions. is distinction is closely tied

to the types of thinking and student-generated prod-

ucts that result from inquiry. In distinguishing these

products, the C3 Framework utilizes the distinction

between argumentation and explanation as described

in ELA/Literacy Common Core Writing Anchor

Standards 1 and 2. us, by design, compelling ques-

tions lead to arguments, and supporting questions lead

to explanations.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 27

28 • C3 Framework

Dimension 2

Applying

Disciplinary

Concepts

& TOOLS

THE FOUR CORE DISCIPLINES within social studies provide the intellectual

context for studying how humans have interacted with each other and with the

environment over time. Each of these disciplines—civics, economics, geography, and

history—oers a unique way of thinking and organizing knowledge as well as systems

for verifying knowledge. Dimension 2 focuses on the disciplinary concepts and tools

students need to understand and apply as they study the specic content typically

described in state standards. ese disciplinary ideas are the lenses students use in their

inquiries, and the consistent and coherent application of these lenses throughout the

grades should lead to deep and enduring understanding.

A key distinction between a framework and a set of

content standards is the dierence between conceptual

and curricular content. Curricular content species

the particular ideas to be taught and the grade levels at

which to teach them; conceptual content is the big-

ger set of ideas that frame the curricular content. For

example, rather than identify every form of govern-

mental power, the C3 Framework expects students in

grades 6–8 to “explain the powers and limits of the

three branches of government, public ocials, and bu-

reaucracies at dierent levels in the United States and

in other countries.” Similarly, rather than delineate

every kind of map, the C3 Framework expects students

in grades 3–5 to “create maps and other graphic repre-

sentations of both familiar and unfamiliar places.”

e C3 Framework takes this approach of describing

concepts and skills rather than curricular content

because there are signicant dierences among states

in terms of what is taught and when. If and when the

Irish potato famine might be taught, for example, is

a decision best le to state and local decision makers.

e C3 Framework in general, and Dimension 2 in

particular, is intended to serve as a frame for organiz-

ing curricular content, rather than a prescription for

the specic content to be taught.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 29

Civics:

What is the

line between

liberty and

responsibility?

History:

When did

Americans

gain their

liberty?

Geography:

How does liberty

change from

place to place?

Economics:

Does more

liberty mean

more prosperity?

WHAT DOES LIBERTY LOOK LIKE?

COMPELLING QUESTIONS THROUGH DISCIPLINARY LENSES

30 • C3 Framework

CIVICS

IN A CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY, productive civic

engagement requires knowledge of the history, principles, and

foundations of our American democracy, and the ability to participate

in civic and democratic processes. People demonstrate civic engagement

when they address public problems individually and collaboratively

and when they maintain, strengthen, and improve communities and

societies. us, civics is, in part, the study of how people participate in

governing society.

Because government is a means for addressing common or public

problems, the political system established by the U.S. Constitution is an

important subject of study within civics. Civics requires other knowledge

too; students should also learn about state and local governments;

markets; courts and legal systems; civil society; other nations’ systems

and practices; international institutions; and the techniques available to

citizens for preserving and changing a society.

Civics is not limited to the study of politics and society; it also

encompasses participation in classrooms and schools, neighborhoods,

groups, and organizations. Not all participation is benecial. is

framework makes frequent reference to civic virtues and principles

that guide participation and to the norm of deliberation (which means

discussing issues and making choices and judgments with information

and evidence, civility and respect, and concern for fair procedures).

What denes civic virtue, which democratic principles apply in given

situations, and when discussions are deliberative are not easy questions,

but they are topics for inquiry and reection. In civics, students learn

to contribute appropriately to public processes and discussions of real

issues. eir contributions to public discussions may take many forms,

ranging from personal testimony to abstract arguments. ey will also

learn civic practices such as voting, volunteering, jury service, and

joining with others to improve society. Civics enables students not only

to study how others participate, but also to practice participating and

taking informed action themselves.

Dimension 2: Applying Disciplinary Concepts and Tools • 31

TABLE 9: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, Civic and Political Institutions

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.Civ.1.K-2.

Describe roles

and responsibilities of people

in authority.

D2.Civ.1.3-5.

Distinguish

the responsibilities and pow-

ers of government ofﬁcials at

various levels and branches of

government and in different

times and places.

D2.Civ.1.6-8.

Distinguish

the powers and responsi-

bilities of citizens, political

parties, interest groups, and

the media in a variety of

governmental and nongov-

ernmental contexts.

D2.Civ.1.9-12.

Distinguish

the powers and responsibili-

ties of local, state, tribal, na-

tional, and international civic

and political institutions.

D2.Civ.2.K-2.

Explain how

all people, not just ofﬁcial

leaders, play important roles

in a community.

D2.Civ.2.3-5.

Explain how a

democracy relies on people’s

responsible participation, and

draw implications for how

individuals should participate.

D2.Civ.2.6-8.

Explain spe-

ciﬁc roles played by citizens

(such as voters, jurors, taxpay-

ers, members of the armed

forces, petitioners, protesters,

and ofﬁce-holders).

D2.Civ.2.9-12.

Analyze the

role of citizens in the U.S. po-

litical system, with attention

to various theories of democ-

racy, changes in Americans’

participation over time, and

alternative models from other

countries, past and present.

D2.Civ.3.K-2.

Explain the

need for and purposes of

rules in various settings inside

and outside of school.

D2.Civ.3.3-5.

Examine the

origins and purposes of rules,

laws, and key U.S. constitu-

tional provisions.

D2.Civ.3.6-8.

Examine the

origins, purposes, and impact

of constitutions, laws, treaties,

and international agreements.

D2.Civ.3.9-12.

Analyze

the impact of constitutions,

laws, treaties, and interna-

tional agreements on the

maintenance of national and

international order.

D2.Civ.4.K-2.

Begins in grades 3–5

D2.Civ.4.3-5.

Explain how

groups of people make rules

to create responsibilities and

protect freedoms.

D2.Civ.4.6-8.

Explain the

powers and limits of the three

branches of government,

public ofﬁcials, and bureau-

cracies at different levels in

the United States and in other

countries.

D2.Civ.4.9-12.

Explain how

the U.S. Constitution estab-

lishes a system of government

that has powers, responsi-

bilities, and limits that have

changed over time and that

are still contested.

D2.Civ.5.K-2.

Explain what

governments are and some of

their functions.

D2.Civ.5.3-5.

Explain the

origins, functions, and struc-

ture of different systems of

government, including those

created by the U.S. and state

constitutions.

D2.Civ.5.6-8.

Explain the or-

igins, functions, and structure

of government with reference

to the U.S. Constitution, state

constitutions, and selected

other systems of government.

D2.Civ.5.9-12.

Evaluate cit-

izens’ and institutions’ effec-

tiveness in addressing social

and political problems at the

local, state, tribal, national,

and/or international level.

D2.Civ.6.K-2.

Describe

how communities work to

accomplish common tasks,

establish responsibilities, and

fulﬁll roles of authority.

D2.Civ.6.3-5.

Describe

ways in which people beneﬁt

from and are challenged by

working together, including

through government, work-

places, voluntary organiza-

tions, and families.

D2.Civ.6.6-8.

Describe the

roles of political, civil, and

economic organizations in

shaping people’s lives.

D2.Civ.6.9-12.

Critique

relationships among gov-

ernments, civil societies, and

economic markets.

Civic and Political Institutions

In order to act responsibly and eectively, citizens

must understand the important institutions of their

society and the principles that these institutions are

intended to reect. at requires mastery of a body of

knowledge about law, politics, and government.

Indicators of Dimension 2—Civic and Political

Institutions—are detailed in the suggested K-12

Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness in

Table 9.

32 • C3 Framework

TABLE 10: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, Participation and Deliberation

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.Civ.7.K-2.

Apply civic

virtues when participating in

school settings.

D2.Civ.7.3-5.

Apply civic

virtues and democratic princi-

ples in school settings.

D2.Civ.7.6-8.

Apply civic

virtues and democratic princi-

ples in school and community

settings.

D2.Civ.7.9-12.

Apply

civic virtues and democratic

principles when working with

others.

D2.Civ.8.K-2.

Describe

democratic principles such as

equality, fairness, and respect

for legitimate authority and

rules.

D2.Civ.8.3-5.

Identify core

civic virtues and demo-

cratic principles that guide

government, society, and

communities.

D2.Civ.8.6-8.

Analyze ideas

and principles contained in

the founding documents of

the United States, and explain

how they inﬂuence the social

and political system.

D2.Civ.8.9-12.

Evaluate

social and political systems

in different contexts, times,

and places, that promote civic

virtues and enact democratic

principles.

D2.Civ.9.K-2.

agreed-upon rules for dis-

cussions while responding

attentively to others when

addressing ideas and making

decisions as a group.

D2.Civ.9.3-5.

Use delibera-

tive processes when making

decisions or reaching judg-

ments as a group.

D2.Civ.9.6-8.

Compare

deliberative processes used

by a wide variety of groups in

various settings.

D2.Civ.9.9-12.

Use appropri-

ate deliberative processes in

multiple settings.

D2.Civ.10.K-2.

Compare

their own point of view with

others’ perspectives.

D2.Civ.10.3-5.

Identify the

beliefs, experiences, perspec-

tives, and values that underlie

their own and others’ points

of view about civic issues.

D2.Civ.10.6-8.

Explain

the relevance of personal

interests and perspectives,

civic virtues, and democratic

principles when people ad-

dress issues and problems in

government and civil society.

D2.Civ.10.9-12.

Analyze the

impact and the appropriate

roles of personal interests and

perspectives on the applica-

tion of civic virtues, democrat-

ic principles, constitutional

rights, and human rights.

Participation and Deliberation: Applying Civic Virtues and Democratic Principles

Civics teaches the principles—such as adherence to

the social contract, consent of the governed, limited

government, legitimate authority, federalism, and

separation of powers—that are meant to guide ocial

institutions such as legislatures, courts, and govern-

ment agencies. It also teaches the virtues—such as

honesty, mutual respect, cooperation, and attentive-

ness to multiple perspectives—that citizens should use

when they interact with each other on public matters.

Principles such as equality, freedom, liberty, respect for

individual rights, and deliberation apply to both ocial

institutions and informal interactions among citizens.

Learning these virtues and principles requires obtain-

ing factual knowledge of written provisions found in

important texts such as the founding documents of

the United States. It also means coming to understand

the diverse arguments that have been made about

these documents and their meanings. Finally, students

understand virtues and principles by applying and

reecting on them through actual civic engagement—

their own and that of other people from the

past and present.

Indicators of Dimension 2—Participation and

Deliberation—are detailed in the suggested K-12

Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness in

Table 10.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 33

TABLE 11: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, Processes, Rules, and Laws

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.Civ.11.K-2.

Explain how

people can work together

to make decisions in the

classroom.

D2.Civ.11.3-5.

Compare

procedures for making deci-

sions in a variety of settings,

including classroom, school,

government, and/or society.

D2.Civ.11.6-8.

Differentiate

among procedures for mak-

ing decisions in the class-

room, school, civil society,

and local, state, and national

government in terms of how

civic purposes are intended.

D2.Civ.11.9-12.

Evaluate

multiple procedures for mak-

ing governmental decisions at

the local, state, national, and

international levels in terms of

the civic purposes achieved.

D2.Civ.12.K-2.

Identify and

explain how rules function in

public (classroom and school)

settings.

D2.Civ.12.3-5.

Explain how

rules and laws change society

and how people change rules

and laws.

D2.Civ.12.6-8.

Assess

speciﬁc rules and laws (both

actual and proposed) as

means of addressing public

problems.

D2.Civ.12.9-12.

Analyze how

people use and challenge

local, state, national, and

international laws to address a

variety of public issues.

Begins in grades 3–5

D2.Civ.13.3-5.

Explain how

policies are developed to

address public problems.

D2.Civ.13.6-8.

Analyze the

purposes, implementation,

and consequences of public

policies in multiple settings.

D2.Civ.13.9-12.

Evaluate

public policies in terms of

intended and unintended

outcomes, and related

consequences.

D2.Civ.14.K-2.

Describe

how people have tried to

improve their communities

over time.

D2.Civ.14.3-5.

Illustrate

historical and contemporary

means of changing society.

D2.Civ.14.6-8.

Compare

historical and contemporary

means of changing societies,

and promoting the common

good.

D2.Civ.14.9-12.

Analyze

historical, contemporary, and

emerging means of chang-

ing societies, promoting the

common good, and protect-

ing rights.

Processes, Rules, and Laws

Civics is the discipline of the social studies most

directly concerned with the processes and rules by

which groups of people make decisions, govern them-

selves, and address public problems. People address

problems at all scales, from a classroom to the agree-

ments among nations. Public policies are among the

tools that governments use to address public problems.

Students must learn how various rules, processes, laws,

and policies actually work, which requires factual

understanding of political systems and is the focus

of this section. ey must also obtain experience in

dening and addressing public problems, as prompted

in Dimension 4—Taking Informed Action.

Indicators of Dimension 2—Processes, Rules, and

Laws—are detailed in the suggested K-12 Pathway for

College, Career, and Civic Readiness in Table 11.

34 • C3 Framework

ECONOMICS

EFFECTIVE ECONOMIC DECISION ma k i n g requires

that students have a keen understanding of the ways in which

individuals, businesses, governments, and societies make decisions

to allocate human capital, physical capital, and natural resources

among alternative uses. is economic reasoning process involves the

consideration of costs and benets with the ultimate goal of making

decisions that will enable individuals and societies to be as well o as

possible. e study of economics provides students with the concepts

and tools necessary for an economic way of thinking and helps students

understand the interaction of buyers and sellers in markets, workings of

the national economy, and interactions within the global marketplace.

Economics is grounded in knowledge about how people choose to use

resources. Economic understanding helps individuals, businesses,

governments, and societies choose what resources to devote to work,

to school, and to leisure; how many dollars to spend, and how many to

save; and how to make informed decisions in a wide variety of contexts.

Economic reasoning and skillful use of economic tools draw upon

a strong base of knowledge about human capital, land, investments,

money, income and production, taxes, and government expenditures.

Dimension 2: Applying Disciplinary Concepts and Tools • 35

Economic Decision Making

People make decisions about how to use scarce

resources to maximize the well-being of individu-

als and society. Economic decision making involves

setting goals and identifying the resources available

to achieve those goals. Alternative ways to use the

resources are investigated in terms of their advantages

and disadvantages. Since most choices involve a little

more of one thing and a little less of something else,

economic decision making includes weighing the

additional benet of an action against the additional

cost. Investigating the incentives that motivate people

is an essential part of analyzing economic decision

making.

Indicators of Dimension 2—Economic Decision

Making—are detailed in the suggested K-12 Pathway

for College, Career, and Civic Readiness in Table 12.

TABLE 12: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, Economic Decision Making

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.Eco.1.K-2.

Explain how

scarcity necessitates decision

making.

D2.Eco.1.3-5.

Compare the

beneﬁts and costs of individu-

al choices.

D2.Eco.1.6-8.

Explain how

economic decisions affect

the well-being of individuals,

businesses, and society.

D2.Eco.1.9-12.

Analyze how

incentives inﬂuence choices

that may result in policies with

a range of costs and beneﬁts

for different groups.

D2.Eco.2.K-2.

Identify the

beneﬁts and costs of making

various personal decisions.

D2.Eco.2.3-5.

Identify pos-

itive and negative incentives

that inﬂuence the decisions

people make.

D2.Eco.2.6-8.

Evaluate

alternative approaches or

solutions to current economic

issues in terms of beneﬁts and

costs for different groups and

society as a whole.

D2.Eco.2.9-12.

Use margin-

al beneﬁts and marginal costs

to construct an argument for

or against an approach or

solution to an economic issue.

36 • C3 Framework

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.Eco.3.K-2.

Describe the

skills and knowledge required

to produce certain goods and

services.

D2.Eco.3.3-5.

Identify

examples of the variety of

resources (human capital,

physical capital, and natural

resources) that are used to

produce goods and services.

D2.Eco.3.6-8.

Explain the

roles of buyers and sellers in

product, labor, and ﬁnancial

markets.

D2.Eco.3.9-12.

Analyze

the ways in which incentives

inﬂuence what is produced

and distributed in a market

system.

D2.Eco.4.K-2.

Describe

the goods and services that

people in the local com-

munity produce and those

that are produced in other

communities.

D2.Eco.4.3-5.

Explain why

individuals and businesses

specialize and trade.

D2.Eco.4.6-8.

Describe

the role of competition in the

determination of prices and

wages in a market economy.

D2.Eco.4.9-12.

Evaluate the

extent to which competition

among sellers and among

buyers exists in speciﬁc

markets.

D2.Eco.5.K-2.

Identify

prices of products in a local

market.

D2.Eco.5.3-5.

Explain the

role of money in making

exchange easier.

D2.Eco.5.6-8.

Explain ways

in which money facilitates

exchange by reducing trans-

actional costs.

D2.Eco.5.9-12.

Describe the

consequences of competition

in speciﬁc markets.

D2.Eco.6.K-2.

Explain how

people earn income.

D2.Eco.6.3-5.

Explain

the relationship between

investment in human capital,

productivity, and future

incomes.

D2.Eco.6.6-8.

Explain how

changes in supply and de-

mand cause changes in prices

and quantities of goods and

services, labor, credit, and

foreign currencies.

D2.Eco.6.9-12.

Generate

possible explanations for a

government role in markets

when market inefﬁciencies

exist.

D2.Eco.7.K-2.

Describe

examples of costs of

production.

D2.Eco.7.3-5.

Explain how

proﬁts inﬂuence sellers in

markets.

D2.Eco.7.6-8.

Analyze

the role of innovation and

entrepreneurship in a market

economy.

D2.Eco.7.9-12.

Use beneﬁts

and costs to evaluate the

effectiveness of government

policies to improve market

outcomes.

Begins in grades 3-5

D2.Eco.8.3-5.

Identify

examples of external beneﬁts

and costs.

D2.Eco.8.6-8.

Explain how

external beneﬁts and costs

inﬂuence market outcomes.

D2.Eco.8.9-12.

Describe the

possible consequences, both

intended and unintended,

of government policies to

improve market outcomes.

D2.Eco.9.K-2.

Describe the

role of banks in an economy.

D2.Eco.9.3-5.

Describe the

role of other ﬁnancial institu-

tions in an economy.

D2.Eco.9.6-8.

Describe the

roles of institutions such as

corporations, non-proﬁts,

and labor unions in a market

economy.

D2.Eco.9.9-12.

Describe

the roles of institutions such

as clearly deﬁned property

rights and the rule of law in a

market economy.

TABLE 13: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, Exchange and Markets

Exchange and Markets

People voluntarily exchange goods and services when

both parties expect to gain as a result of the trade.

Markets exist to facilitate the exchange of goods

and services. When buyers and sellers interact in

well-functioning, competitive markets, prices are de-

termined that reect the relative scarcity of the goods

and services in the market. e principles of markets

apply to markets for goods and services, labor, credit,

foreign exchange, and others. Comparison of bene-

ts and costs helps identify the circumstances under

which government action in markets is in the best

interest of society and when it is not.

Indicators of Dimension 2—Exchange and Markets—

are detailed in the suggested K-12 Pathway for College,

Career, and Civic Readiness in Table 13.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 37

TABLE 14: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, The National Economy

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.Eco.10.K-2.

Explain why

people save.

D2.Eco.10.3-5.

Explain

what interest rates are.

D2.Eco.10.6-8.

Explain

the inﬂuence of changes in

interest rates on borrowing

and investing.

D2.Eco.10.9-12.

Use current

data to explain the inﬂuence

of changes in spending,

production, and the money

supply on various economic

conditions.

Begins in grades 3–5

D2.Eco.11.3-5.

Explain the

meaning of inﬂation, deﬂa-

tion, and unemployment.

D2.Eco.11.6-8.

Use ap-

propriate data to evaluate

the state of employment,

unemployment, inﬂation,

total production, income,

and economic growth in the

economy.

D2.Eco.11.9-12.

Use eco-

nomic indicators to analyze

the current and future state of

the economy.

D2.Eco.12.K-2.

Describe

examples of the goods and

services that governments

provide.

D2.Eco.12.3-5.

Explain the

ways in which the govern-

ment pays for the goods and

services it provides.

D2.Eco.12.6-8.

Explain how

inﬂation, deﬂation, and un-

employment affect different

groups.

D2.Eco.12.9-12.

Evaluate

the selection of monetary and

ﬁscal policies in a variety of

economic conditions.

D2.Eco.13.K-2.

Describe

examples of capital goods

and human capital.

D2.Eco.13.3-5.

Describe

ways people can increase pro-

ductivity by using improved

capital goods and improving

their human capital.

D2.Eco.13.6-8.

Explain why

standards of living increase as

productivity improves.

D2.Eco.13.9-12.

Explain why

advancements in technology

and investments in capital

goods and human capital

increase economic growth

and standards of living.

The National Economy

Changes in the amounts and qualities of human cap-

ital, physical capital, and natural resources inuence

current and future economic conditions and standards

of living. All markets working together inuence

economic growth and uctuations in well-being.

Monetary and scal policies are oen designed and

used in attempts to moderate uctuations and encour-

age growth under a wide variety of circumstances.

Policies changing the growth in the money supply and

overall levels of spending in the economy are aimed

at reducing inationary or deationary pressures;

increasing employment or decreasing unemployment

levels; and increasing economic growth over time.

Policies designed to achieve alternative goals oen

have unintended eects on levels of ination, employ-

ment, and growth.

Indicators of Dimension 2—e National Economy—

are detailed in the suggested K-12 Pathway for College,

Career, and Civic Readiness in Table 14.

38 • C3 Framework

The Global Economy

Economic globalization occurs with cross-border

movement of goods, services, technology, informa-

tion, and human, physical, and nancial capital.

Understanding why people specialize and trade, and

how that leads to increased economic interdepen-

dence, are fundamental steps in understanding how

the world economy functions. While trade provides

signicant benets, it is not without costs. Comparing

those benets and costs is essential in evaluating

policies to inuence trade among individuals and

businesses in dierent countries.

Indicators of Dimension 2—e Global Economy—

are detailed in the suggested K-12 Pathway for College,

Career, and Civic Readiness in Table 15.

TABLE 15: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, The Global Economy

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.Eco.14.K-2.

Describe

why people in one country

trade goods and services with

people in other countries.

D2.Eco.14.3-5.

Explain

how trade leads to increasing

economic interdependence

among nations.

D2.Eco.14.6-8.

Explain

barriers to trade and how

those barriers inﬂuence trade

among nations.

D2.Eco.14.9-12.

Analyze the

role of comparative advan-

tage in international trade of

goods and services.

D2.Eco.15.K-2.

Describe

products that are produced

abroad and sold domesti-

cally and products that are

produced domestically and

sold abroad.

D2.Eco.15.3-5.

Explain

the effects of increasing

economic interdependence

on different groups within

participating nations.

D2.Eco.15.6-8.

Explain

the beneﬁts and the costs of

trade policies to individuals,

businesses, and society.

D2.Eco.15.9-12.

Explain

how current globalization

trends and policies affect

economic growth, labor

markets, rights of citizens, the

environment, and resource

and income distribution in

different nations.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 39

GEOGRAPHY

EACH PLACE ON EARTH has a unique set of local conditions and

connections to other places. Some activities are appropriate in a given

place and other activities are not. Events in one place inuence events in

other places. Geographic knowledge helps people to make decisions about

“Where can I be safe, successful, and happy in my daily activities?” and

“How can my community create and sustain a healthy environment?”

Such knowledge is critically important to understanding what activities

might be harmful to a place or what hazards might be encountered there.

Geographic inquiry helps people understand and appreciate their own

place in the world, and fosters curiosity about Earth’s wide diversity of

environments and cultures.

Geographic reasoning rests on deep knowledge of Earth’s physical

and human features, including the locations of places and regions, the

distribution of landforms and water bodies, and historic changes in

political boundaries, economic activities, and cultures.

Geographic reasoning requires using spatial and environmental perspec-

tives, skills in asking and answering questions, and being able to apply

geographic representations including maps, imagery, and geospatial tech-

nologies. A spatial perspective is about whereness. Where are people and

things located? Why there? What are the consequences? An environmental

perspective views people as living in interdependent relationships within

diverse environments. inking geographically requires knowing that

the world is a set of complex ecosystems interacting at multiple scales that

structure the spatial patterns and processes that inuence our daily lives.

Geographic reasoning brings societies and nature under the lens of

spatial analysis, and aids in personal and societal decision making and

problem solving.

40 • C3 Framework

Geographic Representations: Spatial Views of the World

Creating maps and using geospatial technologies

requires a process of answering geographic questions

by gathering relevant information; organizing and

analyzing the information; and using eective means

to communicate the ndings. Once a map or oth-

er representation is created, it prompts new ques-

tions concerning the locations, spaces, and patterns

portrayed. Creating maps and other geographical

representations is an essential and enduring part of

seeking new geographic knowledge that is personally

and socially useful and that can be applied in making

decisions and solving problems.

Indicators of Dimension 2—Geographic

Representations—are detailed in the suggested K-12

Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness in

Table 16.

TABLE 16: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, Geographic Representations

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.Geo.1.K-2.

Construct

maps, graphs, and other

representations of familiar

places.

D2.Geo.1.3-5.

Construct

maps and other graphic rep-

resentations of both familiar

and unfamiliar places.

D2.Geo.1.6-8.

Construct

maps to represent and

explain the spatial patterns

of cultural and environmental

characteristics.

D2.Geo.1.9-12.

Use geospa-

tial and related technologies

to create maps to display and

explain the spatial patterns

of cultural and environmental

characteristics.

D2.Geo.2.K-2.

Use maps,

graphs, photographs, and

other representations to

describe places and the rela-

tionships and interactions that

shape them.

D2.Geo.2.3-5.

Use maps,

satellite images, photographs,

and other representations to

explain relationships between

the locations of places and

regions and their environmen-

tal characteristics.

D2.Geo.2.6-8.

Use maps,

satellite images, photographs,

and other representations to

explain relationships between

the locations of places and

regions, and changes in their

environmental characteristics.

D2.Geo.2.9-12.

Use maps,

satellite images, photographs,

and other representations to

explain relationships between

the locations of places and

regions and their political,

cultural, and economic

dynamics.

D2.Geo.3.K-2.

Use maps,

globes, and other simple geo-

graphic models to identify

cultural and environmental

characteristics of places.

D2.Geo.3.3-5.

Use maps of

different scales to describe

the locations of cultural and

environmental characteristics.

D2.Geo.3.6-8.

Use paper

based and electronic map-

ping and graphing techniques

to represent and analyze

spatial patterns of different

environmental and cultural

characteristics.

D2.Geo.3.9-12.

Use geo-

graphic data to analyze vari-

ations in the spatial patterns

of cultural and environmental

characteristics at multiple

scales.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 41

Human-Environment Interaction: Place, Regions, and Culture

Human-environment interactions are essential as-

pects of human life in all societies and they occur at

local-to-global scales. Human-environment interac-

tions happen both in specic places and across broad

regions. Culture inuences the locations and the types

of interactions that occur. Earth’s human systems

and physical systems are in constant interaction and

have reciprocal inuences owing among them. ese

interactions result in a variety of spatial patterns that

require careful observation, investigation, analysis,

and explanation.

Indicators of Dimension 2—Human-Environment

Interaction—are detailed in the suggested K-12

Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness in

Table 17.

TABLE 17: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, Human-Environment Interaction

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.Geo.4.K-2.

Explain how

weather, climate, and other

environmental characteristics

affect people’s lives in a place

or region.

D2.Geo.4.3-5.

Explain how

culture inﬂuences the way

people modify and adapt to

their environments.

D2.Geo.4.6-8.

Explain

how cultural patterns and

economic decisions inﬂuence

environments and the daily

lives of people in both nearby

and distant places.

D2.Geo.4.9-12.

Analyze

relationships and interactions

within and between human

and physical systems to

explain reciprocal inﬂuences

that occur among them.

D2.Geo.5.K-2.

Describe

how human activities affect

the cultural and environmen-

tal characteristics of places or

regions.

D2.Geo.5.3-5.

Explain how

the cultural and environmen-

tal characteristics of places

change over time.

D2.Geo.5.6-8.

Analyze the

combinations of cultural and

environmental characteristics

that make places both similar

to and different from other

places.

D2.Geo.5.9-12.

Evaluate

how political and economic

decisions throughout time

have inﬂuenced cultural and

environmental characteristics

of various places and regions.

D2.Geo.6.K-2.

Identify

some cultural and environ-

mental characteristics of

speciﬁc places.

D2.Geo.6.3-5.

Describe

how environmental and cul-

tural characteristics inﬂuence

population distribution in

speciﬁc places or regions.

D2.Geo.6.6-8.

Explain

how the physical and human

characteristics of places and

regions are connected to hu-

man identities and cultures.

D2.Geo.6.9-12.

Evaluate the

impact of human settlement

activities on the environmen-

tal and cultural characteristics

of speciﬁc places and regions.

42 • C3 Framework

Human Population: Spatial Patterns and Movements

e size, composition, distribution, and move-

ment of human populations are fundamental and

active features on Earth’s surface. e expansion

and redistribution of the human population aects

patterns of settlement, environmental changes, and

resource use. e spatial patterns and movements of

population also relate to physical phenomena includ-

ing climate variability, landforms, and locations of

various natural hazards. Further, political, economic,

and technological changes sometimes have dramatic

eects on population size, composition, and distribu-

tion. Past, present, and future conditions on Earth’s

surface cannot be fully understood without asking

and answering questions about the spatial patterns of

human population.

Indicators of Dimension 2—Human Population:

Spatial Patterns and Movements—are detailed in the

suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic

Readiness in Table 18.

TABLE 18: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, Human Population: Spatial Patterns and Movements

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.Geo.7.K-2.

Explain why

and how people, goods, and

ideas move from place to

place.

D2 .G e o.7. 3 - 5.

Explain how

cultural and environmental

characteristics affect the

distribution and movement of

people, goods, and ideas.

D2.Geo.7.6-8.

Explain how

changes in transportation

and communication tech-

nology inﬂuence the spatial

connections among human

settlements and affect the

diffusion of ideas and cultural

practices.

D2.Geo.7.9-12.

Analyze the

reciprocal nature of how his-

torical events and the spatial

diffusion of ideas, technolo-

gies, and cultural practices

have inﬂuenced migration

patterns and the distribution

of human population.

D2.Geo.8.K-2.

Compare

how people in different types

of communities use local and

distant environments to meet

their daily needs.

D2.Geo.8.3-5.

Explain

how human settlements and

movements relate to the

locations and use of various

natural resources.

D2.Geo.8.6-8.

Analyze

how relationships between

humans and environments

extend or contract spatial

patterns of settlement and

movement.

D2.Geo.8.9-12.

Evaluate the

impact of economic activities

and political decisions on

spatial patterns within and

among urban, suburban, and

rural regions.

D2.Geo.9.K-2.

Describe

the connections between

the physical environment of

a place and the economic

activities found there.

D2.Geo.9.3-5.

Analyze the

effects of catastrophic envi-

ronmental and technological

events on human settlements

and migration.

D2.Geo.9.6-8.

Evaluate the

inﬂuences of long-term hu-

man-induced environmental

change on spatial patterns of

conﬂict and cooperation.

D2.Geo.9.9-12.

Evaluate the

inﬂuence of long-term climate

variability on human migra-

tion and settlement patterns,

resource use, and land uses at

local-to-global scales.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 43

Global Interconnections: Changing Spatial Patterns

Global interconnections occur in both human and

physical systems. Earth is a set of interconnect-

ed ecosystems of which humans are an inuential

part. Many natural phenomena have no perceptible

boundaries. For example, the oceans are one dynamic

system. e atmosphere covers the entire planet. Land

and water forms shi over geological eons. Many life

forms diuse from place to place and bring envi-

ronmental changes with them. Humans have spread

across the planet, along with their cultural practices,

artifacts, languages, diseases, and other attributes.

All of these interconnections create complex spatial

patterns at multiple scales that continue to change

over time. Global-scale issues and problems cannot be

resolved without extensive collaboration among the

world’s peoples, nations, and economic organizations.

Asking and answering questions about global inter-

connections and spatial patterns are a necessary part

of geographic reasoning.

Indicators of Dimension 2—Global Interconnections—

are detailed in the suggested K-12 Pathway for College,

Career, and Civic Readiness in Table 19.

TABLE 19: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, Global Interconnections

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.Geo.10.K-2.

Describe

changes in the physical and

cultural characteristics of

various world regions.

D2.Geo.10.3-5.

Explain why

environmental characteristics

vary among different world

regions.

D2.Geo.10.6-8.

Analyze

the ways in which cultural and

environmental characteristics

vary among various regions of

the world.

D2.Geo.10.9-12.

Evaluate

how changes in the environ-

mental and cultural charac-

teristics of a place or region

inﬂuence spatial patterns of

trade and land use.

D2.Geo.11.K-2.

Explain how

the consumption of products

connects people to distant

places.

D2.Geo.11.3-5.

Describe

how the spatial patterns of

economic activities in a place

change over time because of

interactions with nearby and

distant places.

D2.Geo.11.6-8.

Explain how

the relationship between the

environmental characteristics

of places and production of

goods inﬂuences the spatial

patterns of world trade.

D2.Geo.11.9-12.

Evaluate

how economic globalization

and the expanding use of

scarce resources contribute

to conﬂict and cooperation

within and among countries.

D2.Geo.12.K-2.

Identify

ways that a catastrophic

disaster may affect people

living in a place.

D2.Geo.12.3-5.

Explain

how natural and human-made

catastrophic events in one

place affect people living in

other places.

D2.Geo.12.6-8.

Explain how

global changes in population

distribution patterns affect

changes in land use in partic-

ular places.

D2.Geo.12.9-12.

Evaluate

the consequences of

human-made and natural

catastrophes on global

trade, politics, and human

migration.

44 • C3 Framework

HISTORY

HISTORICAL THINKING REQUIRES understanding and

evaluating change and continuity over time, and making appropriate use

of historical evidence in answering questions and developing arguments

about the past. It involves going beyond simply asking, “What happened

when?” to evaluating why and how events occurred and developments

unfolded. It involves locating and assessing historical sources of many

dierent types to understand the contexts of given historical eras and the

perspectives of dierent individuals and groups within geographic units

that range from the local to the global. Historical thinking is a process of

chronological reasoning, which means wrestling with issues of causality,

connections, signicance, and context with the goal of developing

credible explanations of historical events and developments based on

reasoned interpretation of evidence.

Historical inquiry involves acquiring knowledge about signicant

events, developments, individuals, groups, documents, places, and ideas

to support investigations about the past. Acquiring relevant knowledge

requires assembling information from a wide variety of sources in an

integrative process. Students might begin with key events or individuals

introduced by the teacher or identied by educational leaders at the state

level, and then investigate them further. Or they might take a source from

a seemingly insignicant individual and make connections between that

person and larger events, or trace the person’s contributions to a major

development. Scholars, teachers, and students form an understanding

of what is and what is not signicant from the emergence of new sources,

from current events, from their locale, and from asking questions about

changes that aected large numbers of people in the past or had enduring

consequences. Developing historical knowledge in connection with

historical investigations not only helps students remember the content

better because it has meaning, but also allows students to become

better thinkers.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 45

Change, Continuity, and Context

At its heart, chronological reasoning requires un-

derstanding processes of change and continuity over

time, which means assessing similarities and dier-

ences between historical periods and between the past

and present. It also involves coming to understand

how a change in one area of life relates to a change in

other areas, thus bringing together political, eco-

nomic, intellectual, social, cultural, and other factors.

Understanding the interrelation of patterns of change

requires evaluating the context within which events

unfolded in order not to view events in isolation, and

to be able to assess the signicance of specic individ-

uals, groups, and developments.nts.

Indicators of Dimension 2—Change, Continuity and

Context—are detailed in the suggested K-12 Pathway

for College, Career, and Civic Readiness in Table 20.

Table 20: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, Change, Continuity, and Context

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.His.1.K-2.

Create a

chronological sequence of

multiple events.

D2.His.1.3-5.

Create and

use a chronological sequence

of related events to compare

developments that happened

at the same time.

D2.His.1.6-8.

Analyze

connections among events

and developments in broader

historical contexts.

D2.His.1.9-12.

Evaluate how

historical events and devel-

opments were shaped by

unique circumstances of time

and place as well as broader

historical contexts.

D2.His.2.K-2.

Compare life

in the past to life today.

D2.His.2.3-5.

Compare

life in speciﬁc historical time

periods to life today.

D2.His.2.6-8.

Classify

series of historical events and

developments as examples of

change and/or continuity.

D2.His.2.9-12.

Analyze

change and continuity in

historical eras.

D2.His.3.K-2.

Generate

questions about individuals

and groups who have shaped

a signiﬁcant historical change.

D2.His.3.3-5.

Generate

questions about individuals

and groups who have shaped

signiﬁcant historical changes

and continuities.

D2.His.3.6-8.

Use questions

generated about individuals

and groups to analyze why

they, and the developments

they shaped, are seen as

historically signiﬁcant.

D2.His.3.9-12.

Use ques-

tions generated about indi-

viduals and groups to assess

how the signiﬁcance of their

actions changes over time

and is shaped by the historical

context.

46 • C3 Framework

Perspectives

History is interpretive. Even if they are eyewitness-

es, people construct dierent accounts of the same

event, which are shaped by their perspectives—their

ideas, attitudes, and beliefs. Historical understanding

requires recognizing this multiplicity of points of

view in the past, which makes it important to seek

out a range of sources on any historical question

rather than simply use those that are easiest to nd.

It also requires recognizing that perspectives change

over time, so that historical understanding requires

developing a sense of empathy with people in the past

whose perspectives might be very dierent from those

of today.

Indicators of Dimension 2—Perspectives—are detailed

in the suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and

Civic Readiness in Table 21.

TABLE 21: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, Perspectives

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.His.4.K-2.

Compare

perspectives of people in the

past to those of people in the

present.

D2.His.4.3-5.

Explain why

individuals and groups during

the same historical period

differed in their perspectives.

D2.His.4.6-8.

Analyze multi-

ple factors that inﬂuenced the

perspectives of people during

different historical eras.

D2.His.4.9-12.

Analyze

complex and interacting

factors that inﬂuenced the

perspectives of people during

different historical eras.

Begins in grades 3–5

D2.His.5.3-5.

Explain

connections among historical

contexts and people’s per-

spectives at the time.

D2.His.5.6-8.

Explain how

and why perspectives of peo-

ple have changed over time.

D2.His.5.9-12.

Analyze how

historical contexts shaped

and continue to shape peo-

ple’s perspectives.

D2.His.6.K-2.

Compare dif-

ferent accounts of the same

historical event.

D2.His.6.3-5.

Describe how

people’s perspectives shaped

the historical sources they

created.

D2.His.6.6-8.

Analyze

how people’s perspectives

inﬂuenced what information

is available in the historical

sources they created.

D2.His.6.9-12.

Analyze the

ways in which the perspec-

tives of those writing history

shaped the history that they

produced.

Begins in grades 9–12 Begins in grades 9–12 Begins in grades 9–12

D2.His.7.9-12.

Explain how

the perspectives of people in

the present shape interpreta-

tions of the past.

Begins in grades 9–12 Begins in grades 9–12 Begins in grades 9–12

D2.His.8.9-12.

Analyze how

current interpretations of the

past are limited by the extent

to which available historical

sources represent perspec-

tives of people at the time.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 47

Historical Sources and Evidence

Historical inquiry is based on materials le from the

past that can be studied and analyzed. Such materials,

referred to as historical sources or primary sources,

include written documents, but also objects, artistic

works, oral accounts, landscapes that humans have

modied, or even materials contained within the

human body, such as DNA. ese sources become

evidence once they are selected to answer a historical

question, a process that involves taking into account

features of the source itself, such as its maker or date.

e selection process also requires paying attention to

the wider historical context in order to choose sources

that are relevant and credible. Examining sources

oen leads to further questions as well as answers in a

spiraling process of inquiry.

Indicators of Dimension 2—Historical Sources and

Evidence—are detailed in the suggested K-12 Pathway

for College, Career, and Civic Readiness in Table 22.

TABLE 22: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, Historical Sources and Evidence

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.His.9.K-2.

Identify differ-

ent kinds of historical sources.

D2.His.9.3-5.

Summarize

how different kinds of his-

torical sources are used to

explain events in the past.

D2.His.9.6-8.

Classify the

kinds of historical sourc-

es used in a secondary

interpretation.

D2.His.9.9-12.

Analyze the

relationship between histori-

cal sources and the secondary

interpretations made from

them.

D2.His.10.K-2.

Explain how

historical sources can be used

to study the past.

D2.His.10.3-5.

Compare

information provided by dif-

ferent historical sources about

the past.

D2.His.10.6-8.

Detect pos-

sible limitations in the histori-

cal record based on evidence

collected from different kinds

of historical sources.

D2.His.10.9-12.

Detect

possible limitations in various

kinds of historical evidence

and differing secondary

interpretations.

D2.His.11.K-2.

Identify the

maker, date, and place of

origin for a historical source

from information within the

source itself.

D2.His.11.3-5.

Infer the

intended audience and

purpose of a historical source

from information within the

source itself.

D2.His.11.6-8.

Use other

historical sources to infer a

plausible maker, date, place

of origin, and intended au-

dience for historical sources

where this information is not

easily identiﬁed.

D2.His.11.9-12.

Critique

the usefulness of historical

sources for a speciﬁc historical

inquiry based on their maker,

date, place of origin, intended

audience, and purpose.

D2.His.12.K-2.

Generate

questions about a particular

historical source as it relates

to a particular historical event

or development.

D2.His.12.3-5.

Generate

questions about multiple

historical sources and their

relationships to particu-

lar historical events and

developments.

D2.His.12.6-8.

Use

questions generated about

multiple historical sources to

identify further areas of inqui-

ry and additional sources.

D2.His.12.9-12.

Use

questions generated about

multiple historical sources to

pursue further inquiry and in-

vestigate additional sources.

Begins at grade 3–5

D2.His.13.3-5.

Use infor-

mation about a historical

source, including the maker,

date, place of origin, intended

audience, and purpose to

judge the extent to which the

source is useful for studying a

particular topic.

D2.His.13.6-8.

Evaluate

the relevancy and utility of

a historical source based on

information such as maker,

date, place of origin, intended

audience, and purpose.

D2.His.13.9-12.

Critique

the appropriateness of the

historical sources used in a

secondary interpretation.

48 • C3 Framework

Causation and Argumentation

No historical event or development occurs in a vac-

uum; each one has prior conditions and causes, and

each one has consequences. Historical thinking in-

volves using evidence and reasoning to draw conclu-

sions about probable causes and eects, recognizing

that these are multiple and complex. It requires un-

derstanding that the outcome of any historical event

may not be what those who engaged in it intended

or predicted, so that chains of cause and eect in the

past are unexpected and contingent, not pre-deter-

mined. Along with claims about causes and eects,

historical arguments can also address issues of change

over time, the relevance of sources, the perspectives

of those involved, and many other topics, but must be

based on evidence that is used in a critical, coherent,

and logical manner.

Indicators of Dimension 2—Causation and

Argumentation—are detailed in the suggested K-12

Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness in

Table 23.

TABLE 23: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 2, Causation and Argumentation

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D2.His.14.K-2.

Generate

possible reasons for an event

or development in the past.

D2.His.14.3-5.

Explain

probable causes and effects

of events and developments.

D2.His.14.6-8.

Explain

multiple causes and effects of

events and developments in

the past.

D2.His.14.9-12.

Analyze

multiple and complex causes

and effects of events in the

past.

Begins in grades 6–8 Begins in grades 6–8

D2.His.15.6-8.

Evaluate the

relative inﬂuence of various

causes of events and devel-

opments in the past.

D2.His.15.9-12.

Distinguish

between long-term caus-

es and triggering events

in developing a historical

argument.

D2.His.16.K-2.

Select which

reasons might be more likely

than others to explain a his-

torical event or development.

D2.His.16.3-5.

Use evi-

dence to develop a claim

about the past.

D2.His.16.6-8.

Organize

applicable evidence into a

coherent argument about the

past.

D2.His.16.9-12.

Integrate

evidence from multiple rele-

vant historical sources and in-

terpretations into a reasoned

argument about the past.

Begins in grades 3–5

D2.His.17.3-5.

Summarize

the central claim in a second-

ary work of history.

D2.His.17.6-8.

Compare the

central arguments in second-

ary works of history on related

topics in multiple media.

D2.His.17.9-12.

Critique

the central arguments in

secondary works of history on

related topics in multiple me-

dia in terms of their historical

accuracy.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 49

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS/LITERACY COMMON CORE

CONNECTIONS: DIMENSION 2

e ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards empha-

size analysis, argumentation, and the use of evidence

throughout the standards. As noted in the ELA/

Literacy Common Core Standards, students who are

college and career ready can independently “construct

eective arguments and convey intricate or multifac-

eted information” and “use relevant evidence” when

making arguments (NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 7).

Dimension 2 in the C3 Framework describes the

concepts and tools in civics, economics, geography,

and history that are needed to use evidence to make

disciplinary arguments. e ELA/Literacy Common

Core Standards also describe how students develop

language skills and build vocabulary. College and

career readiness requires the ability to independently

“use a wide-ranging vocabulary” (NGA and CCSSO,

2010a, p. 7). e C3 framework emphasizes disci-

plinary vocabulary through the introduction of new

concepts and the language of the disciplines.

Table 24 details connections between Dimension

2 and the College and Career Readiness Anchor

Standards in the ELA/Literacy Common Core

Standards. ese connections are further elaborated

with examples.

Connections between the C3 Framework and

the College and Career Readiness Anchor

Standards. While the connections between the C3

Framework and the ELA/Literacy Common Core

Standards are comprehensive and consistent, thirteen

CCR Anchor Standards within the ELA/Literacy

Common Core Standards have broader connections

within Dimension 2.

Anchor Reading Standards 1–10 are closely aligned

with Dimension 2. As students use the disciplinary

tools and develop knowledge about the disciplinary

concepts highlighted in Dimension 2, they will engage

with a variety of sources requiring a wide range of

reading skills. During these experiences, students will

need to use the full complement of skills highlight-

ed in the reading standards. ey will need to read

closely for meaning, while determining main ideas,

details, structure, purpose, source type, and claims

emitting from the sources, and comparing multiple

sources. All of these reading activities are regulated by

the clear expectations of Anchor Reading Standards

1-10: the demand that answers to questions be backed

up by evidence either explicitly drawn from the text

or inferred from it, and the requirement that the text

under study be of the appropriate level of complexity

for the grade band in question.

Anchor Writing Standard 7 is focused on the research

process. All four social studies disciplines represented

in Dimension 2, as well as the behavioral and social

sciences of psychology, sociology, and anthropology,

emphasize research-based analytical skills using dis-

ciplinary concepts and tools.

✪

TABLE 24: Connections between Dimension 2 and the CCR Anchor Standards in the ELA/Literacy Common

Core Standards

ELA/LITERACY CCR

ANCHOR STANDARDS

CONNECTIONS

Civics

Anchor Reading Standards 1–10

Anchor Writing Standard 7

Anchor Speaking and Listening Standard 1

Anchor Language Standard 6

Economics

Geography

History

SHARED LANGUAGE

Analysis; Argument; Evidence; Questioning

50 • C3 Framework

Anchor Speaking and Listening Standard 1 calls on

students to “prepare for and participate eectively in

a range of conversations and collaborations with di-

verse partners, building on others’ ideas and express-

ing their own clearly and persuasively” (NGA and

CCSSO, 2010a, p. 22). Dimension 2 asks students to

engage disciplinary tools and concepts in collabora-

tive settings working “individually and with others.”

Anchor Language Standard 6 requires that students

“acquire and use accurately a range of general ac-

ademic and domain-specic words and phrases”

(NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 51). e C3 Framework

supports this language standard by setting forth

expectations that students will develop conceptual

knowledge within the disciplines. e development

and expansion of vocabulary is an important part of

the ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards and the

C3 Framework; Language Standard 6 requires that

students acquire and use academic and domain-spe-

cic words and phrases—words such as virtue, scal,

spatial, and perspective that are included in the

Indicators of Dimension 2.

Shared Language. e ELA/Literacy Common

Core Standards closely align with Indicators in

Dimension 2. In places, the connections between

the Common Core Standards and C3 Framework

Indicators are so close that the same language is used.

Dimension 2 and the ELA/Literacy Common Core

Standards regularly use terms such as analysis, argu-

ment, evidence, and questioning.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 51

52 • C3 Framework

Evaluating

Sources &

USING

EVIDENCE

DIMENSION 3 INCLUDES the skills students need to analyze information and

come to conclusions in an inquiry. ese skills focus on gathering and evaluating

sources, and then developing claims and using evidence to support those claims.

Students should use various technologies and skills

to nd information and to express their responses

to compelling and supporting questions through

well-reasoned explanations and evidence-based

arguments. rough the rigorous analysis of sources

and application of information from those sources,

students should make the evidence-based claims that

will form the basis for their conclusions.

Although Dimension 3 includes a sophisticated set

of skills, even the youngest children understand the

need to give reasons for their ideas. As they progress

through the grades, students learn more advanced

approaches related to these skills. In the subsec-

tion Developing Claims and Using Evidence below,

students generate claims and identify evidence to

support those claims.

e specic skills described in Dimension 3 support

the examination of content using concepts and tools

from the social studies disciplines.

Dimension 3

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 53

Gathering and Evaluating Sources

Whether students are constructing opinions, expla-

nation, or arguments, they will gather information

from a variety of sources and evaluate the relevance

of that information. In this section, students are

asked to work with the sources that they gather and/

or are provided for them. It is important for students

to use online and print sources, and they need to be

mindful that not all sources are relevant to their task.

ey also need to understand that there are general

Common Core literacy skills, such as identifying an

author’s purpose, main idea, and point of view, that

will help in evaluating the usefulness of a source.

Indicators of Dimension 3—Gathering and Evaluating

Sources—are detailed in the suggested K-12 Pathway

for College, Career, and Civic Readiness in Table 25.

TABLE 25: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 3, Gathering and Evaluating Sources

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D3.1.K-2.

Gather relevant

information from one or two

sources while using the origin

and structure to guide the

selection.

D3.1.3 -5.

Gather relevant

information from multiple

sources while using the origin,

structure, and context to

guide the selection.

D3.1.6-8.

Gather relevant

information from multiple

sources while using the origin,

authority, structure, context,

and corroborative value of

the sources to guide the

selection.

D3.1.9-12.

Gather relevant

information from multiple

sources representing a wide

range of views while using the

origin, authority, structure,

context, and corroborative

value of the sources to guide

the selection.

D3.2.K-2.

Evaluate a source

by distinguishing between

fact and opinion.

D3.2.3-5.

Use distinctions

among fact and opinion to

determine the credibility of

multiple sources.

D3.2.6-8.

Evaluate the

credibility of a source by

determining its relevance and

intended use.

D3.2.9-12.

Evaluate the

credibility of a source by

examining how experts value

the source.

54 • C3 Framework

Developing Claims and Using Evidence

is subsection focuses on argumentation. In con-

trast to opinions and explanations, argumentation

involves the ability to understand the source-to-evi-

dence relationship. at relationship emphasizes the

development of claims and counterclaims and the

purposeful selection of evidence in support of those

claims and counterclaims. Students will learn to

develop claims using evidence, but their initial claims

will oen be tentative and probing. As students delve

deeper into the available sources, they construct more

sophisticated claims and counterclaims that draw

on evidence from multiple sources. Whether those

claims are implicitly or explicitly stated in student

products, they will reect the evidence students have

selected from the sources they have consulted.

Indicators of Dimension 3—Developing Claims and

Using Evidence—are detailed in the suggested K-12

Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness in

Table 26.

TABLE 26: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 3, Developing Claims and Using Evidence

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

Begins in grades 3–5

D3.3.3-5.

Identify evidence

that draws information from

multiple sources in response

to compelling questions.

D3.3.6-8.

Identify evidence

that draws information from

multiple sources to support

claims, noting evidentiary

limitations.

D3.3.9-12.

Identify evidence

that draws information di-

rectly and substantively from

multiple sources to detect

inconsistencies in evidence in

order to revise or strengthen

claims.

Begins in grades 3–5

D3.4.3-5.

Use evidence to

develop claims in response to

compelling questions.

D3.4.6-8.

Develop claims

and counterclaims while

pointing out the strengths

and limitations of both.

D3.4.9-12.

Reﬁne claims and

counterclaims attending to

precision, signiﬁcance, and

knowledge conveyed through

the claim while pointing out

the strengths and limitations

of both.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 55

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS/LITERACY COMMON CORE

CONNECTIONS: DIMENSION 3

e ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards focus

broadly on evaluating sources and using evidence

as skills that are fundamental to success in col-

lege and career. According to the Common Core

Standards,“students need the ability to gather, com-

prehend, evaluate, synthesize, and report on infor-

mation and ideas” (NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 4).

Students are expected to “use relevant evidence when

supporting their own points in writing and speaking,

making their reasoning clear to the reader or listen-

er, and they constructively evaluate others’ use of

evidence” (NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 7). e ELA/

Literacy Common Core Standards also make clear

that these skills connect to civic life, arguing that

students must “reexively demonstrate the cogent

reasoning and use of evidence that is essential to both

private deliberation and responsible citizenship in a

democratic republic” (NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 3).

rough research, students hone their ability to gath-

er and evaluate information and then use that infor-

mation as evidence in a wide range of endeavors. e

ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards emphasize

these skills as key to an integrated model of literacy.

e C3 Framework and the Indicators in Dimension 3

apply this model to social studies inquiry.

Table 27 details connections between Dimension

3 and the College and Career Readiness Anchor

Standards in the ELA/Literacy Common Core

Standards. ese connections are further elaborated

with examples.

Connections between the C3 Framework and

the College and Career Readiness Anchor

Standards. While the connections between the C3

Framework and the ELA/Literacy Common Core

Standards are comprehensive and consistent, seven-

teen CCR Anchor Standards within the ELA/Literacy

Common Core Standards have broader connections

within Dimension 3.

Anchor Reading Standards 1–10 are closely aligned

with Dimension 3. As students gather and evalu-

ate information, develop claims, and use evidence,

they will engage with a variety of sources requiring

a wide range of reading skills. During these experi-

ences, students will need to use the full complement

of skills highlighted in the Reading Standards by

reading closely for meaning, while determining main

ideas, details, structure, purpose, source type, and

claims emitting from the sources, and comparing

among multiple sources. e ten Anchor Reading

Standards oer a foundation for social studies in-

quiry. Together, the standards oer a comprehensive

picture of a skilled reader who is prepared to engage

sources during the process of inquiry. For example,

Reading Standard 1 requires students to “cite specic

textual evidence when writing or speaking” (NGA

and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 10).

is skill is an important part of evaluating the cred-

ibility of a source, something that the C3 Framework

calls on students to do in Dimension 3. Additionally,

in Reading Standard 8, students are expected to

Table 27: Connections between Dimension 3 and the CCR Anchor Standards in the ELA/Literacy Common

Core Standards

ELA/LITERACY CCR

ANCHOR STANDARDS

CONNECTIONS

Gathering and Evaluating

Sources Reading 1–10

Writing 1, 2, 7–10

Speaking and Listening 1

Developing Claims and

Using Evidence

SHARED LANGUAGE

Argument; Sources; Evidence; Claims, Counterclaims; Gather

✪

56 • C3 Framework

evaluate arguments and claims in a text, given the

“relevance and suciency of the evidence” (NGA

and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 8). By developing these skills,

students become familiar with how others use evi-

dence and understand the importance of evidence in

arguments. e C3 Framework asks students to apply

these skills in the process of inquiry, so they are able

to construct disciplinary explanations and arguments.

Students evaluate sources and use evidence regularly

when conducting inquiry. Anchor Writing Standard

1 sets an expectation that students will use “val-

id reasoning and relevant and sucient evidence”

when writing arguments (NGA and CCSSO, 2010a,

p. 18). Standard 2 for writing requires students to

“write informative/explanatory texts to examine and

convey complex ideas” (NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p.

18). Writing Standards 7-9 oer a range of specic

activities that undergird student expectations for this

Dimension of the C3 Framework: Writing Standard

7 focuses on “short as well as more sustained research

projects based on focused questions” (NGA and

CCSSO, 2010a, p. 18); Writing Standard 8 calls on

students to “gather relevant information” and “assess

the credibility and accuracy of each source” (NGA

and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 18); and Writing Standard 9

asks students to draw evidence from (in this case) in-

formational texts “to support analysis, reection, and

research” (NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 18). e C3

Framework extends all of these skills for the purpose

of disciplinary inquiry and civic engagement.

Inquiry in social studies is an inherently collaborative

activity, and thus, Anchor Speaking and Listening

Standard 1 is particularly relevant in Dimension 3.

Speaking and Listening Standard 1 calls on students

to “prepare for and participate eectively in a range of

conversations and collaborations with diverse part-

ners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their

own clearly and persuasively” (NGA and CCSSO,

2010a, p. 22). e C3 Framework assumes a collab-

orative environment as students work through their

inquiries. As students gather and evaluate sources for

relevant information and determine credibility to-

ward building claims with evidence, they should have

multiple opportunities to practice civil, democratic

discourse with diverse partners.

Shared Language. e ELA/Literacy Common

Core Standards closely align with Indicators in

Dimension 3. In places, the connections between

the Common Core Standards and C3 Framework

Indicators are so close that we used the same lan-

guage. For example, the terms argument, sources,

evidence, claims, counterclaims, and gather are used

consistently in both the ELA/Literacy Common Core

Standards and the C3 Framework.

It is important to note that the ELA/Literacy

Common Core Standards emphasize the unique skill

of argumentation in preparing students for college

and career. e disciplines that make up the social

studies, including the behavioral and social sciences,

stress the importance of arguments, and in particular,

the necessity of constructing them in ways that make

use of sources and data as evidence. While in grades

K–5, the ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards em-

ploy the term opinion to refer to a developing form of

argument, the C3 Framework uses the term argument

consistently throughout the K-12 grade bands.

e Common Core Standards use the terms sources

and gather regularly with regard to locating, evaluat-

ing, making claims, and using evidence. In places, the

ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards distinguish

sources as print or digital, as visual, quantitative and/or

textual sources, and as primary or secondary sources.

In social studies these distinctions are made man-

ifest in spatial sources such as maps, quantitative

information reecting economic data and trends,

and even physical sources such as historical artifacts.

Dimension 3 explicitly references the distinction

between primary and secondary sources, based on the

intended use by students.

Lastly, it is important to note that Anchor Writing

Standard 8 of the Common Core Standards calls at-

tention to the issue of plagiarism and proper citation

of sources—a key concern for the C3 Framework and

for social studies teachers.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 57

58 • C3 Framework

Communicating

Conclusions &

Taking INFORMED

ACTION

THE C3 FRAMEWORK PROVIDES GUIDANCE to states on framing social

studies standards that ask students to develop questions, apply disciplinary knowledge

and concepts, gather and evaluate sources, and then develop claims and use evidence

to support those claims. In addition, state social studies standards should consider

including expectations for students to collaborate with others as they communicate

and critique their conclusions in public venues.

ese venues may range from the school classroom

to the larger public community. Collaborative eorts

may range from teaming up to work on a group

presentation with classmates to actual work on a local

issue that could involve addressing real-world prob-

lems that students analyze through the methods and

concepts informed by their work in the disciplines

that constitute the social studies.

Most inquiries will culminate in a range of activities

and assessments that support the goals of college

and career readiness. ey should also support the

third feature of the C3 Framework: readiness for civic

life. Civic engagement in the social studies may take

many forms, from making independent and collab-

orative decisions within the classroom, to starting

and leading student organizations within schools, to

conducting community-based research and present-

ing ndings to external stakeholders. e subsection

on page 62 below, Taking Informed Action, provides

students opportunities to adapt and apply their work

in the disciplines that constitute the social studies in

order to develop the skills and dispositions necessary

for an active civic life. In this respect, civic engage-

ment is both a means of learning and applying social

studies knowledge.

Dimension 4

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 59

Communicating and Critiquing Conclusions

Having worked independently and collaboratively

through the development of questions, the application

of disciplinary knowledge and concepts, and the gath-

ering of sources and use of evidence and information,

students formalize their arguments and explanations.

Products such as essays, reports, and multimedia

presentations oer students opportunities to represent

their ideas in a variety of forms and communicate

their conclusions to a range of audiences. Students’

primary audiences will likely be their teachers and

classmates, but even young children benet from op-

portunities to share their conclusions with audiences

outside their classroom doors.

Indicators of Dimension 4—Communicating

Conclusions—are detailed in the suggested K-12

Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness in

Table 28.

TABLE 28: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 4, Communicating Conclusions

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS USE WRITING, VISUALIZING, AND SPEAKING TO…

D4.1.K-2.

Construct an argu-

ment with reasons.

D4.1.3 -5.

Construct argu-

ments using claims and evi-

dence from multiple sources.

D4.1.6-8.

Construct

arguments using claims and

evidence from multiple sourc-

es, while acknowledging the

strengths and limitations of

the arguments.

D4.1.9-12.

Construct

arguments using precise

and knowledgeable claims,

with evidence from multiple

sources, while acknowledging

counterclaims and evidentiary

weaknesses.

D4.2.K-2.

Construct

explanations using correct

sequence and relevant

information.

D4.2.3-5.

Construct ex-

planations using reasoning,

correct sequence, examples,

and details with relevant

information and data.

D4.2.6-8.

Construct ex-

planations using reasoning,

correct sequence, examples,

and details with relevant

information and data, while

acknowledging the strengths

and weaknesses of the

explanations.

D4.2.9-12.

Construct expla-

nations using sound reason-

ing, correct sequence (linear

or non-linear), examples, and

details with signiﬁcant and

pertinent information and

data, while acknowledging

the strengths and weaknesses

of the explanation given its

purpose (e.g., cause and ef-

fect, chronological, procedur-

al, technical).

D4.3.K-2.

Present a summa-

ry of an argument using print,

oral, and digital technologies.

D4.3.3-5.

Present a summa-

ry of arguments and expla-

nations to others outside the

classroom using print and oral

technologies (e.g., posters,

essays, letters, debates,

speeches, and reports) and

digital technologies (e.g.,

Internet, social media, and

digital documentary).

D4.3.6-8.

Present adap-

tations of arguments and

explanations on topics of

interest to others to reach au-

diences and venues outside

the classroom using print and

oral technologies (e.g., post-

ers, essays, letters, debates,

speeches, reports, and maps)

and digital technologies (e.g.,

Internet, social media, and

digital documentary).

D4.3.9-12.

Present adapta-

tions of arguments and expla-

nations that feature evocative

ideas and perspectives on

issues and topics to reach

a range of audiences and

venues outside the classroom

using print and oral technol-

ogies (e.g., posters, essays,

letters, debates, speeches,

reports, and maps) and digital

technologies (e.g., Internet,

social media, and digital

documentary).

60 • C3 Framework

TABLE 29: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 4, Critiquing Conclusions

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D4.4.K-2.

Ask and answer

questions about arguments.

D4.4.3-5.

Critique

arguments.

D4.4.6-8.

Critique argu-

ments for credibility.

D4.4.9-12.

Critique the use

of claims and evidence in

arguments for credibility.

D4.5.K-2.

Ask and answer

questions about explanations.

D4.5.3-5.

Critique

explanations.

D4.5.6-8.

Critique the struc-

ture of explanations.

D4.5.9-12.

Critique the use

of the reasoning, sequencing,

and supporting details of

explanations.

e inquiry process, as described in the C3

Framework, should include regular opportunities

for students to critique their work as well as the work

of others. Critiquing conclusions requires an exam-

ination of sources, consideration of how evidence is

being used to support claims, and an appraisal of the

structure and form of arguments and explanations.

e critiquing of arguments and explanations deep-

ens students’ understanding of concepts and tools in

the disciplines, and helps students strengthen their

conclusions. While the two indicators for critiquing

conclusions appear in Dimension 4, students should

begin the process of critiquing their emerging conclu-

sions early in the inquiry process, and continue that

process even aer communicating conclusions.

Indicators of Dimension 4-Critiquing Conclusions are

detailed in the suggested K-12 Pathway for College,

Career, and Civic Readiness in Table 29.

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 61

Taking Informed Action

Social studies is the ideal staging ground for taking

informed action because of its unique role in prepar-

ing students for civic life. In social studies, students

use disciplinary knowledge, skills, and perspectives

to inquire about problems involved in public issues;

deliberate with other people about how to dene

and address issues; take constructive, independent,

and collaborative action; reect on their actions; and

create and sustain groups. It is important to note that

taking informed action intentionally comes at the end

of Dimension 4, as student action should be grounded

in and informed by the inquiries initiated and sus-

tained within and among the disciplines. In that way,

action is then a purposeful, informed, and reective

experience.

Indicators of Dimension 4—Taking Informed Action—

are detailed in the suggested K-12 Pathway for College,

Career, and Civic Readiness in Table 30.

TABLE 30: Suggested K-12 Pathway for College, Career, and Civic Readiness

Dimension 4, Taking Informed Action

BY THE END OF GRADE 2 BY THE END OF GRADE 5 BY THE END OF GRADE 8 BY THE END OF GRADE 12

INDIVIDUALLY AND WITH OTHERS, STUDENTS…

D4.6.K-2.

Identify and

explain a range of local,

regional, and global prob-

lems, and some ways in which

people are trying to address

these problems.

D4.6.3-5.

Draw on disci-

plinary concepts to explain

the challenges people have

faced and opportunities they

have created, in addressing

local, regional, and global

problems at various times and

places.

D4.6.6-8.

Draw on multiple

disciplinary lenses to analyze

how a speciﬁc problem can

manifest itself at local, region-

al, and global levels over time,

identifying its characteristics

and causes, and the challeng-

es and opportunities faced

by those trying to address the

problem.

D4.6.9-12.

Use disciplinary

and interdisciplinary lenses

to understand the character-

istics and causes of local, re-

gional, and global problems;

instances of such problems

in multiple contexts; and

challenges and opportuni-

ties faced by those trying to

address these problems over

time and place.

D4.7.K-2.

Identify ways to

take action to help address

local, regional, and global

problems.

D 4.7. 3 - 5.

Explain different

strategies and approaches

students and others could

take in working alone and

together to address local, re-

gional, and global problems,

and predict possible results of

their actions.

D4.7.6-8.

Assess their

individual and collective

capacities to take action to

address local, regional, and

global problems, taking into

account a range of possible

levers of power, strategies,

and potential outcomes.

D4.7.9-12.

Assess options

for individual and collective

action to address local,

regional, and global problems

by engaging in self-reﬂection,

strategy identiﬁcation, and

complex causal reasoning.

D4.8.K-2.

Use listening,

consensus-building, and

voting procedures to decide

on and take action in their

classrooms.

D4.8.3-5.

Use a range of

deliberative and democratic

procedures to make deci-

sions about and act on civic

problems in their classrooms

and schools.

D4.8.6-8.

Apply a range of

deliberative and democratic

procedures to make decisions

and take action in their class-

rooms and schools, and in

out-of-school civic contexts.

D4.8.9-12.

Apply a range of

deliberative and democratic

strategies and procedures

to make decisions and take

action in their classrooms,

schools, and out-of-school

civic contexts.

62 • C3 Framework

TABLE 31: Connections between Dimension 4 and the CCR Anchor Standards in the ELA/Literacy Common

Core Standards

ELA/LITERACY CCR

ANCHOR STANDARDS

CONNECTIONS

Communicating

Conclusions

Reading 1

Writing 1–8

Speaking and Listening 1–6

Taking Informed Action

SHARED LANGUAGE

Argument; Explanation; Sources; Evidence; Claims; Counterclaims;

Visually/Visualize; Credibility.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS/LITERACY COMMON CORE

CONNECTIONS: DIMENSION 4

e ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards empha-

size products of learning and communication in a

variety of ways. As noted in the introduction to the

ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards, “the need to

conduct research and to produce and consume media

is embedded into every aspect of today’s curriculum”

(NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 4). e production and

presentation of knowledge is central to the design

of the ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards.

Production and Distribution of Writing is one of four

categories in the Writing strand of the standards,

and Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas is one of

three categories in the Speaking and Listening strand.

rough Communicating Conclusions and Taking

Informed Action, Dimension 4 in the C3 Framework

extends the notion of publishing the products of

students’ inquiry for disciplinary and civic purposes

in social studies.

Table 31 details connections between Dimension

4 and the College and Career Readiness Anchor

Standards in the ELA/Literacy Common Core

Standards. ese connections are further elaborated

with examples.

Connections between the C3 Framework and

the College and Career Readiness Anchor

Standards. While the connections between the C3

Framework and the ELA/Literacy Common Core

Standards are comprehensive and consistent, een

CCR Anchor Standards within the ELA/Literacy

Common Core Standards have broader connections

within Dimension 4.

Anchor Reading Standard 1 indicates the importance

of employing evidence when communicating con-

clusions as well as forming a plan of action based on

information and data. Both making decisions and

presenting results stem from students being able to

both identify and use “explicit” information found

within texts, as well as draw and act upon “logi-

cal inferences” made from what they read (NGA

and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 10). Reading Standard 1 also

expects students to “cite specic textual evidence

when writing or speaking to support conclusions

drawn from the text” (NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p.

10). e C3 Framework utilizes this focus on evidence

by emphasizing that conclusions based on evidence

should be framed and communicated using informa-

tion gathered while students read. e Framework

also views informed decision making and action

stemming from those decisions as driven by data and

information that ows from evidence that has been

collected by students.

Anchor Writing Standards 1–8 describe skills stu-

dents need to construct arguments, explanations, and

narratives. Writing Standards 4–6 focus on the pro-

duction and distribution of student writing. Standard

4 describes skills related to the production of “clear

and coherent writing” that is “appropriate to task,

purpose, and audience” (NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p.

✪

The Inquiry Arc of the C3 Framework • 63

18). Standard 5 explains the process writing skills that

students should develop. Standard 6 establishes that

students should use technology to publish and distrib-

ute their writing. Standard 7 focuses on “short as well

as more sustained research projects based on focused

questions” (NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 18). Standard

8 calls on students to “gather relevant information,”

“assess the credibility and accuracy of each source,”

and “integrate the information” into the text while

“avoiding plagiarism” (NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p.

18). e C3 Framework builds on these anchor stan-

dards by setting forth expectations that students will

construct disciplinary arguments and explanations

for a variety of audiences both inside and outside of

school, and then plan how to take informed action

given the products of their inquiry.

Anchor Speaking and Listening Standards 1-6 require

that students engage one another strategically us-

ing dierent forms of media in a variety of contexts

in order to present their knowledge and ideas. For

example:

• Standard 1 requires that students prepare and

participate in a “range of conversations and

collaborations with diverse partners” (NGA and

CCSSO, 2010a, p. 22).

• Standard 2 focuses on student use of diverse types

of media to enhance communication.

• Standard 3 expects that students will evaluate

speakers’ points of view, reasoning, and use of

evidence.

• Standard 4 expects that students will present

“information, ndings, and supporting evidence,”

with consideration of “task, purpose, and audi-

ence” (NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 22).

• Standard 5 asks students to make strategic use

of “media and visual displays” when presenting

(NGA and CCSSO, 2010a, p. 22).

• Standard 6 requires that students take into con-

sideration the context of their engagement.

e C3 Framework incorporates these skills through

the expectations of Dimension 4, Communicating

Conclusions, that students will present the products of

their inquiries as well as adaptations of these products

using a variety of technologies. When preparing to

take informed action, students engage with one an-

other in a productive manner using the skills set forth

in the Speaking and Listening Standards.

Shared Language. e ELA/Literacy Common

Core Standards closely align with Indicators in

Dimension 4. In places, the connections between

Common Core Standards and C3 Framework

Indicators are so close that the same language is used.

Dimension 4 and the ELA/Literacy Common Core

Standards regularly use terms such as argument,

explanation, sources, evidence, claims, counterclaims,

visually/visualize, and credibility.

e ELA/Literacy Common Core Standards use the

terms visual and visually to refer to presentation for-

mats. e terms are oen used in contrast to quan-

titative formats and as modiers for a type of data

display. e C3 Framework uses the terms writing,

visualizing, and speaking in describing expectations

for students for all of the Indicators in Table 28,

Communicating Conclusions, on page 60. e uses of

visual, visually, and visualizing are similar in referring

to ways of presenting information that would other-

wise be limited or even impossible using words.

Within the Common Core Standards, important lit-

eracy conventions are dened (e.g., citations, spelling,

plagiarism) with regard to the presentation of conclu-

sions, and these literacy conventions are integral to

social studies inquiry.

64 • C3 Framework

Appendices • 65

APPENDICES

Appendix A

C3 Framework

Disciplinary Inquiry

Matrix

THE HEART OF THE C3 FRAMEWORK lies in the Inquiry Arc and the four

Dimensions that dene it. But no inquiry is generic; each takes root in a compelling

question that draws from one or more of the disciplines of civics, economics, geography,

and history.

e C3 Framework Disciplinary Inquiry Matrix

articulates how each of the four Dimensions of the C3

Framework builds upon one another through the use

of a content-specic example: how bad was the recent

Great Recession?

e Disciplinary Inquiry Matrix describes what experts

think and do. It is a four-part target example to which

students should aspire. e matrix develops through

the construction of disciplinary compelling and sup-

porting questions (Dimension 1); the data sources, key

concepts, and key strategies specic to each discipline

(Dimension 2); the development of evidence-based

claims (Dimension 3); and the means of expression

(Dimension 4). e examples in the boxes are illustra-

tive rather than exhaustive.

C3 Framework Disciplinary Inquiry Matrix

WAYS OF KNOWING

CIVICS/

GOVERNMENT

POLITICAL

SCIENTISTS SAY…

ECONOMICS

ECONOMISTS SAY…

GEOGRAPHY

GEOGRAPHERS

SAY…

HISTORY

HISTORIANS SAY…

DIMENSION 1

POSSIBLE DISCIPLINARY

COMPELLING

AND SUPPORTING

QUESTIONS

What have major

political parties pro-

posed to respond to

the Great Recession?

What disagreements

have political parties

had and why? How

can government insti-

tutions and the private

sector respond?

What were some

of the economic

causes of the Great

Recession? What are

the indicators of its

severity and what do

they show? What are

the possible economic

policy solutions? How

can those solutions be

evaluated?

How did the Great

Recession affect

areas of the United

States differently? Did

it cause population

migrations? If so, from

where to where and

why? Are land and re-

source uses affected.

If so, how?

How bad (and for

whom) compared to

what earlier event?

What related econom-

ic, political, and social

events preceded the

Great Recession?

What precedents

in the past help us

understand the Great

Recession?

66 • C3 Framework

WAYS OF KNOWING

CIVICS/

GOVERNMENT

POLITICAL

SCIENTISTS SAY…

ECONOMICS

ECONOMISTS SAY…

GEOGRAPHY

GEOGRAPHERS

SAY…

HISTORY

HISTORIANS SAY…

DIMENSION 2

DATA SOURCES

NEEDED TO ADDRESS

QUESTIONS

Government policies,

policy pronounce-

ments, political poll

results, statistics,

leadership efforts,

political behavior;

observations of local

conditions, interviews;

news reports

Statistics and lots of

them in as real time as

possible (labor, cap-

ital, credit, monetary

ﬂow, supply, demand)

Spatial and environ-

mental data; statistics,

map representations,

GIS data to measure

observable chang-

es to the planet;

indicators of territorial

impact

Accounts from the

recent recession and

from hard economic

times in the past,

both ﬁrsthand and

synthetic, as many as

can be found (oral his-

tory, diaries, journals,

newspapers, photos,

economic data, arti-

facts, etc.)

KEY CONCEPTS

AND CONCEPTUAL

UNDERSTANDINGS

NECESSARY TO

ADDRESS QUESTIONS

(non-exclusive examples)

Theories of political

behavior, rationality,

self-interest, political

parties, power ﬂow,

government, ﬁscal

policy; relationships

between the state and

markets; constitution-

al limits on govern-

ment, debates about

those limits; evidence

(to make claims)

Application of

different types of

economic theories to

gauge inﬂation/deﬂa-

tion, labor shrinkage,

capital contraction,

asset/liability analyses

from banking sector,

changes in supply and

demand; evidence (to

make claims)

Theories of human

land/resource use;

spatial representa-

tion, scale, degree

of distortion, map

symbols, specialized

GIS symbolic systems

and representations;

evidence (to make

claims)

Theories of human

behavior, thought,

perspective, agency,

context, historical

signiﬁcance; historical

imagination; moral

judgment; evidence

(to make claims)

KEY STRATEGIES AND

SKILLS NEEDED TO

ADDRESS QUESTIONS

(non-exclusive examples)

Reading statistics

from polls, conducting

polls and interview

research; reading sub-

text into policies/pro-

nouncements; reading

power ﬂow and block-

age, converting such

data into evidence to

make arguments and

claims that answer

sub-questions

Capability to read

statistics critically, for

assessing agendas

behind statistical rep-

resentations; conduct-

ing survey research;

capability to convert

statistics into mean-

ingful arguments and

claims that answer the

sub-questions

Cartography including

using map symbol sys-

tems, critical reading

and thinking, capabil-

ity of using statistics

to represent spatial

change, capability to

use statistical and spa-

tial (often digitized)

representations to

make arguments and

claims that address

sub-questions

Critical reading and

thinking, analysis and

synthesis, reading

subtext and agency

in older sources;

statistics; convert-

ing verbal, written,

photographic, oral,

artifactual accounts

into evidence to

make arguments and

claims that answer the

sub-questions

Appendices • 67

WAYS OF KNOWING

CIVICS/

GOVERNMENT

POLITICAL

SCIENTISTS SAY…

ECONOMICS

ECONOMISTS SAY…

GEOGRAPHY

GEOGRAPHERS

SAY…

HISTORY

HISTORIANS SAY…

DIMENSION 3

EVIDENCE-BACKED

CLAIMS

Statistical analyses

and theories of

political and insti-

tutional behavior

and outcomes point

toward substantiating

and justifying claims;

adequacy judged

within the community

of peers

Statistical analyses

coupled with econom-

ic theories show the

way toward substan-

tiating and justifying

claims; adequacy

judged within the

community of peers,

i.e., other economic

investigators

Narratives, statistical

and spatial analyses,

and representations

point toward substan-

tiating and justifying

claims; community

of peers evaluates

adequacy of claims

Accounts of human

behavior and thought

coupled with evidence

corroboration and

preponderance point

towards substanti-

ating and justifying

claims; adequacy

judged within the

community of peers

DIMENSION 4

FORMS OF

COMMUNICATION AND

ACTION

(illustrative examples)

Books, television

appearances, articles,

op-ed pieces, policy

statements, blogs;

supporting a public

assistance non-proﬁt

organization

Op-ed articles, journal

pieces, television

appearances, policy

statements, blogs,

webinars, policy

advisory roles, public

action

Spatial representa-

tions for newspa-

pers, web-based

articulations, digital

and analog geo-

graphical services;

community mapping;

other citizen-science

experiences

Books, monographs,

articles, websites,

webinars, television

appearances, blogs

68 • C3 Framework

Appendix B

Psychology

Companion Document

for the C3 Framework

Prepared by

American Psychological Association1

750 First Street, NE

Washington, DC 20002

Introduction to the Disciplinary Concepts

and Skills of Psychology

As the scientic study of behavior and mental processes,

psychology examines all aspects of the human expe-

rience. Many of society’s challenging issues involve

human behavior, such as environmental change and the

problems of violence, bullying, prejudice, and discrim-

ination. Psychology contributes to the understanding

of these issues, and promotes improvement in health

and wellbeing. Psychological literacy is a foundation for

civic engagement and is necessary for citizens to make

informed decisions about their daily lives.

Psychology incorporates a variety of tools and knowl-

edge to further the understanding of behavior and

mental processes. Scientic inquiry and research

methods are at the center of the discipline. Psychology

promotes the measurement and explication of behav-

ior in a variety of levels of study, ranging from genetic

and brain-based inuences on behavior to cultural and

social inuences. Psychological knowledge enhances

our understanding of human development, emotion

and motivation, cognition, learning processes, percep-

tual systems and sociocultural interactions. Psychology

prepares students to enter the workforce or college by

promoting skills such as critical thinking, problem

solving, and teamwork. Students benet from learn-

ing and applying psychological perspectives on per-

sonal and contemporary issues and learn the rules of

evidence and theoretical frameworks of the discipline.

e National Standards for High School Psychology

Curricula oers learning benchmarks for the high

school psychology course (APA, 2011).2

Psychological Perspectives and Methods

of Inquiry3

Psychological knowledge is based on scientic method-

ology, the systematic, empirically-based investigation of

phenomena through observations and measurements.

Psychologists use scientic methods to establish knowl-

edge and explain phenomena, and employ a variety

of methods to observe and measure behavior. Broad

psychological perspectives describe ways in which

psychologists classify their ideas, and are employed to

understand behavior and mental processes.

1 The writing team was composed of the following individuals (in

alphabetical order): Jeanne A. Blakeslee, St. Paul’s School for Girls

(MD); Emily Leary Chesnes, American Psychological Association; Amy

C. Fineburg, Oak Mountain High School (AL); Robin J. Hailstorks,

American Psychological Association; Kenneth D. Keith, University of

San Diego; Debra E. Park, Rutgers University, Camden; and Hilary

Rosenthal, Glenbrook South High School (IL).

2 The references for citations in this Appendix are listed on the ﬁnal

page of the Appendix.

3 Several of the indicators across all four anchor concepts come from

the Guidelines for Preparing High School Psychology Teachers:

Course-Based and Standards-Based Approaches (APA, 2012) and the

National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula (APA, 2011).

Appendices • 69

Psychology oers a unique way of thinking and or-

ganizing knowledge and provides students with tools

and concepts that can prepare them for college, ca-

reer, and civic life. e indicators that follow align

with Dimension 2 of the C3 Framework (Applying

Disciplinary Concepts and Tools), provide a conceptual

set of skills related to psychological knowledge, and

serve as a frame for organizing curricular content in

psychology.

College, Career, and Civic ready students:

• D2.Psy.1.9-12. Demonstrate a basic understand-

ing of the scientic methods that are at the core of

psychology.

• D2.Psy.2.9-12. Investigate human behavior from

biological, cognitive, behavioral, and sociocultural

perspectives.

• D2.Psy.3.9-12. Discuss theories, methodologies,

and empirical ndings necessary to plan, conduct,

and especially interpret research results.

• D2.Psy.4.9-12. Adhere to and consider the impact

of American Psychological Association and federal

guidelines for the ethical treatment of human and

nonhuman research participants.

• D2.Psy.5.9-12. Explain how the validity and reli-

ability of observations and measurements relate to

data analysis.

• D2.Psy.6.9-12. Collect and analyze data designed to

answer a psychological question using basic descrip-

tive and inferential statistics.

• D2.Psy.7.9-12. Explore multicultural and global

perspectives that recognize how diversity is import-

ant to explaining human behavior.

Inﬂuences on Thought and Behavior

ere is no simple answer to the question, “What deter-

mines or constrains human behavior?” Psychologists

have long considered the extent to which human

behavior is malleable and the degree to which it varies

between people and populations. Psychologists exam-

ine genetic predispositions to behavioral patterns, but

human behavior is also inuenced by the environment.

Research has shown that biological, psychological, and

sociocultural factors play important roles in shaping

the way we see and react to the world around us.

College, Career, and Civic ready students:

• D2.Psy.8.9-12. Explain the complexities of human

thought and behavior, as well as the factors related

to the individual dierences among people.

• D2.Psy.9.9-12. Describe biological, psychological,

and sociocultural factors that inuence individuals’

cognition, perception, and behavior.

• D2.Psy.10.9-12. Explain the interaction of biology

and experience (i.e., nature and nurture) and its

inuence on behavior.

• D2.Psy.11.9-12. Identify the role psychological sci-

ence can play in helping us understand dierences

in individual cognitive and physical abilities.

• D2.Psy.12.9-12. Explain how social, cultural, gen-

der, and economic factors inuence behavior and

human interactions in societies around the world.

Critical Thinking: Themes, Sources, and

Evidence

Psychological inquiry is based on a variety of sources

and materials that students can read and analyze. e

study of psychology brings together common themes

that include ethics, diversity, scientic attitudes,

and skills (e.g., critical thinking, problem solving).

Informed by these themes and supported by sources,

students can make evidence-based conclusions which

in turn can lead to further questions and answers.

College, Career, and Civic ready students:

• D2.Psy.13.9-12. Explain common themes across

the eld of psychological science, including ethical

issues, diversity, developmental issues, and concerns

about health and wellbeing.

• D2.Psy.14.9-12. Use information from dierent

psychological sources to generate research questions.

70 • C3 Framework

• D2.Psy.15.9-12. Use existing evidence and formu-

late conclusions about psychological phenomena.

• D2.Psy.16.9-12. Use critical thinking skills to be-

come better consumers of psychological knowledge.

• D2.Psy.17.9-12. Acknowledge the interconnected-

ness of knowledge in the discipline of psychology.

Applications of Psychological Knowledge

Psychological knowledge can be useful in addressing

a wide array of issues, from individual to global levels.

In order to understand behavior and mental processes,

students should apply psychological knowledge to the

world around them. Psychological knowledge directly

relates to everyday and civic life, and its application can

benet society and improve people’s lives.

College, Career, and Civic ready students:

• D2.Psy.18.9-12. Apply psychological knowledge to

their daily lives.

• D2.Psy.19.9-12. Apply the major theoretical

approaches in psychology to educational, emotion-

al, political, ethical, motivational, organizational,

personal, and social issues.

• D2.Psy.20.9-12. Suggest psychologically based eth-

ical solutions to actual problems including, but not

limited to, those encountered in education, business

and industry, and the environment.

• D2.Psy.21.9-12. Discuss ways in which the applica-

tions of psychological science can address domestic

and global issues.

• D2.Psy.22.9-12. Use psychological knowledge to

promote healthy lifestyle choices.

• D2.Psy.23.9-12. Apply psychological knowledge to

civic engagement.

Brief Overview of Connections between

Psychology and the English Language

Arts/Literacy Common Core Standards

Connections with the College and Career

Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standards. Students in

psychology develop and use a wide range of skills en-

dorsed through the Common Core Anchor Standards.

Students in psychology must develop questions and

plan inquiries as they learn about and apply the various

psychological theories and ndings. Students should

be able to propose, plan, and conduct simple research

projects and/or read, discuss, and critique research

ndings in ways that apply their acquired content

knowledge and hone the skills discussed in the Anchor

Standards in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening,

and Language. Students who complete such projects or

assignments successfully demonstrate mastery of the

skills in each dimension, thus fullling the goals for

college and career readiness.

More detailed curricular recommendations are found

in the National Standards for High School Psychology

Curricula (APA, 2011). Although psychological science

can be found in science and social studies lessons for

students in grades K-8, the rst formal introduction to

psychological science oen occurs during grades 9-12.

Learning the theories, methodologies, and practices of

psychological science provides students with knowl-

edge and skills they need to think critically about

research, address issues using the scientic method,

and understand relationships among variables in given

circumstances.

C3 Framework Disciplinary Inquiry

Matrix: Psychology

In Appendix A, the Disciplinary Inquiry Matrix

articulates how each of the four Dimensions of the C3

Framework build upon one another through the use

of a content-specic example: How bad was the Great

Recession? e Disciplinary Inquiry Matrix describes

what experts think and do. It is a four-part target

example to which students should aspire. e matrix

develops through the construction of disciplinary com-

pelling and supporting questions (Dimension 1); the

data sources, key concepts, and key strategies specic

to each discipline (Dimension 2); the development of

evidence-based claims (Dimension 3); and the means of

expression (Dimension 4). In the table on page 72, the

Great Recession is examined through the disciplinary

lens of psychology. e examples in the boxes are illus-

trative rather than exhaustive.

Appendices • 71

WAYS OF KNOWING

PSYCHOLOGY

PSYCHOLOGISTS SAY…

DIMENSION 1

POSSIBLE DISCIPLINARY

COMPELLING AND

SUPPORTING QUESTIONS

How did citizens behave during the recession? Did stress levels increase, decrease or stay the

same? Was there adequate mental health support available? How does an individual’s social

status affect his or her perception of the effects a recession has on family, work and other socie-

tal institutions? Do individuals have prejudices that affect their perception of “who or what is to

blame” for economic crises? How do attributions of responsibility develop and affect people’s

behaviors during a recession?

DIMENSION 2

DATA SOURCES NEEDED TO

ADDRESS QUESTIONS

Statistics on rates of anxiety, stress, and depression; the number of individuals seeking mental

health counseling. Surveys, focus groups, reports, and interviews on how different populations

and/or ethnic groups were affected by unemployment, and how the economic climate affected

older adults. Experiments testing the effectiveness of treatments for mental illness or causes of

other psychological phenomena.

KEY CONCEPTS

AND CONCEPTUAL

UNDERSTANDINGS

NECESSARY TO ADDRESS

QUESTIONS

(non-exclusive questions)

Biological, cognitive, and psychological mechanisms of behavior and mental processes; theories

of social learning and social cognition; theories of stress management and health promotion;

theories of personality, motivation, emotion, and learning; theories of life span development;

evidence (to make claims).

KEY STRATEGIES AND SKILLS

NEEDED TO ADDRESS

QUESTIONS

(non-exclusive examples)

Ability to read and interpret statistics critically, including the ability to interpret qualitative and

quantitative data; ability to use data to ﬁnd causal and correlational connections between and

among variables; critical thinking. Ability to apply psychological knowledge to issues faced by

local communities and encourage civic engagement.

DIMENSION 3

EVIDENCE-BASED CLAIMS

Statistical analyses and theories of human behavior point toward justifying claims; these should

be judged within the community of peers.

DIMENSION 4

FORMS OF

COMMUNICATION AND

ACTION (ILLUSTRATIVE

EXAMPLES)

Books and journal articles, newspapers and television, websites, webinars, press releases, pro-

fessional presentations.

REFERENCES

American Psychological Association. (2011). National standards for high school psychology curricula. Retrieved from http://

www.apa.org/education/k12/national-standards.aspx

American Psychological Association. (2012). Guidelines for preparing high school psychology teachers: Course-based and

standards-based approaches. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/education/k12/teaching-guidelines.aspx

72 • C3 Framework

Appendix C

Sociology

Companion Document

for the C3 Framework

Prepared by

American Sociological Association1

1430 K Street NW, Suite 600

Washington, DC 20005

Introduction to Disciplinary Concepts

and Skills in Sociology

Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and

the social causes and consequences of human behavior.

Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, orga-

nizations, and societies and how people interact within

these contexts. Since all human behavior is social, the

subject matter of sociology ranges from the intimate

family to the hostile mob; from organized crime to

religious traditions; and from the divisions of race, gen-

der, and social class to the shared beliefs of a common

culture.2

Sociology is a science that uses research methods to in-

vestigate the social world. e scientic process ensures

that the knowledge produced is more representative,

objective, trustworthy, and useful for explaining social

phenomena than personal opinions or individual ex-

periences. Social phenomena are constructed through

human interaction. us, sociological inquiry must

examine what meanings people give to the behaviors,

objects, and interactions that are present in each culture

and society. It utilizes the scientic method, is based

on critical thinking, and requires students to examine

how they are inuenced by their social positions. In this

way, students learn how to eectively participate in a

diverse and multicultural society, and develop a sense

of personal and social responsibility.

is Appendix outlines four fundamental disciplinary

learning goals for College, Career, and Civic ready

students in sociology. ese goals highlight key areas

for student learning and instructional focus in K-12

sociology units and courses. Each of the four learning

goals is accompanied by a set of assessable competen-

cies. ese learning goals align with Dimension 2 of the

C3 Framework (Applying Disciplinary Concepts and

Tools).

The Sociological Perspective and

Methods of Inquiry

Sociology provides a unique perspective by focusing on

the groups to which individuals belong rather than only

on the individual. It deeply considers how social con-

texts inuence both individuals and groups. In this way,

it helps students to see the world through others’ eyes,

to increase their understanding of group dynamics,

and to develop tolerance of dierences. Sociology uses

objective and data-driven scientic methods to study

1 The writing team was composed of the following individuals (in

alphabetical order): Jeanne H. Ballantine, Wright State University;

Hayley L. Lotspeich, Wheaton North High School (IL); Chris Salituro,

Stevenson High School (IL); Jean H. Shin, American Sociological

Association; Margaret Weigers Vitullo, American Sociological

Association; Lissa Yogan, Valparaiso University.

2 See American Sociological Association (ASA), 21st Century Careers

with an Undergraduate Degree in Sociology (Washington DC: ASA,

2009).

Appendices • 73

social interactions at multiple levels, from families and

peer-groups to nations and global organizations.

College, Career, and Civic ready students:

• D2.Soc.1.9-12. Explain the sociological perspective

and how it diers from other social sciences.

• D2.Soc.2.9-12. Dene social context in terms of the

external forces that shape human behavior.

• D2.Soc.3.9-12. Identify how social context inuenc-

es individuals.

• D2.Soc.4.9-12. Illustrate how sociological analysis

can provide useful data-based information for deci-

sion making.

• D2.Soc.5.9-12. Give examples of the strengths and

weaknesses of four main methods of sociological

research: surveys, experiments, observations, and

content analysis.

Social Structure: Culture, Institutions,

and Society

Sociology studies the social structure and culture of

societies in order to understand how social patterns are

created and maintained over time; examples of these

might include persistent violence or long-standing dis-

parities in school achievement. Important components

of social structures are institutions such as the economy,

government and politics, the educational system, the

family, religion, and the health care system. Culture

includes the language, norms, values, and material

goods of a society. Social structure and culture work in

tandem to shape societies, but are not completely rigid.

All individuals are impacted by social change, which re-

fers to the transformation of culture, social institutions,

and social structure over time.

College, Career, and Civic ready students:

• D2.Soc.6.9-12. Identify the major components of

culture.

• D2.Soc.7.9-12. Cite examples of how culture inu-

ences the individuals in it.

• D2.Soc.8.9-12. Identify important social institu-

tions in society.

• D2.Soc.9.9-12. Explain the role of social institu-

tions in society.

• D2.Soc.10.9-12. Analyze how social structures and

cultures change.

Social Relationships: Self, Groups, and

Socialization

A fundamental insight of sociology is that individual

and group identity is socially constructed through

relationships with signicant individuals, groups, and

society as a whole. Socialization is a life-long process of

learning how to function in society. Important social-

izing agents include family, peers, the media, schools,

and religion. Major social and historical events can be a

force in socializing entire generational groups. Groups

form when individuals share common interests and/

or goals, and oen become a point of comparison for

individuals as they evaluate themselves and others.

College, Career, and Civic ready students:

• D2.Soc.11.9-12. Analyze the inuence of the

primary agents of socialization and why they are

inuential.

• D2.Soc.12.9-12. Explain the social construction of

self and groups.

• D2.Soc.13.9-12. Identify characteristics of groups,

as well as the eects groups have on individuals and

society, and the eects of individuals and societies

on groups.

• D2.Soc.14.9-12. Explain how in-group and out-

group membership inuences the life chances of

individuals and shapes societal norms and values.

Stratiﬁcation and Inequality

Sociology helps students to understand their own and

others’ social problems. Group memberships and iden-

tities provide or deny certain opportunities and power.

ey also create and reinforce social stratication. is

can result in conict between groups for scarce or

valued resources, and in diminished access for some in

74 • C3 Framework

society as others control these resources. Disadvantaged

groups experience social problems such as poverty,

unemployment, poor education, lack of access to health

care, and inequality in obtaining rights and privileges.

College, Career, and Civic ready students:

• D2.Soc.15.9-12. Identify common patterns of social

inequality.

• D2.Soc.16.9-12. Interpret the eects of inequality

on groups and individuals.

• D2.Soc.17.9-12. Analyze why the distribution of

power and inequalities can result in conict.

• D2.Soc.18.9-12. Propose and evaluate alternative

responses to inequality.

Brief Overview of Connections between

Sociology and the English Language

Arts/Literacy Common Core Standards

Connections with the College and Career

Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standards. Students

in sociology develop and use skills that are central

to the Common Core College and Career Readiness

Anchor Standards. Learning the theories, methodolo-

gies, and practices of sociology provides students with

the knowledge and skills they need to think critically

about the world they live in, themselves, and how they

are inuenced by their social positions. By studying

sociology, students learn how to eectively participate

in a diverse and multi-cultural society, and develop a

sense of personal and social responsibility. Students

in sociology integrate and evaluate multiple sources of

information presented in diverse formats and media in

order to address questions or solve complex problems.

ey are required to integrate data and information

from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, in

order to form a coherent and empirically- based under-

standing of an idea or social event, noting discrepancies

among sources. Students learn how to propose, plan,

and conduct simple research and action projects as well

as read, discuss, and critique research ndings in ways

that apply their acquired content knowledge and hone

the skills discussed in the Anchor Standards in Reading,

Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language.

More detailed curricular recommendations for so-

ciology can be found on the website of the American

Sociological Association (www.asanet.org/highschool).

Although concepts from sociology are frequently seen

in science and social studies lessons for students in

grades K-8, more commonly the rst formal intro-

duction to sociology occurs in grades 9-12. Learning

the theories, methodologies, and practices of sociol-

ogy provides students with the knowledge and skills

they need to think critically about sources of evidence,

address issues using a systematic Arc of Inquiry based

on the scientic method, and understand relationships

among variables in complex social contexts. In this way,

sociology supports students’ successful entry into the

world of work or post-secondary education.

C3 Framework Disciplinary Inquiry

Matrix: Sociology

In Appendix A, the Disciplinary Inquiry Matrix

articulates how each of the four Dimensions of the C3

Framework build upon one another through the use

of a content-specic example: How bad was the Great

Recession? e Disciplinary Inquiry Matrix describes

what experts think and do. It is a four-part target

example to which students should aspire. e matrix

develops through the construction of disciplinary com-

pelling and supporting questions (Dimension 1); the

data sources, key concepts, and key strategies specic

to each discipline (Dimension 2); the development of

evidence-based claims (Dimension 3); and the means of

expression (Dimension 4). In the table on page 76, the

Great Recession is examined through the disciplinary

lens of sociology. e examples in the boxes are illustra-

tive rather than exhaustive.

Appendices • 75

WAYS OF KNOWING

SOCIOLOGY

SOCIOLOGISTS SAY…

DIMENSION 1

POSSIBLE DISCIPLINARY

COMPELLING

AND SUPPORTING

QUESTIONS

What were the social consequences of the Great Recession, and in particular, how was the impact of

the crisis differentially experienced by individuals, families and groups with different characteristics?

What impact has it had on the social cohesion and collective behavior of communities? What were the

possible policy responses to the crisis? Would they be effective across diverse communities?

DIMENSION 2

DATA SOURCES

NEEDED TO ADDRESS

QUESTIONS

Statistics on employment, housing, government programs, health, demographics, markers of disrup-

tion of social cohesion such as crime and divorce, and other organizational impacts. Interviews with

individuals about their experiences with unemployment, education, family dynamics, and personal

well-being. Observations of individuals and groups in handling ﬁnancially-related outcomes. Content

analysis of published descriptions of the crisis and reactions to it.

KEY CONCEPTS

AND CONCEPTUAL

UNDERSTANDINGS

NEEDED TO ADDRESS

QUESTIONS

(non-exclusive questions)

Theories (e.g., symbolic interactionism, functionalism, conﬂict theory) of social structure and contexts

including the interplay between institutions and culture; of social relationships and the connection be-

tween individuals and the groups to which they belong; and of social stratiﬁcation and inequality and

the reinforcement of current and new inequalities in outcomes. Understanding patterns of reaction to

the crisis based on different resources, opportunities, and power statuses.

KEY STRATEGIES AND

SKILLS NEEDED TO

ADDRESS QUESTIONS

(non-exclusive examples)

Reading and interpreting statistics and graphical representations such as tables, charts, ﬁgures, and

political cartoons. Conducting survey research as well as research via experimental, observational, and

content analysis methods. Seeing the social world through the perspective of others and understand-

ing why the crisis impacts people differently.

DIMENSION 3

EVIDENCE-BASED

CLAIMS

Statistical and narrative analyses, as well as interpretations based on theories of social structure, social

relationships, and social stratiﬁcation and inequality. These analyses and other methods of inquiry

point toward substantiating and justifying claims; these should be judged within the community of

peers including sociologists as well as other social scientists.

DIMENSION 4

FORMS OF

COMMUNICATION AND

ACTION

(illustrative examples)

Books and scholarly articles; television and radio appearances; op-ed pieces and blog entries; policy

statements and research briefs; webinars; presentations at professional conferences and meetings;

evaluations and reports; websites and anthologies.

76 • C3 Framework

Appendix D

Anthropology

Companion Document

for the C3 Framework

Prepared by

American Anthropological Association1

2300 Clarendon Blvd., Suite 1301

Arlington, VA 22201

1 This Appendix was prepared by the Ad Hoc K-12 Anthropology C3

Guidelines Committee of the American Anthropological Association

(AAA), in consultation with the AAA Education Task Force. Kathryn

Anderson-Levitt, Courtney Dowdall, Catherine Emihovich, Edmund T.

Hamann, David Homa, Edward Liebow, Teresa McCarty, and Marjorie

Faulstich Orellana participated in its preparation. The Appendix was

commissioned by the American Anthropological Association (AAA)

but has not been endorsed by the AAA or its members.

Introduction to the Disciplinary Concepts

and Skills of Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of human beings, past and

present, in societies around the world. To understand

the full sweep and complexity of cultures across all

of human history, anthropology draws and builds

upon knowledge from the social, natural, and physical

sciences as well as the humanities. Anthropology is a

comparative discipline; it assumes basic human con-

tinuities over time and place, but also recognizes that

every society is the product of its own particular history,

and that within every society one nds variation as

well as commonalities. Anthropologists are centrally

concerned with applying their research ndings to the

solution of human problems.

Anthropology includes four subelds. Physical anthro-

pologists study human biological origins, evolution

and variation, how humans adapt to diverse environ-

ments, primatology, and how biological and cultural

processes work together to shape growth, development,

and behavior. Archaeologists study past peoples and

cultures, from the deepest prehistory to the recent past.

Sociocultural anthropologists observe social patterns

and practices across cultures, with a special interest

in how people live in particular places and how they

organize, govern, and create meaning. Linguistic an-

thropology is the comparative study of language systems

and the ways in which language reects and inuences

social life. Each of the subelds teaches distinctive

skills. However, the subelds also have a number of

similarities. For example, each subeld applies theories,

employs systematic research methodologies, formulates

and tests hypotheses, and develops extensive sets of

data.

Concept 1. What It Means to be Human:

Unity and Diversity

Anthropologists study what people have in common,

and also how we dier with respect to physical and so-

ciocultural characteristics. Importantly, they examine

human physical variability and also the social reality

of racial categorization and racism. Variable physical

features like skin color and blood type do not cluster

into clear-cut biologically dened races. At the same

time, categorization into socially dened races is a real

phenomenon with real consequences in societies like

the United States. Race then is socially “real” even if

biologically it has no grounding.

Appendices • 77

Anthropologists emphasize the importance of culture—

patterns and processes of meaning expressed through

language and other symbols. Anthropologists study

all kinds of human groups, from small villages to

transnational corporations, from large U.S. cities to

remote Arctic and desert groups; even schools and

classrooms can be subjects of anthropological inquiry.

Anthropologists examine how societies change; how

a society’s beliefs, institutions, and ways of making a

living are related to one another; and how individuals

are shaped by their cultures and also agents of their

own lives. A central anthropological insight is the

notion of cultural relativism—that no cultural group

is inherently “superior” or “inferior” to any other, and

that all human behaviors are understandable in their

cultural context even if humans may ultimately aspire

to certain universal standards.

College, Career, and Civic ready students:

• Understand patterns of human physical variability

and the evidence for arguing that humans cannot

be sorted into distinct biological races.

• Develop through comparison awareness of human

unity and cultural diversity, and of the connections

among peoples from around the world.

• Understand the reasons for and development of

human and societal endeavors, such as small-scale

societies and civilizations, across time and place.

• Use anthropological concepts and practice to reect

on representations of “otherness” and consider criti-

cally students’ own cultural assumptions.

• Apply anthropological concepts and theories to the

study of contemporary social change, conict, and

other important local, national, and international

problems.

Concept 2. Methods and Ethics of Inquiry

Anthropologists take a scientic approach to collecting

empirical information, seeking to be systematic, trans-

parent, and trustworthy in conducting and reporting

research. For example, archaeologists study past peo-

ples and cultures through the analysis of carefully exca-

vated material remains, while physical anthropologists

analyze evidence ranging from fossils to the DNA of

living people. Sociocultural and linguistic anthropol-

ogists oen rely on direct participation in and obser-

vation of a group’s daily life, interpreting meanings

constructed by people in the group and sometimes

collaborating with them as active participants in the

research. When analyzing their ndings, anthropolo-

gists oen seek to understand particular local situations

in the context of larger social forces, and in great depth.

At the same time, comparison across places and times is

a hallmark of anthropological study.

Because the study of people, past and present, requires

respect for the diversity of individuals, cultures, so-

cieties, and knowledge systems, anthropologists are

expected to adhere to a strong code of professional eth-

ics. In addition, an engaged anthropology is committed

to supporting social change eorts that arise from the

interaction between community goals and anthropo-

logical research.

College, Career, and Civic ready students:

• Identify and critically assess the opportunities to

use anthropological knowledge in a variety of work

settings and in everyday experience, as well as issues

of description and representation in anthropology.

• Develop an understanding of the methods by which

anthropologists collect data on cultural patterns

and processes, and of ways of interpreting and pre-

senting these data in writing and other media.

• Identify and critically assess ethical issues that arise

in the practice of anthropological research, includ-

ing issues of informed consent.

• Under the guidance of teachers, design, undertake,

and report on personal research on an anthropolog-

ical topic of interest, such as a limited ethnographic

study of a local culture or a visit to an archaeologi-

cal site.

Concept 3. Becoming a Person: Processes,

Practices, and Consequences

Anthropologists examine what it means to be human

by observing and recording the processes, practic-

es, and consequences involved in becoming a person.

78 • C3 Framework

ey explore what it means to be a person in dierent

cultural contexts and the dynamic nature of identities

on an individual level; on a larger scale, they explore the

nature of boundaries between human groups. ey ask,

for example, what it means to be a full-edged adult in

dierent societies and through what rites of passage or

other processes people become adults. ey ask how

people use symbols or other tools to draw boundar-

ies based upon language, religion, gender, ethnicity,

nationality, territory, or history, and they ask about

the consequences of boundaries within and between

societies, including exclusion and dierences of power

or status, racism and ethnic conict, class conict, and

religious conict. roughout such discussions, they

consider the relative importance of individual autono-

my versus structural forces.

College, Career, and Civic ready students:

• Understand the variety of gendered, racialized, or

other identities individuals take on over the life

course, and identify the social and cultural process-

es through which those identities are constructed.

• Apply anthropological concepts of boundaries to

the analysis of current ethnic, racial, or religious

conicts in the world—or in a local setting.

Concept 4. Global and Local: Societies,

Environments, and Globalization

Because anthropology examines human experience

around the world, it is attuned to global connections as

well as local perspectives. Anthropologists examine the

extent of globalization and its causes and consequences.

For example, they study the movement of people, ideas

and objects, and the causes and consequences of such

movement, from the rst human migration “out of

Africa” to current diasporas. ey consider the degree

to which the global aects the local and vice versa,

including debates about cultural homogenization and

standardization. ey bring together the global and

local to consider perspectives on important world is-

sues, including environmental conict, global warming,

wars, and nationalism. ey consider human rights and

the global justice movement and issues of cultural rela-

tivism, such as whether human rights should supersede

local cultural rights.

College, Career, and Civic ready students:

• Understand and appreciate cultural and social

dierence, and how human diversity is produced

and shaped by local, national, regional, and global

patterns.

• Understand how one’s local actions can have global

consequences, and how global patterns and process-

es can aect seemingly unrelated local actions.

• Become critically aware of ethnocentrism, its

manifestations, and consequences in a world that is

progressively interconnected.

• Apply anthropological concepts to current global

issues such as migrations across national borders or

environmental degradation.

Connections to the College and Career

Readiness (CCR) Anchor Standards. Students in

anthropology develop and use skills that are included

throughout the Common Core Anchor Standards

in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and

Language. As students learn to describe current and

past cultures and societies, they use vocabulary that is

new or employed in a new way. ese descriptions oen

require students to compare the point of view of a local

inhabitant with their own perspective, which may be

quite dierent, or with the perspective of a Western vis-

itor or colonizer. Anthropology students formulate and

test hypotheses by conducting small-scale ethnographic

studies and related observational research in biological

anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and archaeology.

Students learn to write ethnographic eld notes mod-

eled on those of professional anthropologists, which

is excellent practice for writing routinely on a daily or

weekly basis. ese eld notes require disciplining the

memory while learning to distinguish between descrip-

tion and interpretation.

More detailed curricular recommendations are found

on the AAA website (http://www.aaanet.org); see

especially the section “For Teachers” and the Teaching

Materials Exchange (additional resources are listed

on page 80). Anthropological concepts and ideas are

important for social studies students in all grades, but

the rst formal introduction to anthropology typically

Appendices • 79

occurs during grades 9-12. In these grades, students

will regularly use Common Core ELA/Literacy skills

as they understand and apply anthropological con-

cepts, theories, and methods. Students who successfully

develop their inquiry skills in anthropology classes will

fulll goals of the Common Core Standards for College

and Career readiness.

C3 Framework Disciplinary Inquiry Matrix:

Anthropology

In Appendix A, the C3 Framework Disciplinary Inquiry

Matrix articulates how each of the four Dimensions of

the C3 Framework build upon one another through

the use of a content-specic example: How bad was

the recent Great Recession? e Disciplinary Inquiry

Matrix describes what experts think and do. It is a

four-part target example to which students should

aspire. e matrix develops through the construction

of disciplinary supporting questions (Dimension 1); the

data sources, key concepts, and key strategies specic

to each discipline (Dimension 2); the development of

evidence-based claims (Dimension 3); and the means of

expression (Dimension 4). In the table on page 81, the

Great Recession is examined through the disciplinary

lens of anthropology.

BASIC SOURCES

e preparation of this document made use of text from

the following sources:

American Anthropological Association (AAA). (no

date). What Is Anthropology? Available online at http://

www.aaanet.org/about/WhatisAnthropology.cfm

AAA Anthropology Education Committee. (2001).

Why Should Anthropology Be Integrated In Schools?

Statement by the Anthropology Education Committee.

Available online at http://www.aaanet.org/committees/

commissions/aec/why.htm

Homa, David. (2012-13). Anthropology and Introduction

to Cultural Anthropology (syllabi). Los Gatos, CA: Los

Gatos Unied High School.

Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI), U.K., and

Assessment and Qualications Alliance (AQA). (2013).

Anthropology A-Level. Available online at

http://www.

discoveranthropology.org.uk/for-teachers/anthropology-

a-level.html

and http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/

anthropology/a-level/anthropology-2110

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES AND RESOURCES

AAA. (2011). RACE: Are We So Dierent? Available on-

line at http://www.understandingrace.org/home.html

AAA. (no date). RACE: Are We So Dierent? Resources

for Teachers. Available online at http://www.aaanet.org/

resources/teachers/

Goodman, A.H., Moses, Y.T., and Jones, J.L.

(2012). Race: Are We So Dierent? Malden, MA:

Wiley-Blackwell.

Mukhopadhyay, C. C., Henze, R., & Moses, Y. T. (2007).

How Real Is Race? A Sourcebook on Race, Culture, and

Biology. Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.

Schensul, J. J., & LeCompte, M. D. (2013).

Ethnographer’s Toolkit Book 3. Essential Ethnographic

Methods: A Mixed Methods Approach, Second Edition.

Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.

80 • C3 Framework

WAYS OF KNOWING

ANTHROPOLOGY

ANTHROPOLOGISTS SAY…

DIMENSION 1

POSSIBLE DISCIPLINARY

COMPELLING

AND SUPPORTING

QUESTIONS

How have different groups of people in the United States experienced the recession? Remembering

anthropology’s commitment to holism, is the nation the most helpful scale at which to study the Great

Recession? What happens if we study it at the level of a region (e.g., the Southwest, the Rust Belt)? A

metropolitan area (e.g., Orlando)? A neighborhood (e.g., Hyde Park in Chicago)? Something smaller,

like a mobile home court or school attendance area? How can studies at one scale be useful for under-

standing what is happening at another?

Is the “Great Recession” an event unique to the United States? How do groups of people outside the

U.S. name what is happening and explain it? In the U.S. and elsewhere, has it made individuals and

families more mobile? Less mobile? More attached to “home”? More displaceable?

DIMENSION 2

DATA SOURCES

NEEDED TO ADDRESS

QUESTIONS

Open-ended interviews with individuals about their experiences with unemployment, education,

family dynamics, and personal well-being. Observations over time of individuals and groups handling

ﬁnancially-related and status-related outcomes. Content analysis of published descriptions of the crisis

and interpretations of it. Statistics on employment, housing, government programs, health, demo-

graphics in the U.S. and elsewhere.

KEY CONCEPTS

AND CONCEPTUAL

UNDERSTANDINGS

NECESSARY TO

ADDRESS QUESTIONS

(non-exclusive questions)

Informal as well as formal economy at the level of families, households, neighborhoods. Transnational

ﬂows of remittances. Social construction of status as it varies by ethnicity, class, gender, location in the

global economy. Nutrition levels and their biological effects.

KEY STRATEGIES AND

SKILLS NEEDED TO

ADDRESS QUESTIONS

(non-exclusive examples)

In-depth, open-ended interviews, and ﬁeldwork on everyday behavior. Case studies of neighbor-

hoods, social service institutions, workplaces. Content analysis of news reports, academic studies,

and everyday conversations. Comparison of qualitative and quantitative information across neighbor-

hoods, regions, and countries.

DIMENSION 3

EVIDENCE-BASED

CLAIMS

Ethnographic and narrative analyses, seeking “emic” (insider) understandings and cultural meanings

of the event. These analyses and other methods of inquiry point toward substantiating and justifying

claims that are judged within the community of peers, including anthropologists as well as other social

scientists.

DIMENSION 4

FORMS OF

COMMUNICATION AND

ACTION

(illustrative examples)

Books and scholarly articles; television and radio appearances; op-ed pieces and blog entries; policy

statements and research briefs; webinars; documentaries; presentations at professional conferences

and meetings; evaluations and reports; websites and anthologies.

Appendices • 81

Appendix E

Scholarly

Rationale for the

C3 Framework

IN THE C3 FRAMEWORK, the call for students to become more prepared for

the challenges of college and career (Bellanca and Brandt, 2010; Di Giacomo, Linn,

Monthey, Pack, and Wyatt, 2013; Partnership for 21st Century Schools, 2011)1 is united

with a third element: preparation for civic life. Advocates of citizenship education cross

the political spectrum, but they are bound by a common belief that our democratic

republic will not sustain unless students are aware of their changing cultural and

physical environments; know the past; read, write, and think deeply; and act in ways

that promote the common good. ere will always be diering perspectives on these

objectives. e goal of knowledgeable, thinking, and active citizens, however, is

universal.

e need for strong preparation in social studies is

as apparent today as it has been in the past. In their

Framework for 21st Century Learning (2011), the

Partnership for 21st Century Skills identied govern-

ment and civics, economics, geography, and history

among the nine core subjects. Moreover, civic literacy,

global awareness, and nancial, economic, business,

and entrepreneurial literacy are identied among the

21st century interdisciplinary themes. Finally, sever-

al of the key life and career skills listed fall rmly if

not exclusively in the social studies: students must be

able to work independently, be self-directed learners,

interact eectively with others, and work eectively in

diverse teams. e push for college and career readi-

ness, so evident in the Common Core State Standards,

is important, but as the Framework for 21st Century

Learning makes clear, equally important is the need to

help students ready themselves for their roles as citizens.

e rationale for social studies as one of the core school

subjects is compelling. Unfortunately, that rationale has

not always translated into the kinds of coherent and

ambitious teaching and learning that enable students to

achieve the promise of calls like the Framework for 21st

Century Learning.

e C3 Framework and its Inquiry Arc mark a signi-

cant departure from past attempts to develop a robust

social studies program. Some of the most compelling

reasons for this departure are the remarkably at scores

on the National Assessment of Educational Progress

(NAEP) in Civics/Government, Economics, Geography,

and U.S. History (search “e Nation’s Report Card” by

these subjects to study the results). As the gold stan-

dard of national assessment, the NAEP results have

1 The references in this Appendix are to works cited in the References

section that follows.

82 • C3 Framework

been telling us for close to 20 years that our eorts to

improve learning in key social studies subjects have

not resulted in increased student achievement. Far

too many 12th graders leave school with below-basic

understandings.

A second reason why the C3 Framework represents a

profound change is rooted in the research on teaching

and learning in social studies that has drawn a remark-

ably consistent picture of what typically happens in

schools. Too many social studies teachers—driven by

content coverage demands, growing accountability re-

quirements, and an all-too-crowded school day—spend

much of their time talking at students (e.g., Brophy

and Alleman, 2008; Cuban, 1991). Instead of building

understandings in a robust learning environment, stu-

dents too oen spend their time simply trying to keep

track of all the ideas owing at them from their teach-

ers and their textbooks.

is research, like the ndings from the NAEP assess-

ments, paints a remarkably consistent portrait of the

consequences of such eorts: students learn too little.

ey develop precious few deep understandings of what

they are called upon to learn in social studies.

We also know from other research that what students

do retain from their studies is oen wildly distorted

and riddled with all manner of naïve conceptions about

the past and the way the sociocultural world works (e.g.,

Frisch, 1989; Wineburg, Mosberg, Porat, and Duncan,

2007). ey are also alienated by the social studies

experience they receive in school, which is particularly

the case among students of color (e.g., Epstein, 2009).

Students are asked to be good consumers of other

people’s knowledge and ideas, but they rarely get a

chance to build their own deeper understandings, to

learn to give up their naïve ideas, and to construct more

powerful forms of knowledge. e outcome shows us

that little change in learning can be wrested from doing

more of the same.

A growing body of research on how students learn

school subjects such as social studies repeatedly teaches

us that students need opportunities to ask questions,

pursue answers to those questions under the tutelage of

expert teachers who can show them how to discipline

their thinking processes, and take part in opportunities

to communicate and act on their understandings

(Torney-Purta, Hahn, and Amadeo, 2001). Much of this

work is cited in this Appendix, as it forms the basis for

the scholarly rationale for the C3 Framework.

e C3 Framework signals a signicant departure from

past practices because it seeks to take advantage of this

research and address the messages sent by NAEP tests.

e Framework’s four Dimensions build directly from

the ndings laid out in research on how students learn;

they seek to redress the limits on learning repeatedly

noted by NAEP tests. In what follows, we identify how

this research supports and underpins the fundamen-

tal shi in direction and practice the C3 Framework

embodies. If we are serious about wanting students who

are civic-minded and adequately prepared for both col-

lege and careers, we can no longer ignore the prospect

of making good on this new direction.

The Importance of Questions

Children and adolescents are naturally curious, and

they are especially curious about the complex and mul-

tifaceted world they inhabit. Whether they articulate

them to adults or not, they harbor an almost bottomless

well of questions about how to understand that world.

Sometimes children’s and adolescents’ silence around

the questions in their heads leads adults to assume that

they are empty vessels waiting passively for adults to ll

them with their knowledge. is assumption could not

be more mistaken.

Children’s and adolescents’ curiosity is deeply rooted

in an unceasing desire to make sense of what goes on

around them—through their language development; in

their social interactions with parents, siblings, friends,

and community members; and through what they see

on television, in the movie theater, on YouTube, or on

the Internet. Perhaps little signals the intensity of this

socio-cultural curiosity so much as the wild popularity

of social networking sites such as Facebook.

So what should a sound social studies education en-

tail? e C3 Framework provides a plan that is deeply

rooted in recent research on thinking, learning, and

understanding.

For the reasons outlined above, a social studies educa-

tion must begin with the kinds of compelling questions

Appendices • 83

and investigations described in Dimension 1. Young

students will need help in framing useful questions

and planning their inquiries, but even the youngest

children want to make sense of the social and cultur-

al environments around them (Brophy and Alleman,

2008). For example, students want to know what to

make of the geographical spaces they inhabit whether

their local community lies on the banks of a large river,

on the high plain where the wind blows constantly, or

in the shadows of snow-covered mountains. ey are

curious about the “olden days” Grandma always talks

about. ey wonder how money works as a means of

purchasing things at stores. And they are fascinated by

questions of who gets to make rules and whether those

rules are fair. As they develop, and with the guidance

of adults and peers, these questions give way to more

sophisticated variants (Hess, 2008; Rogo, 1994).

For too many years, however, a social studies education

has meant a didactic, unidirectional process. Teachers

have tried to instill ideas directly from adults’ social

worlds into children’s minds on the assumption that, if

there was enough telling, imploring, and demanding

done, children would acquire those discipline-relat-

ed ideas (Brophy and Alleman, 2008; Cuban, 1991).

Researchers who have studied how children learn

repeatedly conrm that young people learn by framing

their own questions, with or without adult help (Bruner,

1960, 1996; Piaget, 1929/2007; Vosniadou, 2008;

Vygotsky, 1986). Young people also construct their own

problem-solving strategies, again with or without adult

assistance. ose questions and problem-solving strat-

egies, and the conclusions that young people reach, can

remain naïve, ill-structured, undisciplined, and mis-

leading without intervention by adults (Barton, 2008;

Brophy and Alleman, 2006; Hahn and Alviar-Martin,

2008; Hicks, van Hover, Doolittle, and VanFossen, 2012;

Miller and VanFossen, 2008; Segall and Helfenbein,

2008; VanSledright and Limon, 2006).

Challenging those nascent and oen ill-formed ques-

tions, strategies, and conclusions can be very dicult,

particularly if teachers are unaware of them. Young

children, for example, oen persist in the idea that

banks exist only to give people money (Berti, 1995). It is

not an unreasonable conclusion: they watch as parents

get money from a bank’s ATM simply by inserting a

plastic card and punching a key or two. is process

of “banks giving people money on command” answers

the child’s crucial economic question—where does

money come from? Similarly, some young people insist

on believing that developments in the past add together

in such a way as to indicate a steady, if overgeneral-

ized, march forward; this is reected in the notion that

things always and only get better (Barton, 1996; Brophy

and VanSledright, 1997). is perspective helps chil-

dren tell a story about why Grandpa is always talking

about how lucky kids are today, or why Mom tells them

about the childhood diseases she endured that they will

not.

Children and adolescents are not empty vessels into

which we pour our adult ideas and knowledge. Decades

of research on how young people learn have repeat-

edly reinforced the view of students as active sense

makers, who rely heavily on language to mediate their

worlds and who are deeply enmeshed in investigating

their social worlds in search of better ways to navi-

gate it (Brophy, 1990; Bruner, 1996; Cole, 1995; Piaget,

1929/2007; Vygotsky, 1986).

Questions as Problem-Solving Spaces

e C3 Framework begins at the intersection of student

and discipline-based questions, those that concern the

socio-cultural worlds that human beings have long

desired to understand (Dimension 1). Many of those

questions are discipline-specic, but others transcend

individual disciplinary categories and are multidimen-

sional in nature. For example, consider the question,

how bad was the economic recession that began in

2007?

At rst glance, this question seems to fall squarely

within the discipline of economics. It demarcates a

clear economic problem space—the period of recent

economic struggle that saw incomes freeze or decline,

unemployment increase, and capital markets contract.

At the same time, it implies a set of supporting ques-

tions around spatial proportion: was the impact of this

recession felt equally across the country? Or were cer-

tain geographic regions less severely aected and, if so,

which ones and why? It also suggests additional ques-

tions involving history, politics and government. To ask

how bad this recession is, we need to have some sort of

historical reference point, such as the Great Depression,

from which to gauge its impact. And we need to know

84 • C3 Framework

what role government and political decision making

played in its inception, duration, and resolution.

A compelling question, then, demands that students

think and reason economically, geographically, histor-

ically, and politically (Dimension 2) in order to fully

address the issue. Along with the behavioral and social

sciences, these disciplinary lenses help students think

broadly; separately, these lenses enable students to set

up and pursue their investigations in dierent ways.

Investigative Practices and Problem-

Solving Strategies

To ask questions implies the desire to answer them.

Learning to investigate questions through the

thinking and problem-solving strategies oered by

the disciplines results in deeper understandings of

the socio-cultural phenomena being investigated

(Brophy, 1990; Donovan and Bransford, 2005). Doing

so requires practicing those strategies until students

become skilled and achieve automaticity.2 Researchers

have found that learning new ways of thinking can be

slow because students oen are reluctant to give up

intuitive but naïve ideas that seem to work for them

(e.g., Brophy, 1990; Piaget, 1929/2007). Persistence and

repeated opportunities for students to practice dier-

ent ways of thinking become the pedagogical order of

the day.

So, what does thinking in the dierent disciplines look

like? What do the experts do and how do school-aged

students learn to accomplish it by comparison? What

sorts of changes in thinking practices do learners need

to undertake in order to become more knowledgeable

about and procient at understanding the world?

What follows is a brief review of the last ve decades of

research on these questions.

Economic Thinking

Economic investigators are interested in the compari-

son of marginal costs and marginal benets to allocate

resources in a manner that maximizes well-being.

Although not all economic investigators share the same

assumptions about how markets and economies work,

they typically believe that economic actors—individ-

uals and/or organizations such as corporations—are

rational beings or entities focused on satisfying their

own self-interests. Because economic investigators are

interested in marketplace activity, patterns become

deeply important. erefore, the language of numbers

plays a decisive role in the ways in which they conduct

their investigations.

To understand the depth of the recent recession, for

example, economic investigators gather data about un-

employment patterns; corporate assets, liabilities, and

the changing patterns between them; government mon-

etary and scal policy roles; and the like. Investigators

use the patterns they glean from such data to assess

the depths of up-and-down turns in the economy, to

evaluate current states, to predict likely directions, and

to oer recommendations. e ways that economic

investigators employ economic models and gather data

that oer evidence in support of those models provide

justication for their explanations and claims of under-

standing (Miller and VanFossen, 1994).

Such practices, if engaged in well, require a form of

economic literacy that depends on understanding and

employing key concepts such as supply and demand,

market liquidity, business cycles, labor practices, con-

sumption, trade policies, and economic eciencies

(Dahl, 1998; Greenspan, 2005; Morton, 2005; Saunders

and Gilliard, 1995; Council for Economic Education,

2010). at literacy also entails the application of theo-

ries that describe the interconnections among concepts

and how they play out within economic structures.

ese theories or models of economic activity (and they

can vary based on assumptions) allow investigators to

attempt predictive solutions for economic problems

(Miller and VanFossen, 1994).

Children, however, draw from simple everyday experi-

ences to shape their views of how economies work, and

those everyday ideas, while seeming to make intuitive

sense, are decidedly naive (Berti, 1995; Berti and Bombi,

2 Automaticity is a term that means exercising a complex, problem-

solving, cognitive operation without needing to devote conscious

energy to thinking through its speciﬁc requirements and processes. An

example from history might involve being able to read, analyze, and

synthesize a cluster of difﬁcult and conﬂicting accounts on the way to

arriving at a defensible, evidence-based interpretation/understanding,

all without much apparent effort. Automaticity in some disciplinary

operations can take years to build. It is sometimes characterized as

a hallmark of cognitive, problem-solving expertise. It is certainly a

symbol of competence and proﬁciency.

Appendices • 85

1988; Laney, 2001). Children frequently harbor a variety

of ill-structured and incomplete economic ideas, such

as the dierence between buying and renting (Brophy

and Alleman, 2006), the size of a price tag determining

how much a good costs, and that pieces of property are

owned by the people who live around them (Laney and

Schug, 1998).

ese sorts of ideas held by children (and even some

adolescents) signicantly limit their capability to think

economically and solve economic problems (Miller and

VanFossen, 2008). As Alice Rivlin (1999) once observed,

“without a basic understanding of how the economy

works, what the…terms and concepts are, the average

citizen is likely to be le out of any conversation…about

what is happening in the economy and what to do about

it.”

If students are to address a compelling question such

as measuring the impact of the recent recession, they

need opportunities to engage in investigations of such

economic questions (Dimension 1), use economic

reasoning and problem-solving strategies (Dimension

2), gather data that address those questions (Dimension

3), and do all of this collaboratively inside and outside

the classroom context (Dimension 4). By engaging in

this process, students can become more economically

literate—able to use key economic concepts and da-

ta-gathering and analytic tools to solve problems. Doing

so requires the educational assistance of knowledgeable

social studies teachers, who know how to construct and

conduct such investigations, and within them, shape

naïve ideas into more sophisticated ones.

Geographic Thinking

Geographic inquiry focuses attention on place and

space and seeks to understand why humans deal with

them in ways that they do and with what consequences.

Whereas to economists the recent recession is about

causes, eects, and solutions to slowing economic activ-

ity, to geographic investigators it is about understanding

and representing the spatial expressions of the events.

Maps and other graphics showing changes in spatial

patterns of human and physical environments pro-

vide a geographic language that aids in analyzing and

understanding issues while stimulating new questions

to investigate.

To investigate the causes and consequences of economic

and political events, geographers ask questions about

the changing landscape of human activity—who was

aected, where, and how? For example, did the recent

global recession cause observable population shis,

changes in landscape uses, or spatial re-patterning

of human activity across the United States and other

countries? To answer such questions requires prob-

lem-solving strategies that entail spatial thinking, data

gathering, and spatial analysis using geospatial data,

maps, and other graphics.

Research on geographic thinking suggests that chil-

dren learn how to navigate spatial relationships early

on. Even very young children develop mental maps

of environments they experience and can manage to

work with simple directional maps (Bednarz, Acheson,

and Bednarz, 2010; Blades and Spencer, 1987) and they

become somewhat adept at using map symbol systems

(Boardman, 1989). However, children may persist in

some naive understandings they initially develop such

as consistently misreading adult mapmakers’ represen-

tations of city populations by the use of dierent sizes of

map dots.

Other map symbols are also misunderstood without

opportunities to investigate how they can be used to

convey spatial ideas (Bednarz et al., 2010; Hickey and

Bein, 1996; Liben and Downs, 1989). ese misunder-

standings may arise repeatedly because the everyday

understandings children develop early on make good

intuitive sense to them. Geographic investigations that

involve more advanced forms of spatial reasoning help

learners reconstruct their misleading understandings

(Gregg, 1997). Simply telling children to change their

intuitive, but counter-productive spatial ideas does

little good. ey need opportunities in the presence of

knowledgeable others to engage in spatial-reasoning

investigations (e.g., drawing and describing their own

mental maps and making map representations based

on data collected or personal eld observations) in

which they confront cognitive impasses created by their

naive everyday ideas. is kind of activity gives them

a chance to restructure what they believe and know in

more productive ways.

Changes in geospatial technologies have extended and

amplied the reach and importance of the applications

86 • C3 Framework

of geographic knowledge, skills and perspectives.

Learning to employ technologies such as GIS and

Google Earth during their inquiries can serve ably in

providing students with opportunities to restructure

their knowledge, gain new skills, and change their per-

spectives. Students may engage in this process individu-

ally or collectively and collaboratively with the assis-

tance and guidance of the more knowledgeable teacher.

Geographic thinking entails representing complex

ideas about place. In many respects, places are created

through human activity as people adapt to and mod-

ify the spaces they occupy. Ways of representing such

activities are nearly always laden with the personal and

cultural perspectives of the representers (Harley, 1994;

Segall and Helfenbein, 2008). Without considerable

prompting, students typically do not think much about

who created the maps (i.e., cartographers), preferring

instead to imagine that maps come ready-made and

are thus always accurate. Yet, the sorts of political and

socio-cultural distortions that may creep into such

representations and into geographic narratives are

crucial for students to understand if they are to achieve

the type of geographic literacy and capable thinking re-

quired of citizens in democracies (Bednarz et al., 2010).

How we come to understand and represent our global

and interconnected world has important consequences

for our lives (Segall and Helfenbein, 2008).

If investigating and understanding how people make

economic choices, and with what consequences, helps

us better make sense of who we are and why we do what

we do, then investigating how we come to know and

represent the world through geographic reasoning and

tools helps us understand even more fully who we are

and how we adapt to and modify a changing world. If

taught in the research-based way the C3 Framework

suggests, economic and geographic understandings will

become less parochial and provincial as learners devel-

op into more sophisticated and incisive thinkers.

For a comprehensive review of geography education re-

search studies that examine how geographic knowledge,

skills, and practices develop across diverse individuals,

in a variety of settings, and over time, see Bednarz,

Heron, and Huynh (2013).

Historical Thinking

In eect, posing historical questions involves asking

what the past means, what people in the past were

thinking and talking about, and how that thinking and

language caused them to behave in the ways they did

(Collingwood, 1946/1993). Expert historical investi-

gators rely on residue from the past—both original

accounts and testimonials and synthetic sources

constructed by previous investigators—to address those

questions. ese sources demand extensive reading, de-

ned very broadly to include texts, cartoons, paintings,

maps, charts, photographs, and the like.

In order to address their questions and develop deeper

understandings of how people acted in the past, histori-

ans read in particular ways (Lee, 2005; Wineburg, 2001).

is way of reading is a type of thinking that involves

strategies and skills, ones that lead to historical under-

standing. If we wish our students to ask more profound

questions of the past as well as construct deeper un-

derstandings of it, we need to teach them to think and

reason in the ways demonstrated by those with greater

expertise (VanSledright, 2011).

Historical questions, then, demand that students search

out relevant accounts; identify what types of accounts

they are; attribute them to authors; assess the authors’

perspectives, language, motives, and agendas; and judge

the reliability of those texts for addressing the questions

posed (VanSledright and Aerbach, 2005; Wineburg,

2001). ey also do whatever they can to read these

authors slowly, closely, and within the historical con-

text of the period in which they lived (Reisman, 2012;

Wineburg, 2001). Students then convert those accounts

into forms of evidence for making claims about what

occurred and why (Lee, 2005; Lee and Shemilt, 2003).

ese claims are justied through a process of evidence

corroboration in which the way the evidence prepon-

derates or comes together supports certain claims over

others. Collectively, the evidence-justied claims serve

as a form of historical understanding.

In history, there is oen a dispute over what the past

means. Investigators wrestle over what counts as justi-

ed understandings because evidence can sometimes

be applied to make multiple and dierent claims. It will

come as no surprise, then, that students investigating

the recent recession may arrive at varied conclusions.

Appendices • 87

For better or worse, historical reading and thinking,

and the specic strategies they require, seldom pro-

vide a single, denitive answer to the questions posed.

Children and adolescents can come to make sense of

this problem, since most of them have undergone expe-

riences in which diering perspectives (e.g., she said/he

said during a playground spat) prevented closure on a

given issue.

Young people, the research studies suggest, do not nec-

essarily come to these forms of historical reading and

thinking on their own (Donovan and Bransford, 2005;

Levstik and Barton, 1997; VanSledright and Brophy,

1992; Wineburg, 2001). eir naïve, everyday ideas

formed through lived experience tend to interfere with

richer understandings (Lee, 2005).

For example, children learn early on about the dier-

ence between telling the truth and telling a lie, since

uttering the latter is oen met with punishment. ey

quickly develop the idea that people can engage in only

these two dichotomous possibilities, and they bring this

social understanding to the social studies classroom.

When reading accounts about events during the

American Revolution—for example, one by a British

soldier and a contradictory one by a colonial min-

uteman concerning who was at fault during a bloody

skirmish, children (and even some adolescents) insist

that one or the other must be lying. In a complex world,

this dichotomous thinking can arrest understanding

because it becomes dicult to determine which is

which without corroborating evidence. Moreover, the

notion of diering (and oen conicting) perspectives

oers a more useful idea in that it helps explain why

historical actors may have interpreted what appears to

be the same situation in vastly dierent ways (Lee, 2005;

VanSledright, 2011; Wineburg, 2001). Helping students

achieve such understandings can take a number of

dierent forms. Classroom discussions of emerging un-

derstandings based on analyses of sources and the evi-

dence they produce can be crucial (Hess, 2009). Writing

is also critical: recent studies have demonstrated that

students who write about their historical understand-

ings and are coached on how to gradually build sound

evidence-based arguments, demonstrate a deeper grasp

of how to address the questions posed (Monte-Sano,

2008; Monte-Sano, 2011).

is is but one additional example that explains why the

C3 Framework stresses the Inquiry Arc of developing

questions; applying disciplinary concepts; gathering

sources and using evidence; and working collaborative-

ly to develop conclusions and take action. Learning to

think historically (or economically, or geographically,

or politically) helps children and adolescents let go of

some of their less-productive ideas and develop richer

ones that aid in their understandings of the social and

cultural world (Donovan and Bransford, 2005).

Civic-Minded Thinking

If economic investigators primarily explore questions

about how resources move to produce goods and ser-

vices and how, in turn, those products ow to consum-

ers, investigators who study politics and government

primarily examine questions about how power ows.

ey are interested in understanding the political and

civic actions of individuals and organizations and how

they inuence one another (Budano, 2012). Returning

to the question about the recent recession, civic-minded

investigators would trace how people’s political behav-

ior (e.g., voting practices, campaign donations) shapes

the policies of elected ocials in government and/or the

converse. ose investigations would produce data that

could be used to identify the role dierent policies (e.g.,

federal and local taxation, scal and monetary, discre-

tionary and entitlement spending), or the lack thereof,

play in creating a growth-recession cycle.

Analyzing how bad the recession was might be gauged

by investigators of the civil polity through surveys of

people’s attitudes toward governmental organizations

during this recession compared to other recessions, and

how citizens deliberated about it and responded in the

voting booth. ese investigators might also survey the

movement and ecacy of repair policies (e.g., stimulus

packages, bail outs) through governmental organiza-

tions. Policy developments, their sources, and conse-

quences as exercises in power shape the vocabulary of

politics and government investigators. eir eorts

are animated by asking questions about how power

ows through cultures, resulting in policies and laws

that regulate how citizens interact to solve dilemmas

and conicts between and among dierent interests.

ese investigators borrow a number of concepts and

models from economists and historians. Because their

questions focus on dierent kinds of problems (e.g., the

88 • C3 Framework

nature of civic behavior, or the eects of government

policies), they use the concepts and models dierently

in order to address those problems.

Young social studies students typically have rather lim-

ited understandings of the internal workings of politics

and civic behavior, both among individuals and within

and across governmental bodies. ey learn about

voting as a decision-making strategy and can engage

in simple forms of it, but they can have quite naïve

understandings about it and they oen overgeneralize

the circumstances in which it can be applied (e.g., that

all decisions should be subjected to a vote). Students of

all ages are very curious about how decisions get made,

and show interest in participating.

Early on, children rely heavily on their families for ideas

about civic participation and how it works (Hess and

Torney, 1967/2009). In order to learn how to participate

eectively within deliberative and policymaking con-

texts, students need considerable guidance and contin-

ual practice in order to modify their naïve political and

civic ideas. Students who are encouraged to ask ques-

tions, debate alternative actions, and gather evidence

about the likely consequences of choosing one direction

over others are typically less cynical than peers who do

not have those experiences (Haas, 2004; Torney-Purta,

Hahn, and Amadeo, 2001). Opportunities to engage in

service-learning experiences also help prepare students

for their adult responsibilities in participatory demo-

cratic cultures (Hahn and Alviar-Martin, 2008; Hess

and Torney, 1967/2009; Kahne and Sporte, 2008; Metz

and Youniss, 2005; Parker, 2008).

Evidence as Understanding

If one goal of education is to improve students’ deci-

sion-making judgment and to prepare them for college,

careers, and civic life, there is no substitute for deep

knowledge and understanding of the socio-cultural

world oered through the four forms of disciplinary

thinking described above. Along with the behavioral

and social sciences, each oers powerful strategies

and tools for exploring and answering compelling and

supporting questions. In their dierent ways, they pro-

vide time-honored means of turning source data into

evidence for the conclusions one reaches (Dimension 3).

One of the central principles in the C3 Framework rests

on the concept of evidence. Anyone can ask a question

about the social world and come to some answer or

another, no matter how wildly speculative or opinionat-

ed. Human minds have great capacity for imagination.

A wildly speculative answer or an imaginative conjec-

ture, however, is not the same thing as understanding.

Understanding is achieved by the careful investigation

of questions, data collection, reading, analysis, and

synthesis; in eect, data are transformed into evi-

dence-based claims that separate opinions and conjec-

ture from justiable understandings.

In a digital world lled with fact and speculation,

that dierence is a crucial contribution social studies

teachers who follow the C3 Framework can oer to

their students. is claim is no more evident than in

the research done on teaching and learning in history

education (see reviews by Barton, 2008; Grant, 2006;

Lee, 2005; VanSledright and Limon, 2006; Voss, 1998;

Wineburg, 2001).

In our rapidly-changing world where ideas, informa-

tion, and opinions are but mouse-clicks away, students

more than ever need to learn how to keep learning in

order to cultivate sound understandings (Lee, 2010). As

a result, they need a deep well of powerful and disci-

plined strategies for answering their questions and for

gathering data that can be evaluated and transformed

into evidence for justiable decisions.

e days are long past when it was sucient to compel

students to memorize other people’s ideas and to hope

that they would act on what they had memorized. If 20

years of National Assessment of Educational Progress

report cards on youth civic, economic, geographical,

and historical understanding mean anything, they re-

peatedly tell us that the success of that telling-and-com-

pelling eort no longer works in the 21st century, if it

ever did (Smith and Niemi, 2001).

Working Collaboratively to Show

Understanding

e research on how people learn makes clear how

important collaborations are to deeper understand-

ing (Brown and Campione, 2002; Brown, Collins, and

Duguid, 1998; Palinscar, 1998). Businesses in Silicon

Valley, for example, picked up on this idea long ago:

Appendices • 89

collaborative developmental teams designed the means

of bringing the Internet to people in ways reminiscent

of early 20th century eorts toward mass electrication.

Researchers have long stressed the insights John Dewey

(1902) oered about how important our shared language

and vocabularies are to thinking and problem solving

(Bruner, 1960; Rogo, 1994 Vygotsky, 1986). In short,

much of our best thinking occurs when we build and

express ideas in collaborative settings (Dimension 4).

Teachers work to bridge student experience-based ques-

tions with disciplinary ones. Collaborative inquiries de-

signed to address those questions are then launched in

classrooms. Teachers act as guides, facilitators, and dis-

ciplinary ambassadors. Students are, however, engaged

in the actual investigative work (for detailed examples

of how this can play out in history classrooms, see Bain

[2000] at the secondary level and VanSledright [2002] at

the elementary level). Working together, students learn

how to think more clearly and powerfully by employing

disciplinary knowledge and methods. In doing so, they

transform data they gather into evidence for the conclu-

sions—explanations and arguments—they reach.

ese explanations and arguments need to be com-

municated, for it is in this communication practice

that teachers obtain evidence of growth in students’

understandings (or the lack thereof). e process can

take many collaborative forms. Students can read, an-

alyze, and discuss data sources and accounts together;

design websites or wikis; create digital documentary

presentations; discuss and debate claims orally in the

classroom; and engage in writing collective essays (Hess,

2002; Klingner, Vaughn, and Schumm, 1998; Soller,

2001; Monte-Sano, 2008; Swan and Hofer, 2008; Swan

and Hofer, 2013). It is here, in particular, that the C3

Framework dovetails closely with the types of com-

munication practices expected of students within the

Common Core State Standards for English Language

Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies.

e aforementioned research speaks compellingly:

While it is important for students to demonstrate their

individual progress, they make more rapid progress

in building their social studies understandings when

working together.

Furthermore, collaborative opportunities to inquire

into and then communicate understandings support

students’ informed civic engagement, a principal goal of

a rich social studies education. Researchers have found

that (a) investigating how governments operate, (b)

engaging in opportunities to discuss and debate current

social problems and issues, (c) being involved in ser-

vice-learning and related activities, (d) participating in

high-impact decision-making, and (e) participating in

simulations of politically related activities all increase

the likelihood of students attaining higher levels of

political understanding, commitment, and action (Hess,

2002; Torney-Purta, 2005). As the Inquiry Arc of the C3

Framework culminates in Dimension 4, so too does the

preparation for student success in college, career, and

civic life.

Progressions in Socio-Cultural

Understanding

e C3 Framework is organized by grade bands because

researchers have long demonstrated that disciplinary

ideas and understandings show progression in their

development (Piaget, 1929/2007; Vygotsky, 1986). Some

of the early work suggested that progression tended

to form in lock step. at is, children and adolescents

needed to attain a certain cluster of understandings

before they could move to the next stage. is set of

claims has given way to the idea that progression can be

bumpy and uneven, and that children and adolescents

may move back and forth across developmental levels.

erefore, students need repeated opportunities to work

in investigative contexts with disciplinary concepts,

strategies, and ideas (Lee and Ashby, 2000; Ashby, Lee,

and Shemilt, 2005; VanSledright, 2002).

Students’ capability to ask rich questions within disci-

plinary-based inquiries grows rather slowly. ey need

considerable guidance from more knowledgeable adults

and peers in asking the meaty questions that prompt

the development of deeper socio-cultural understand-

ings useful to adults in democracies. is is not to say

that the questions students ask are irrelevant. Rather,

teachers will nd the task of assisting their students in

constructing questions and developing inquiries more

challenging than, say, teaching students to consider

an author’s perspectives when reading a history text

(Reisman, 2012).

90 • C3 Framework

Student progress can also be uneven in using evidence

to draw conclusions (VanSledright, 2002; Wineburg,

2001). Researchers nd that even some college students

think that unsupported opinions are sucient to claim

understanding, and they can struggle to distinguish

them from evidence-backed arguments (Maggioni,

2010; Maggioni, VanSledright, and Reddy, 2009; Seixas,

1993). Helping students make better distinctions and

build criteria for judging the dierence takes time and

demands multiple opportunities to practice.

What then can social studies teachers reasonably expect

as students progress through the social studies pro-

gram? As the foregoing implies, researchers suggest

that they will see relatively slow growth in children’s

and adolescents’ disciplinary thinking and understand-

ing. is nding makes sense. Because children’s early

learning experiences so oen result in tightly-held

intuitive, but oen naïve understandings, children

nd those understandings dicult to give up and/or

reconstruct.

It is just this kind of research nding that undergirds

the importance of helping students develop questions

and inquiries into the world. Merely telling students

how the economy works or what the past means

requires that they accept the teacher’s word on faith.

Researchers make it clear that this approach is insuf-

cient. Students need repeated opportunities to prac-

tice asking questions, investigating phenomena, and

gathering the necessary evidence if they are to progress

in building explanations and arguments that illustrate

their knowledge and understandings.

Furthermore, it is important to understand that stu-

dents are quite capable of thinking in the ways that the

Inquiry Arc indicates. e research base here is pointed:

students are more than able to think deeply and richly

about the world around them. ey simply grow at

dierent rates and need many and varied opportunities

to engage with ideas (Donovan and Bransford, 2005). It

is important to hold high, but reachable expectations

for student learning progressions. Grade banding plus

repetition is a way to suggest how the repeated opportu-

nity to practice evolves across broad grade clusters.

Understanding as Civic Engagement

e C3 Framework and the embedded Inquiry Arc are

underpinned by decades of research on how children

and adolescents learn about and operate in the world.

ey begin with those young people’s questions, inter-

sect them with the social studies disciplines, and broach

investigations into the world that are designed to

address those questions. is approach is not willy-nilly.

e research base demonstrates that the contributions

disciplinary thinking can make to deepen young peo-

ple’s understandings of the world are indeed profound.

ese disciplined ways of thinking are also ways of

learning. As such, they are crucial in preparing young

people for lives as engaged and active citizens. Now

more than ever, students need the intellectual power to

recognize societal problems; ask good questions and de-

velop robust investigations into them; consider possible

solutions and consequences; separate evidence-based

claims from parochial opinions; and communicate and

act upon what they learn. And most importantly, they

must possess the capability and commitment to repeat

that process as long as is necessary. Young people need

strong tools for, and methods of, clear and disciplined

thinking in order to traverse successfully the worlds of

college, career, and civic life. e research that un-

derpins the C3 Framework oers much to move our

children precisely in that direction.

Appendices • 91

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References • 95

GLOSSARY

KEY TERMS IN THE C3 FRAMEWORK

e College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards sets forth learning

expectations and an inquiry arc that will be useful in guiding the development of state and local social

studies standards and curriculum documents. is glossary denes and provides examples of key

concepts and terms used in the C3 Framework. e examples are illustrative but are not exhaustive.

Adapt to an environment: People adapt to the opportunities and

constraints of their environment, making relevant decisions based on

their state of knowledge and technology.

Example: People settle in regions that provide resources needed for

daily living. Settlement location choices are inuenced by various

factors, including climate and changes in technology. One example

is the inuence of air conditioning systems on where people choose

to live.

Argument (coherent, reasoned): In the C3 Framework, an argu-

ment is a claim or collection of claims supported by relevant evidence,

which can be considered an answer to the question investigated by the

research. In historical research, a coherent argument is one in which

the evidence cited supports the claim; a reasoned argument is one in

which the evidence is used in a logical and critical way.

Example: In Freedom From Fear: e American People in Depres-

sion and War, 1929-1945, the historian David Kennedy develops the

reasoned argument that U.S. isolation from the principal theaters

of battle and the nation’s superior economic ability allowed it to

emerge successfully from World War II.

Authority (authoritative source): e legitimate power to

inuence or compel thoughts and actions. An authoritative source is a

source acknowledged to be an accurate and reliable basis for identify-

ing facts and constructing interpretations.

Example: e United States Constitution is an authoritative source

on the structure of federal government in the United States.

Banks: Businesses that accept deposits and make loans.

Example: Family members or neighbors probably have checking

or saving accounts at banks in the community. ey deposit their

money in these accounts to keep it safe. Banks oer ease of use

through ATM cards, debit cards, and checks. Banks oen pay inter-

est on the money in these accounts. Banks use the deposits to make

loans to other customers. Students may know friends or family who

have obtained a loan from a bank to buy a house or a car.

Barriers to trade: Laws that limit imports or place taxes on

imported goods and services in order to discourage imports and pro-

tect domestic prots and jobs.

Example: A tari is a tax on imports that results in fewer imports

being purchased. One consequence is that more domestic substi-

tutes will likely be consumed.

Beneﬁts: e gains from consuming and producing goods and ser-

vices and making personal, business, and public choices. Benets may

be nancial, or they may consist of other types of satisfaction.

Example: e purchase of a new bicycle results in increased satisfac-

tion and enjoyment.

Borrowing: Taking money with a promise to repay the money in the

future.

Example: Perhaps a brother, sister, or parent has borrowed money

from a student and later repaid the money. Maybe a student has bor-

rowed money from a brother, sister, friend, or parent. In commercial

lending, the promise to repay includes the amount borrowed plus

some interest—a payment for using the borrowed money.

Capital goods: Goods that have been produced and are used over

and over again in the production process to produce other goods and

services. Capital goods can also be called capital resources or physical

capital.

Example: Tools, equipment, factories, oce buildings, machines,

desks in schools, interactive whiteboards, computers, and projectors

are all examples of capital goods.

Causes and effects (probable, multiple, complex, unex-

pected): No historical event or development occurs in a vacuum;

every one has prior conditions, and every one has consequences. His-

torians cannot test these in laboratories the way scientists can, but they

can use historical evidence and reasoning to determine probable causes

and eects. Events and processes oen result from developments in

many realms of life, including the social, political, economic, and

cultural realms, and may have consequences that are broad, intercon-

nected, and far-reaching, so that causes and eects are multiple and

complex. e outcome of any historical event may not be what those

who engaged in it intended or predicted, so that chains of cause and

eect in the past have oen been unexpected, not pre-determined.

Example of probable causes: Probable causes of the voyages of

Columbus include Columbus’s desire to reach the riches of Asia by

sailing westward and the aims of the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand

and Isabella to continue the expansion of Christianity, as well as

other reasons listed as multiple causes below.

Example of multiple causes: Multiple causes of the voyages of

Columbus include Columbus’s personal ambition and desire to

reach the riches of Asia by sailing westward; the aims of the Spanish

96 • C3 Framework

monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella to compete with Portugal in the

race for direct access to spices and to continue the expansion of

Christianity; the expansion of the Ottoman Empire that disrupted

old trade routes and lessened the direct access of Western Euro-

peans to silk, spices, and other Asian products; improvements in

ship designs, including the adoption of new kinds of sails; and the

development of the printing press, which allowed works by earlier

geographers and travelers to be cheap and accessible to ship captains

and merchants. Other factors also played a role, because no single

cause led to Columbus’s voyages.

Example of complex eects: Complex eects of the voyages of

Columbus include all the developments that resulted from them,

which have inuenced nearly every aspect of today’s globalized

world.

Example of unexpected eects: e voyages of Columbus resulted

in the widespread exchange of animals, plants, human popula-

tions, and diseases across the Atlantic in both directions, including

corn, wheat, potatoes, tomatoes, coee, cows, horses, turkeys,

measles, and smallpox. Many results of the Columbian Exchange

were unexpected eects, and some of the exchange was completely

unintentional, such as the movement of invasive plant species that

became pests.

Change and Continuity: e study of the past shows that some ele-

ments remained continuous or steady, while others changed. inking

about change and continuity requires us to compare dierent points in

time—either two points in time from the past with each other, or one

from the past with the present. Sometimes the factors that change and

those that stay the same are surprising or hidden. Change may bring

progress, but it can also result in decline.

Example: e advent of electricity and household technology

brought major changes to family life in the United States, but there

were continuities as well. Doing laundry was much easier and less

physically strenuous with washing machines, but laundry remained

a household task that was almost always done by women, and the

amount of clothing most people owned increased, so that the time

taken to do laundry did not decrease signicantly.

Choice: A decision made between two or more possibilities or alter-

natives.

Example: People make choices every day. ey choose what to wear,

what to eat, and what to do in their free time.

Chronological sequence: A list of historical events organized

by the time and date of their occurrence. Ordering events in time is

important to identifying relationships between events and historical

context, and to understanding the development of processes across

time in order not to view events in isolation.

Example: A chronological sequence of major events in African

American history is: the 14

Amendment, Reconstruction, Jim

Crow laws, rise of the Ku Klux Klan, World War II, and the Mont-

gomery Bus Boycott.

Civic virtues: Principles and traits of character that enable citizens

to contribute to the common good by engaging in political and civil

society.

Example: Tolerance, adherence to law, opposition to tyranny, stand-

ing up for others’ rights, and active participation in the community

are civic virtues.

Civil society: e entire array of nongovernmental groups, associ-

ations, and institutions that citizens form and join, along with norms

and values that underlie participation, such as cooperation, trust, and

civility.

Example: e Parent Teachers Association in a school is part of civil

society.

Claims and counterclaims: In the C3 Framework, claims are state-

ments of belief or opinion rooted in factual knowledge and evidence

that result from the analysis of sources in an inquiry. Counterclaims

are statements that challenge or respond to claims, using evidence that

contradicts a claim.

Example: Some economists claim that central government banks

can eectively control economic growth by injecting capital into

nancial markets through buying and selling in bond markets. A

counterclaim suggests that such interventions prevent capital mar-

kets from functioning properly and thus slow economic growth.

Climate change: Long-term signicant variations in average weather

conditions on Earth, particularly in temperatures and precipitation,

that are caused by either natural or human induced processes.

Example: Alterations in the physical dynamics of Earth’s atmo-

sphere that aect the climate may result from natural phenomena,

such as extensive volcanic eruptions, or human practices, such as

burning fossil fuels.

Climate variability: Changes over time in patterns of weather and

climate either globally or in a specic region of the world.

Example: Precipitation and temperature may change for varying

times, resulting in dry and wet periods that inuence the timing of

planting and harvesting of food crops in specic regions aected.

Collective action: Activities undertaken by a group of people with a

shared interest in promoting or encouraging change or progress on an

issue about which members of the group agree.

Example: e Tea Party movement began as a collective action

to limit government expenditures and taxes, and to oppose the

expansion of the role of the federal government in areas such as

health care.

Communication network: A pattern of links among points and

pathways along which the movement and exchange of information

takes place.

Example: Cell phone towers are located at sites chosen to facilitate

the movement and reception of signals within areas served by the

system.

Comparative advantage: e ability to produce at a lower oppor-

tunity cost than another producer.

Example: A producer with a comparative advantage in the produc-

tion of wheat may have to give up less corn to produce wheat than

other producers.

Compelling question: Compelling questions address problems and

issues found in and across the academic disciplines that make up social

studies. ey require students to apply disciplinary concepts and to

construct arguments and interpretations. Compelling questions oen

emerge from the interests of students and their curiosity about how

things work, but they are also grounded in curriculum and content

with which students might have little experience.

Example: Was the American Revolution revolutionary?

Glossary • 97

Competition: e ability of businesses and individuals to enter a

market in an eort to compete to sell or buy a product. Competition

results in attempts by two or more individuals or organizations to

acquire the same goods, services, or productive and nancial resources,

or else to sell them. Consumers compete with other consumers for

goods and services. Producers compete with other producers for sales

to consumers.

Example: New cell phones are produced on a regular basis by a wide

variety of rms.

Complex causal reasoning: A type of logical thinking that

explains how multiple events, ideas, or activities contribute to one

another.

Example: An understanding of human migration patterns in

the world today requires complex causal reasoning that takes into

account local politics, economic factors, geographical conditions,

climate, and social and cultural inuences.

Context: e ideas, events, or related content that situate a concept,

event, person, or idea in a relevant time, place, or intellectual sphere.

Example: e theory of communism emerged in the context of

rapid industrialization and changing economic conditions in 19

century Western Europe.

Core principles (in U.S. founding documents): Fundamental

ideas and ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the

Constitution, and other early and inuential documents.

Example: Government by the consent of the governed, equality

under law, and freedom of the press are core principles in the found-

ing documents of the United States.

Correct sequence (linear or non-linear): e notion that a text

(written or multimodal) has a recognizable path for readers to follow.

ese paths may be linear, as are most written print texts, or non-linear,

as are most web-based texts with hyperlinks

Example: A conventional essay would likely have a linear reading

path. Websites that represent the same essay text on multiple web-

pages, and can be accessed in a variety of dierent sequences, would

be non-linear.

Corroborative value: e extent to which information from one

source that is used as evidence to support a claim supports information

from another source.

Example: Economic data oers corroborative value in support of

claims drawn from personal correspondence about the social impact

of the Great Migration of African Americans from Southern cities

and towns to Northern industrial areas in the early 20

century.

Costs: What an individual, business, organization, or government

gives up when a choice is made. Costs may be nancial or nonnancial.

Example: When a person decides to go to a movie, the cost of that

choice is what could have been done with the money spent and how

the time could have otherwise been used.

Credibility: e degree to which a source can be trusted or believed

to represent what it purports to represent. e concept of credibility

does not necessarily correspond to that of truth; a source can be credi-

ble and contain factual inaccuracies.

Example: e credibility of personal accounts of the Civil War bat-

tles from politicians in Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia,

is limited, in view of the fact that their accounts were second-hand.

Credit: e granting of money or something else of value in exchange

for a promise of future repayment.

Example: A bank or other nancial institution may give people

credit; that is, the bank or nancial institution gives people money

to buy cars or houses. e borrowers agree to repay the money

borrowed plus interest over the time of the loan.

Cultural characteristics: e specic ideas, belief systems, or

patterns of behavior that characterize a society or a culturally distinct

social group.

Example: Cultural characteristics are expressed in housing types,

food preferences, spatial patterns of settlements, and beliefs about

appropriate relationships between people and nature.

Cultural pattern: Culture may be manifested in repeated behavior

shown in social conventions, customs, and adherence to rules or habits

that are based on values and beliefs about the attributes of society and

nature.

Example: Cultural patterns may be seen in the tools and artifacts

produced in dierent societies or in food-growing techniques

shared among members of a group.

Cultural preference: A culturally-based preference for one thing

rather than available alternatives. e choice to engage in some

practices rather than others may be grounded in cultural habits or

may reect deeply-held cultural beliefs about appropriate behavior in

certain settings or situations.

Example: Choices of favored spectator sports vary from place to

place. Some regions have avid soccer fans, while others favor ice

hockey or baseball. Food preferences also vary widely from place to

place and may be based on religious beliefs, the history of available

foods, or health concerns. Cultural preferences may range from

seemingly trivial topics to issues of life-changing importance.

Culture: Culture is a human institution manifested in the learned

behavior of people, including their specic belief systems, language(s),

social relations, technologies, institutions, organizations, and systems

for using and developing resources.

Example: Various cultures emerged on Earth in dispersed locations

and within dierent environments. Long periods of isolation and

limited interaction contributed to cultural diversity and distinc-

tive habits and beliefs. Language-based communication is a clear

example of a learned behavior that inuences the development and

interactions of human groups.

Deﬂation: A general sustained downward movement of prices for

goods and services in an economy.

Example: e Japanese economy began to experience deation

during the 1990s. e United States experienced deation during

the Great Depression.

Deliberation: Discussing issues and making choices and judgments

in a group, with information and evidence, civility and respect, and

concern for fair procedures.

Example: e class deliberated and decided to conduct a service

project at the senior center.

Deliberative and democratic strategies: A way to accomplish a

goal that includes the input of those involved at all stages of the process.

Example: e United Nations seeks to utilize deliberative and demo-

cratic strategies to address global issues.

98 • C3 Framework

Demand: e quantity of a good or service that buyers are willing

and able to buy at all possible prices during a certain time period. In

general, people are willing and able to buy more units of a good or

service at a lower price than they are at a higher price.

Example: Ellie opened a lemonade stand. She discovered that her

customers were willing and able to buy more cups of lemonade at

$.50 per cup than they would at $1.00 a cup.

Democratic principle: A principle that should guide the behavior

and values of institutions and citizens in a democracy.

Example: It is a democratic principle that everyone is equal before

the law.

Development: A historical event or set of events that is regarded as

signicant.

Example: e invention of the cotton gin was a development that

signicantly changed people’s lives.

Disincentive or negative incentive: Perceived costs that discour-

age certain behaviors.

Example: Detention or suspension are costs imposed on students to

deter behaviors such as skipping school or being disruptive. Fines for

speeding are disincentives designed to discourage reckless driving.

Economic globalization: An international economic system for the

production and exchange of goods and services that creates interde-

pendence among the economies of the world’s nations.

Example: Global trade in wheat and other grains uctuates accord-

ing to the predicted future supplies and actual reserves in grain

growing countries. Prices and availability are inuenced by climate

events, transportation costs, population size, and changing food

habits in various places.

Economic growth: A sustained rise over time in a nation’s produc-

tion of goods and services.

Example: e U.S. economy, as measured by real GDP, grew at an

average of slightly more than 3% per year over the 60 years from

1953 to 2012.

Economic Interdependence: e dependence of people who spe-

cialize in producing one particular good or service upon other people

or institutions to provide additional goods and services that they desire.

Example: A secondary social studies teacher specializes in pro-

ducing learning among secondary students and is dependent upon

others to provide clothing and food for her family.

Effects: See Causes and Eects.

Entrepreneurs: Individuals who are willing to take risks in order to

develop new products and start new businesses. ey recognize oppor-

tunities, enjoy working for themselves, and accept challenges.

Example: A person who opens a new restaurant, dry cleaning store,

or other business in the community is an entrepreneur. People who

have already started businesses, such as Bill Gates, are also entrepre-

neurs.

Entrepreneurship: A characteristic of people who assume the risk of

organizing productive resources to produce goods and services.

Example: People who own and operate local businesses in the com-

munity (e.g., auto body repair shops, or restaurants) demonstrate

entrepreneurship.

Environmental characteristics: Aspects of a place or area shaped

by Earth’s physical processes or derived from the physical environ-

ment.

Example: Across the Earth, there are variations in vegetative cover

related to climate conditions and dierences in landforms shaped by

processes of volcanism, glaciations, and erosion and deposition.

Environmental problem: Any threat to nature or to human beings’

dependence on nature.

Example: Acid rain is an environmental problem.

Event: An occasion, occurrence, or incident that takes place in the

past. Events can be of various lengths.

Example: Nat Turner’s rebellion was an event that took place in

1831, and is oen seen as one of the many events leading up to the

American Civil War, which is also a historical event.

Evidence: In the C3 Framework, evidence is information taken

during an analysis of a source that is then used to support a claim

made in response to an inquiry question.

Example: Temperature data might be used along with information

about the invention and implementation of air conditioning as evi-

dence to support a claim about urban development in the American

South.

Exchange: e trading of goods, services, and resources with people

for other goods, services, and resources, or for money.

Example: People exchange their human resource (labor) for

payment in the form of income (wages or salaries). In turn they

exchange part of their income with businesses to buy goods and

services. ey exchange part of their income in the form of taxes

and government fees for goods and services that the government

provides.

External beneﬁts: e benets of production or consumption that

are received by persons other than the producer or consumer of the

good or service.

Example: e benets of the increased quality of secondary educa-

tion are received by students. Others also benet from the students’

eventual higher production and taxes. e benets received by the

others are external benets.

External costs: Costs of production or consumption that are borne

by persons other than the producer or consumer of the good or service.

Example: A power plant produces electricity that it sells to its cus-

tomers. e process of production results in polluted air that causes

institutions and individuals other than customers to pay higher

health care costs. ose higher health care costs are external costs.

Fiscal policy: Policies that aect the level of government spending on

goods and services, taxes, and transfer payments.

Example: A government reduction in tax rates may encourage

people to increase spending and the amount of time they are willing

to work.

Freedom: e lack of coercion or limitation of a person’s thoughts or

actions; some denitions include the actual ability of an individual to

do what he or she wishes.

Example: In the United States, Freedom of speech is one of the Five

Freedoms in the First Amendment of the United States Constitu-

tion. In his Four Freedoms speech, President Franklin Roosevelt

Glossary • 99

proposed that Freedom from Fear and Freedom from Want were

also important freedoms.

Geographic context: e location in which an event occurred.

Example: e Bureau of Reclamation oversaw the building of

Hoover Dam between 1931 and 1936 within the immediate geo-

graphic context of the arid and physically taxing Black Canyon and

the broader geographic context of the Colorado River watershed.

Geographic data: Facts and statistics about spatial and environ-

mental phenomena gathered for analysis.

Example: Geographic or geospatial data may be gathered about

physical and human processes on Earth’s surface to analyze a range

of problems, such as air and water pollution, urban sprawl, trac

congestion, or other problems arising from human-environment

interactions.

Geographic model: An idealized and simplied representation

of reality depicting a spatial concept or a tool for predicting specic

outcomes in geography.

Example: Globes are scale models of Earth that correctly represent

area, relative size and shape, physical features, distance between

points, and true compass direction. A gravity model may be used to

describe and predict ows from one place to another based on the

distances between them and the size of their populations.

Geography: e study of physical and human systems and their

changing spatial relationships across the surface of the Earth. Human

systems and physical systems constantly interact with reciprocal

inuences owing between and among them, creating a wide variety of

spatial patterns.

Example: Humans plant crops in response to soil characteristics

and climate variables that include temperature ranges and amounts

of precipitation. When heat rises and rain fails, farmers may

intervene with irrigation systems to sustain growing until harvest

time. When soils are depleted from constant plantings, farmers may

extend productivity by using no-till methods and adding fertilizers.

Geospatial technologies: Computer hardware and soware used

to produce and evaluate geographic data at innitely varied levels;

these technologies include technologies related to mapping and inter-

preting physical and human features on Earth’s surface.

Example: Geospatial technologies include global positioning systems

[GPS], geographic information systems [GIS], remote sensing [RS],

and geospatial visualizations that allow the viewing of data associ-

ated with specic locations.

Globalization (see also Economic Globalization): e increas-

ing interconnectedness of dierent parts of the world resulting from

common worldwide cultural, economic, and political activities, and

the impact of technological advances in communication and transpor-

tation.

Example: Communications technologies provide nearly instant

transmission of news about widely dispersed events across Earth’s

surface. e increase in the speed of information ows from place

to place inuences the timing and nature of reactions to events and

problems by governments, economic organizations, and the general

public. As an example, international responses to natural and tech-

nological disasters are faster and more widespread than in the past.

Goods: Objects that satisfy people’s wants.

Example: People buy and use a variety of goods, such as clothing,

food, cars, houses, household appliances, bicycles, toys, books,

computers, and tablets.

Governmental context: A setting in which citizens exercise rights

and responsibilities through government or in response to government.

Example: Citizens act in a governmental context when they vote,

serve on juries, enlist in the military, or seek to inuence the govern-

ment through protest and activism.

Historical context: e setting, background, or environment in

which a specic historical event or process occurred, which can include

cultural, political, social, intellectual, economic, and other factors.

Example: e Chicago Haymarket aair of 1886 occurred within

the context of rapid industrialization, massive immigration of East-

ern and Southern Europeans to the United States, and the formation

of labor organizations.

Historical time period (historical era): A distinct segment of

time whose beginning and end are marked in some way by signicant

developments or events. Dierent historians segment historical events

and processes into periods or eras dierently, depending on what

they see as important. is segmentation can also be referred to as

“periodization.”

Example: e Civil War time period is typically studied in U.S. his-

tory classes, but the determination of its starting and ending dates

depends on which events seem most signicant. e typical starting

date in historical accounts is the bombardment of Fort Sumter on

April 12, 1861, and the typical ending date is April 9, 1865, when

General Robert E. Lee surrendered. On the other hand, Southern

states had already established the Confederacy in February 1861,

and the surrender of other Confederate forces took place later than

the surrender of Lee. In addition to examining these potential

starting and ending points, an inquiry into longer-term causes can

be launched by asking the compelling question, “When did the Civil

War Begin?” (e Missouri Compromise? e 3/5 Compromise in

the writing of the U.S. Constitution?) Another compelling ques-

tion—“When Did the Civil War End?”—could examine interpre-

tations of the point at which the Civil War can truly be said to have

ended, the determination of which depends on a judgment about the

resolution of its most signicant issues.

Human capital: e knowledge and skills that people obtain through

education, experience, and training.

Example: Human capital includes reading, computation, and other

skills acquired through education, as well as physical and intellec-

tual abilities required for work, and on-the-job training.

Human-induced environmental change: Environmental

changes brought about by human activities on scales that can range

from the local to the global.

Example: Human activities involve many actions and processes that

result in environmental changes. ese may include urban sprawl,

deforestation, agricultural development, industrialization, water

control structures, energy production, and the extraction of natural

resources.

Human problem: Any serious problem facing human beings.

Example: War is a human problem.

100 • C3 Framework

Human rights: Rights or freedoms possessed by all people by virtue

of their being human.

Example: If freedom of speech is a human right, then no human

being should be denied freedom of speech.

Human settlement: A location where people have built structures

to use as permanent or temporary living areas.

Example: A human settlement or populated place may range in size

from a few dwellings located together at a rural crossroads to large

cities with surrounding urbanized areas, such as Mexico City or

Toronto.

Human system: A system for organizing human behavior through

linked and interrelated processes and structures. Demographic, eco-

nomic, political, social, and cultural structures are examples of major

human systems. rough these systems, humans interact to acquire

and allocate needed resources for sustaining life within and among

various societies in dierent regions on Earth.

Example: Human population dynamics are inuenced by cultural

beliefs about the roles of men, women, and children in society.

Similarly, economic structures allocating resources and the political

rules governing decision making have eects on the population and

the quality of life of a society. Individuals learn from, respond to,

and inuence the human systems they inhabit.

Incentive: Perceived benet that encourages certain behaviors.

Example: Prots are incentives to start business. Wages are incen-

tives to work.

Income distribution: e way in which the nation’s income is

divided among families, individuals, or other designated groups.

Example: In 2009, the share of aggregate income earned by house-

holds in the United States ranged from 3.2 percent for the lowest

h of households to 50.3 percent for the highest h of households.

Inﬂation: A general, sustained upward movement of prices for goods

and services in an economy.

Example: Prices paid by the typical consumer increased by an aver-

age of 2.5% annually from 2003 to 2012.

Institution: A formal structure or organization that is based on a

strong set of norms and interests and governs people’s behavior.

Example: Both the United States Congress and the family are

institutions.

Intended audience (of a historical source): e desired recipi-

ent(s) of a historical source. is is sometimes clear, as in a letter writ-

ten to a particular person or a speech given to a particular audience,

but it is sometimes necessary to infer the desired recipient from the

source and its context.

Example: Because of the ways in which the 1936 lm Modern Times

uses characters and techniques from his earlier, successful lms, we

can tell that Charlie Chaplin intended a large, movie-going audience

to view it.

Interest: e price of using someone else’s money. When people

place their money in a bank, the bank uses the money to make loans to

others. In return, the bank pays interest to the account holder. ose

who borrow from banks or other organizations pay interest for the use

of the money borrowed.

Example: Banks pay savers interest because banks use savers’ money

to make loans to other customers. Borrowers pay banks interest on

loans because the borrowers are using others’ money.

Investment in human capital: e eorts of people to acquire or

increase human capital. ese eorts include education, training, and

practice.

Example: Attending trade school aer high school, going to college,

obtaining on-the-job training, and the provision of economics

workshops by a school district for its teachers are all examples of

investment in human capital. Learning to read, write, compute,

and think are investments in human capital. Practicing a sport or

improving the ability to play a musical instrument are investments

in human capital.

Investment in physical capital: An addition or additions to the

stock of equipment and structures that are used to produce goods and

services.

Example: Examples of an investment in physical capital include a

rm building a new manufacturing plant, a grocery store adding a

new wing for its produce department, and an insurance company

purchasing new computers for its oces.

Key constitutional provisions: Fundamental ideas included in a

constitution.

Example: e separation of powers, federalism, and the right to a

speedy trial are all key constitutional provisions of the U.S. Consti-

tution.

Laws: Rules enacted by a legislature.

Example: By law in a number of states, a person cannot hold an

adult driver’s license until the age of 18.

Limitations in the historical record: Gaps or inadequacies in the

evidence available for examining a historical event or development that

result from the loss or destruction of evidence, or from evidence never

having been created in the rst place.

Example: Although we know the names of a few Roman gladiators

from mosaics and written accounts, most of them have been lost. No

one thought to record details about them as a group at the time, nor

did anyone interview them to get their opinions. Because of these

limitations in the historical record we will never be able to know

how many of the gladiators were slaves, or what they thought about

ghting.

Limits (of government): Actions a government may not take. e

concept of limits is based on the idea that the government should have

a limited role and is not supposed to interfere in all aspects of life. Stu-

dents should be aware that reasonable people disagree about what the

government may and may not do in the United States.

Example: e United States government may not establish a religion

because of a limitation contained in the First Amendment.

Glossary • 101

Location: e position of a place, dened in terms of features such as

site characteristics, accessibility, and connectivity.

Example: e position of a point on Earth’s surface may be absolute,

as expressed by means of a grid showing latitude and longitude, or

relative, as shown by its location related to other points or places.

Long-term cause: Long-term causes are the factors, oen inter-

twined, that result in the occurrence of a historical event or process.

Example: e long-term causes of World War I included the growth

of nationalism in Europe, a series of alliances and treaties in which

countries agreed to support one another, disputes over territory, a

build-up of military forces on all sides, and rivalries for colonies and

imperial trade.

Maker (of a historical source): e creator of a historical source.

For written accounts, the maker is also oen described as the author,

although it can sometimes be complicated to determine the true maker

of a document.

Example: In 1354, the Berber Muslim explorer Ibn Battuta began to

dictate the story of the extensive travels he had made in Africa, Asia,

and Europe over the previous twenty years to the scholar Ibn Juzaay,

who wrote them down in a book generally called Rihla (the journey).

Both Ibn Battuta and Ibn Juzaay can be seen as the makers of this

historical source.

Map: A map is a representation of an area and is usually depicted on a

at surface. Maps describe spatial relationships of the specic features

represented.

Example: Maps are made and used for dierent purposes. Refer-

ence maps such as topographic maps, may depict a wide variety of

features on Earth’s surface, including landforms, water bodies, and

buildings. ematic maps are topical and show the distribution of

features and conditions based on data such as income levels, health,

or incidence of diseases in various locations. Mental maps are the

maps we have in our minds of places we have experienced.

Marginal Principle: Marginal means extra, additional, or incre-

mental. People make decisions by comparing the marginal (extra)

benets of their options to the marginal (extra) costs of their options.

One example would be comparing the marginal cost of hiring another

worker with the marginal revenue that the worker provides. Alterna-

tively, it might include decisions to work an hour of overtime versus

spending that hour on a home project.

Example: I can spend one more hour studying for a nal exam in

English literature. I know that the hour might help me earn a 90%

rather than an 80% grade. I also know that to earn an A, I must

score 100% on the nal. On the other hand, I could spend an extra

hour studying for my mathematics nal. is will result in a 90%

on my mathematics nal, and a 90% on my math nal will improve

my overall grade from a B to an A. For me, a marginal hour spent

preparing for my math nal aords a higher marginal benet.

In deciding whether to hire another worker who earns $35 per hour,

I have to know whether or not hiring that worker will result in at

least $35 of additional revenue.

Markets: Buyers and sellers of a particular good, service, or resource.

Example: Markets exist for goods and services, such as hamburgers,

lettuce, auto mechanics, engineers, stocks, and commodities.

Megacity: As dened by the United Nations, a megacity is an exten-

sive urban area with a large and dense population that exceeds ten

million people and 2,000 persons per square kilometer. e number

of megacities is increasing as the human population expands and

millions of people migrate from rural to urban locations.

Example: Contemporary megacities include Tokyo, New York, São

Paolo, Seoul, Mexico City, Mumbai, Lagos, and Shanghai.

Modify an environment: Human actions that change natural

elements and/or physical systems.

Example: Historically, humans have modied environments by

selecting certain plants and animals to domesticate, clearing land

for agriculture, building dams to impound water for later uses,

erecting small and large settlements, and extracting resources for

energy and the production of goods.

Monetary policy: Federal Reserve System policies that aect the

supply of money and credit in the U.S. economy.

Example: In 2012, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee

announced that the Federal Reserve would continue to purchase

bonds in order to expand the money supply, keep interest rates low,

and encourage spending in the economy.

Money: Anything widely accepted in exchange for goods, services,

and resources.

Example: Historically, food, products, and resources such as silver

and gold have been used as money. Today, countries use at money—

money that is useful because it is backed by a country’s government

and because people are willing to accept it in exchange for goods,

services, and resources.

Movement: Over time, physical and human phenomena change

locations on Earth’s surface.

Example: Physical phenomena, including ocean currents and air

masses, continually move across Earth’s surface. Humans move

themselves by traveling from place to place, move ideas by commu-

nicating across long distances, and move goods by land, water, and

air transportation. Enduring patterns of movement may be formed

when people in dierent places interact frequently using the same

methods of transportation or modes of communication.

Multi-tiered timeline: A timeline with multiple layers, each of

which includes a dierent set of related events. A multi-tiered timeline

allows students to see the complex context and causes of historical

events and to recognize that the dierent topics they study happen

contemporaneously, and may inuence one another or be inextricably

related.

Example: In portraying the causes of World War I, a timeline

might include multiple tiers with each tier representing a dierent

set of causes. One tier might include events related to nationalism.

Another tier might include events related to industrialization. Yet

another tier might include events related to imperialism.

Natural disaster: An event in the physical environment that is

destructive to human life and property.

Examples: Natural disasters occur in Earth’s environmental hazard

zones as a result of oods, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, earth-

quakes, droughts, tornados, landslides, and other destructive events

that alter ecosystems and dislocate human populations and their

activities. ese events may devastate large regions, causing many

deaths and lasting damage to ecosystems and human communities.

102 • C3 Framework

Natural hazard: A risk situation occurring in nature that may cause

harm to humans and ecosystems. Most places are vulnerable to one or

more natural hazards.

Example: Natural hazards occur in many forms. In some instances,

these are geological, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and

massive landslides. ey may also be climate-related, such as torna-

dos, hurricanes, droughts, and climate change.

Natural resources (land): Components of the natural environment

that can be used to produce goods to meet the material needs of a

population.

Example: Natural resources include water, trees, coal, minerals, soil,

and natural gas.

Nongovernmental context: A setting in which citizens may act

that is not created, managed, or owned by a government.

Example: Nongovernmental contexts in which citizens exercise

rights and responsibilities include their families, neighborhoods and

communities, religious congregations, associations, and communi-

cations media, such as newspapers or the Internet.

Origin: e point of origination of an original social studies source,

which can include its cultural or historical context.

Example:e origin of the Waldseemuller map was early 16

cen-

tury Europe. Martin Waldseemuller and his associates created the

map in 1507 while Waldseemuller was working in the Gymnasium

Vosagense, located in St. Dié in Lorraine (at that time part of the

Holy Roman Empire).

Personal values: Ethical and moral commitments that guide indi-

viduals’ actions and interpersonal relationships.

Example: Personal values include empathy, integrity, self-reliance,

generosity, trustworthiness, and creativity.

Perspective: e ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of people at a given time

in the past or present, also called point of view.

Example: A belief in racial hierarchy was one element of the per-

spective of European imperialists in the nineteenth century, which

inuenced their interactions with indigenous populations around

the world.

Physical system: A collection of entities that are linked and inter-

related in a stable structure. In geography, an ecosystem is a physical

system of major interest. An ecosystem is made up of living organisms

and other components, along with their environment, including air,

water and soils.

Example: As physical systems, ecosystems vary in scale but usually

occupy limited spaces. Networks of interactions among organisms

and between organisms and their environment dene ecosystems. A

tidal pool is a single ecosystem. Sometimes the entire Earth may be

considered one ecosystem.

Place: A location having distinctive features that give it meaning and

character and distinguish it from other locations.

Example: People who build and inhabit a place give it many layers of

personal and social meaning. Humans develop strong attachments

to their homes and home places, and identify with the people and

environment of those locations.

Political institution: An institution that exercises or seeks to exer-

cise governmental power.

Example: Political parties and school boards are political institu-

tions.

Political problem: Any problem facing a political institution, includ-

ing an unresolved disagreement or a failure to govern eectively.

Example: e failure of the state legislature to pass a budget this

year is a political problem.

Political system: e form of a government.

Example: A democratic republic, a monarchy, and a dictatorship are

dierent political systems.

Population: A group of individuals that may change over time in its

numerical size, age structure, gender structure, ethnic composition,

and spatial distribution.

Example: Each country has a population distributed over its

territory. Human populations vary in their settlement history and

methods of interacting with the environment. Changes in the

composition and structure of population may aect political and

economic relationships within a country and beyond.

Powers (exercised by governments): Actions a government may

legally take to compel citizens, organizations, or others to comply with

government instructions and orders.

Example: e powers of government generally include taxing, reg-

ulating industry, prosecuting crimes, and declaring war, although

there can be considerable disagreement over how far these powers

should extend.

Price: e amount a seller receives and a buyer pays for a good or

service.

Example: Stores place price tags on products or place signs near

products indicating their price. Restaurants list prices in menus.

Wages and salaries are also prices; businesses tell people what their

hourly wage will be or what their annual salary will be.

Procedural: A procedural text or product describes a specic process

with attention to the proper sequence and relationship among steps or

parts in the process.

Example: A description of how a bill becomes a law is a procedural

description.

Process: A series of related events or developments that unfold in

time. Processes may also be of various lengths.

Example: Industrialization is a process that began in the eighteenth

century, involving technological, economic, and other factors, and

leading to changes in every aspect of life.

Productivity: e ratio of output per worker per unit of time.

Example: Bonnie owns a bakery. Her employees are able to produce

48 chocolate chip cookies each per hour. She purchases a new oven

that bakes cookies in half the time. As a result, her workers’ produc-

tivity increases to 96 chocolate chip cookies per worker per hour.

Proﬁt: e amount of revenue that remains aer a business pays the

costs of producing a good or service.

Example: It costs Bonnie 42 cents (wages, ingredients, electricity,

water, sewer, and other overhead) to produce 1 chocolate chip cookie.

She is able to sell each cookie for 50 cents. Her prot per cookie is 8

cents.

Glossary • 103

Property rights: e ability of an individual to own and exercise

control over a resource.

Example: People are able to own and exercise control over land, cat-

tle, chickens, factories, and other resources and means of production

Purpose (of a historical source): e reason a historical source

was produced. e maker of the source may state an explicit purpose,

or analysts of the source may later infer its purpose. Sometimes the

purposes stated by the maker and those inferred by later historians are

very dierent from each other; historians may also disagree with each

other about the purpose of a source.

Example: During the Renaissance, European city governments

issued laws limiting what people could spend on weddings, stating

that the purpose of these laws was to restrict wasteful spending. Later

historians studying these laws have also determined that their pur-

pose was to prohibit people from buying products made outside the

city and so promote local industries, and also to make distinctions

between social classes sharper. Some historians assert that a purpose

of these laws was to control spending by women that the city leaders

saw as frivolous, while other historians assert that men made most

of the decisions regarding spending on weddings, so that limiting

women’s spending was not one of the purposes of these laws.

Real interest rate: e nominal or stated interest rate adjusted for

ination.

Example: If the nominal interest rate on a loan is 2% and ination

for the year is 2%, the real interest rate is zero. If the nominal interest

rate is 5% and the ination rate is 2%, the real interest rate is 3%.

Region: An area with one or more common physical or cultural

features that give it a measure of homogeneity and distinguish it from

surrounding areas.

Example: A region may be considered formal, functional, or vernac-

ular. A formal region is homogeneous in certain characteristics, such

as having the same vegetative cover or soil type. A functional region

is characterized by a center of population or activity interacting with

a surrounding area. A vernacular region may emerge out a people’s

sense of belonging and identity, and may be expressed by popular

regional terms, such as Dixie or Appalachia.

Resources: Resources, sometimes called productive resources, are

factors of production or inputs used to produce goods and services.

Resources fall into four broad categories: natural (e.g., land), human

(labor), capital, and entrepreneurial ability.

Example: Natural resources include water, trees, coal, minerals, soil,

and natural gas. Examples of human resources include engineers,

mechanics, nurses, doctors, lawyers, teachers, and plumbers. Capital

resources include tools, buildings, equipment, and machines.

Responsibilities (of citizens in the U.S.): e obligations that a

person must fulll to be a good citizen. ere can be disagreements

about these obligations.

Example: It is commonly believed in the United States that citizens

have the responsibility to vote, to serve on a jury when called, to obey

a just law, to serve in the military when draed or needed, and to

protest unjust laws.

Rights (of citizens in the U.S.): ese rights include those enu-

merated in the Bill of Rights as well as other rights not listed there.

Example: Rights protected under federal and state laws today

include the rights to vote, to receive an adequate education, to bear

arms, and not to be assigned to racially segregated schools.

Role (of citizens): e categories of actions taken by citizens to fulll

their responsibilities to their political community.

Example: Citizens play an important role by educating young peo-

ple to promote the common good.

Rules: Regulations or norms governing actions or procedures.

Example: A rule in our classroom is: “You can’t say, ‘You can’t play!’”

Rural: A geographic area that is less densely settled than cities or

towns, and has less intensive land use. Agriculture is a common form

of land use in rural areas.

Example: Landscape nurseries and local organic farms are oen

located where land is available in sparsely settled areas outside of

cities.

Satellite images: Images produced by a variety of sensors including

radar, microwave detectors, and scanners that measure and record

electromagnetic radiation.

Example: Data from satellite images may be turned into digital or

electronic forms that can be reconverted into imagery resembling a

photograph. e digital data may then be used to create maps and

other visualizations.

Scale: e relationship between distance on a map and the corre-

sponding distance on Earth’s surface.

Example: e scale 1:1,000,000 means that one unit on the map

represents 1,000,000 similar units on Earth’s surface.

Scarcity: e condition that exists because there are insucient

resources to produce goods and services to meet everybody’s wants.

Example: Most of us would like to have more goods and services

for ourselves and for our community; however, given our current

resources, we cannot have all of the goods and services we want. As

a result, we must make choices.

Secondary interpretation (or secondary work or secondary

source): An analysis of a historical event or process, or of a historical

gure, that uses historical sources and is usually produced aer the

event or process. e line between a primary source and a secondary

work is not always sharp.

Example: e textbook for any course is a secondary interpretation,

as are most published works of history, biographies, and encyclo-

pedias. Former British prime minister Winston Churchill’s history

of World War II is both a primary source, because he was directly

involved in some of the events he describes, and a secondary work,

because he uses historical sources of many dierent types to tell the

story of developments in which he was not directly involved.

Services: Actions that can satisfy people’s wants.

Example: Transportation provided by bus drivers, car repair

provided by mechanics, and haircuts provided by barbers and hair

stylists are examples of services.

104 • C3 Framework

Source: e materials from human and natural activities that can be

studied and analyzed. Sources can be written, visual, oral, or material.

Historians oen also use the terms accounts and documents to refer to

sources.

Example: e sources that can be used to study the powered ight

experiments of Orville and Wilbur Wright in North Carolina in

December of 1903 include Orville Wright’s diary, a telegram sent by

the Wright brothers to their father immediately aer the ight, Vir-

ginia and Ohio newspaper articles on the ight, and a letter written

by Orville three weeks aer the ight.

Spatial: Pertains to space and spatial relationships on Earth’s surface.

Example: e scale, organization, and uses of spaces on Earth vary.

A neighborhood occupies and uses a small space in a nation’s entire

collection of settlements.

Spatial connection: Contact over space resulting in ows of ideas,

information, people, or products among places.

Example: People in many parts of the world are linked together

by communications technology moving information over vast

distances in a short time via cell phones, the Internet, and radio and

television transmissions.

Spatial diffusion: e spread over space and through time of natural

phenomena, people, ideas, technology, languages, innovations, and

products.

Example: Infectious diseases may spread in human populations

through direct contact with infected persons, food, or insects, or

through airborne and waterborne methods. Use of the automobile

spread throughout the United States and many other parts of the

world during the 20

century as people adopted it for daily trans-

portation. Numerous languages and religions spread to dierent

world regions during past land and water explorations by members

of dierent national groups.

Spatial distribution: e spread and arrangement of physical and

human phenomena on Earth’s surface.

Example: A large number of service stations, restaurants, and hotels

are found along interstate highways in the United States. Extensive

wheat and corn farming areas may be developed in locations with

good soils and sparse population.

Spatial pattern: Objects and phenomena on Earth’s surface are

oen arranged in lines, areas, or clusters of points that are related to

the locations and placements of other phenomena. ese arrangements

may occur in an orderly and observable manner.

Example: Productive agriculture is likely to occur where soils are

fertile and sucient water is available. In such cases, the spatial pat-

tern displayed in productive agriculture is connected to the spatial

patterns of soil fertility and water supplies.

Specialization: e production of a single good or service or a lim-

ited number of goods and services in order to increase productivity.

Example: Elementary educators, pediatricians, nurse practitioners,

electricians, plumbers, patent lawyers, and economics professors all

specialize in the production of a particular good or service.

Spending: e expenditure by people of some or all of their income

to purchase goods and services.

Example: All people spend some of their income on goods and

services, such as food, clothing, housing, insurance, transportation,

appliances, and entertainment.

Suburbs: Suburbs are less intensively developed areas than central

cities. ey contain residential developments that may be an outlying

part of a city or a separate community located within commuting

distance of a central city.

Example: Suburbs are located adjacent to cities in many regions of

the world. Transportation technology, especially railways and the

automobile, helped to extend suburbs ever farther out from central

cities. Over time, many centers for goods and services have been

located in rapidly growing suburbs.

Supply: e quantity of a good or service that producers are willing

and able to sell at all possible prices during a certain time period.

Generally, producers are willing to produce and sell more of a product

at higher prices than they are at lower prices.

Example: An automobile repair shop is willing to produce more

brake repairs and oil changes at a higher price than at a lower price.

If the owner receives a higher price for each brake repair, she can

stay open an hour later and pay mechanics to do the work. At the

lower price for brake repair, she is unwilling to provide additional

brake repair service by doing so.

Supporting question: Supporting questions are intended to

contribute knowledge and insights to the inquiry behind a compelling

question. Supporting questions focus on descriptions, denitions, and

processes about which there is general agreement within the social

studies disciplines, which will assist students to construct explanations

that advance claims of understanding in response.

Example: What were the regulations imposed on the colonists

under the Townsend Acts?

System of government: e combination of all the branches of

government (legislative, executive, and judicial), other important

political institutions, and the customs, laws, and rules that are the basis

for the government of a society.

Example: Although not mentioned in the Constitution, political

parties are now part of the U.S. system of government.

Technical: A technical explanation is one that describes the mechan-

ics of an activity or process.

Example: A description of the geographic term plate tectonics would

require a technical explanation.

Technological disaster: An event that results from the failure of

a human built system and is destructive to human life, property, and

community well-being.

Example: e April 1986 nuclear incident at Chernobyl in Ukraine

resulted in nuclear contamination in varying intensities over large

areas of Earth’s surface. is event caused numerous human deaths

and many long-term, life-threatening illnesses.

Technological hazard: A risk situation resulting from human activ-

ity that may cause harm to humans and ecosystems. e construction

and use of some technologies may pose serious threats to the well-be-

ing of humans and ecosystems.

Example: Energy production involves technologies that include

nuclear power and the extensive extraction of energy resources

such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas. e physical plants and

processes involved in energy production pose risks of industrial

accidents and pollution that may cause harmful eects on ecosys-

tems and human settlements.

Glossary • 105

Time periods of different lengths (see also Historical time

period): Time can be segmented into periods of dierent lengths,

depending upon the scale and meaning of events, and the relationships

between them.

Example: e history of the women’s surage movement in the

United States might focus on the time period from the 1840s to

the 1920s, beginning with the time at which advocates of women’s

surage rst began to organize and ending with the ratication of

the 19

Amendment granting women the right to vote; or it might

focus on a longer time period starting with colonial times, when a

few female property owners voted, and continuing beyond the 1920s

to include the women’s movements of the later twentieth century.

Trade: e exchange of goods, services, or resources for other goods,

services, or resources, or for money.

Example: Workers normally trade their labor for wages and then

use that income to purchase goods and services.

Transportation network: A pattern of links that connect roads,

rails, pipelines, aqueducts, power lines, or other structures that permit

vehicular movement or the ow of a commodity.

Example: A transportation network may combine dierent modes of

transport, such as walking, cars, trains, ships, and aircra, creating

multi-modal trips for people or goods. Trucks on interstate high-

ways in the United States may carry goods from ocean-going vessels

to freight trains and to various market centers.

Triggering event: A triggering event is an event, sometimes unex-

pected, that has an immediate consequence, causing another event or

process. Not every event or development has a single triggering event.

Example: e triggering event for World War I was the assassination

of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the throne of

Austria-Hungary, by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo in June 1914.

One month later, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and

declarations of war by other countries quickly followed.

Unemployment: A condition where people at least 16 years old are

without jobs and actively seeking work.

Example: e number of unemployed people in the U.S. reached

15,382,000 in October 2009.

Unintended consequences: Unforeseen costs or benets.

Examples: In 1867 Secretary of State William Seward purchased

Alaska from Russia for $7 million, which was roughly 2 cents per

acre. e purchase was ridiculed in Congress as Seward’s folly. An

unintended consequence of the purchase was the later benet of gold

deposits and oil supplies.

We impose minimum wage laws in this country to aord low-

skilled workers a better income. An unintended consequence of this

policy may be higher unemployment rates for young minorities, as

employers restrict their hiring to cover their higher labor costs.

Urban: An urban region is a built-up region characterized by a higher

population density and more buildings, transportation systems, and

other human-built features than in surrounding areas.

Example: Urban places oer a greater variety of goods, services, and

activities than less densely populated surrounding regions. Megac-

ities such as New York, Moscow, Cairo, Nairobi, Tokyo and many

smaller cities are all dened as urban places.

Values: Ethical or moral standards for evaluating attitudes and

behavior.

Example: e values associated with open discussion of a contro-

versial issue should include the demonstration of equal respect to

all participants and the possibility of reaching a consensus through

listening and negotiation.

Wages: Income earned for providing human resources (labor) in the

market. Wages are usually computed by multiplying an hourly pay rate

by the number of hours worked.

Example: Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, store clerks, and car

assembly workers earn an hourly wage for work that they perform.

106 • C3 Framework

C3 Framework Writing Team

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

LEAD WRITER/PROJECT DIRECTOR

Kathy Swan is an associate professor of curriculum and instruction

at the University of Kentucky. Her research focuses on standards-based

technology integration, authentic intellectual work, and documenta-

ry-making in the social studies classroom. Swan has been a four-time

recipient of the National Technology Leadership Award in Social

Studies Education, innovating with web-based interactive technol-

ogy curricula including the Historical Scene Investigation Project, the

Digital Directors Guild, and Digital Docs in a Box. She is co-author of

the forthcoming book And Action! Doing Documentaries in the Social

Studies Classroom and children’s series inking Like A Citizen. She is

also the advisor for the Social Studies Assessment, Curriculum, and

Instruction Collaborative (SSACI) at the Council of Chief State School

Ocers (CCSSO) and is the co-editor of Contemporary Issues in Tech-

nology and Teacher Education—Social Studies.

WRITING TEAM

Keith C. Barton is professor of curriculum and instruction and

adjunct professor of history at Indiana University. His research focuses

on students’ understanding of history in the United States and inter-

nationally, and he is the co-author of Doing History: Investigating with

Children in Elementary and Middle Schools, Teaching History for the

Common Good, and Researching History Education: eory, Method,

and Context.

Stephen Buckles has served on the economics faculty of Vanderbilt

University as a senior lecturer or professor since 1994. He is senior

advisor for programs for the Council for Economic Education, and is

a former president of the National Council on Economic Education

and the National Association of Economic Educators. He played a

central role in the creation of the original Voluntary National Content

Standards in Economics and is a member of the Standing Committee

of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Econom-

ics Assessment.

Flannery Burke is associate professor of history at Saint Louis

University and the author of From Greenwich Village to Taos. She

specializes in environmental history, the history of the American

West, and gender studies. She is a member of the Missouri Council

for History Education and the co-author of “What Does It Mean to

ink Historically?” published in Perspectives, the American Historical

Association newsmagazine.

Jim Charkins is the executive director of the California Council

on Economic Education and professor emeritus of economics at

California State University, San Bernardino. He served on the writing

team for the Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics, has

developed a number of teaching materials for economics education,

and was the economics editor of e Wall Street Journal Classroom

Edition Teacher’s Guide for nine years. He is the 2011 recipient of the

national Bessie Moore Award for outstanding service and dedication to

excellence in economic education and the 2012 Hilda Taba Award, the

California Council for the Social Studies’ highest honor.

S.G. Grant is the founding dean of the Graduate School of Education

at Binghamton University. His research interests lie at the intersection

of state curriculum and assessment policies and teachers’ classroom

practices, with a particular emphasis on social studies. In addition to

publishing papers in both social studies and general education journals,

Grant has published ve books including History Lessons: Teaching,

Learning, and Testing in U.S. High School Classrooms (2003), Measuring

History: Cases of State-Level Testing Across the United States (2006), and

Teaching History with Big Ideas: Cases of Ambitious Teachers (2010). He

won the Exemplary Research Award from the National Council for the

Social Studies in 2004 for his History Lessons book and the 2011 Roselle

Award from the Middle States Council for the Social Studies.

Susan W. Hardwick is professor emerita of geography at the

University of Oregon and a past president of the National Council for

Geographic Education. She specializes in geographic education and the

geography of immigration, national identity, and place in the North

American context. She has authored or co-authored 11 scholarly books

and university and secondary level textbooks as well as numerous ref-

ereed journal articles. Hardwick is also known for her role as co-host of

the Annenberg/PBS series e Power of Place (2012) and her contribu-

tions as a writer and editor to Geography for Life: National Geography

Standards (1994).

John Lee is an associate professor of social studies education at North

Carolina State University. His scholarly work focuses on pedagogies

and tools for using digital historical resources in K-12 and teacher edu-

cation settings as well as theories and practices related to new literacies.

He directs the Digital History and Pedagogy Project (http://dhpp.org)

and co-directs the New Literacies Collaborative (http://newlit.org).

In addition, he is interested in theory and practice related to global

learning and democratic education. He is the author of Visualizing

Elementary Social Studies Methods.

Peter Levine is Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship and Public

Aairs and director of e Center for Information and Research

on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tus University’s

Jonathan Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. He is the

author of e Future of Democracy: Developing the Next Generation of

American Citizens (2007) and co-editor of Engaging Young People in

Civic Life (2009), among other works.

C3 Framework Writing Team Biographical Sketches • 107

Meira Levinson is associate professor of education at Harvard Uni-

versity, where she teaches courses on civic and multicultural education,

urban education, social studies methods, and justice in schools. She

taught middle school for eight years in low-income schools. Her most

recent books include No Citizen Le Behind (2012) and Making Civics

Count (2012, co-edited).

Anand Marri is an associate professor of social studies and educa-

tion at Teachers College, Columbia University. A former high school

social studies teacher, his research focuses on economics education,

civic education, and teacher education. He is principal investigator for

Understanding Fiscal Responsibility: A Curriculum for Teaching about

the Federal Budget, National Debt, and Budget Decit and Loot, Inc.,

which aims to improve the nancial literacy of K-12 students. He also

served as one of the authors of Teaching the Levees: A Curriculum for

Democratic Dialogue and Civic Engagement.

Chauncey Monte-Sano is associate professor of educational studies

at the University of Michigan. A National Board Certied teacher, her

research examines how history students learn to reason with evidence

in writing, and how their teachers learn to teach such historical

thinking. She has won research awards from the National Council for

the Social Studies and the American Educational Research Associa-

tion. She has twice won the American Historical Association’s James

Harvey Robinson Prize for the teaching aide that has made the most

outstanding contribution to teaching and learning history. Her most

recent award was for her book with Sam Wineburg and Daisy Martin,

Reading Like a Historian: Teaching Literacy in Middle and High School

History Classrooms.

Robert W. Morrill is professor emeritus of geography at the Virginia

Polytechnic Institute and State University and co-coordinator of

the Virginia Geographic Alliance. Morrill is a primary author for

Guidelines for Geographic Education (1984) and Geography for Life:

Geography National Standards (1994), writer for Geography Framework

for the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), and

writer for A Road Map for 21st Century Geographic Education (2013).

He won the National Council for Geographic Education George Miller

Award (2007) and the Association of American Geographers Gilbert

Grosvenor Honors for Geographic Education (2012).

Karen Thomas-Brown is associate professor of social studies

and multiculturalism at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Her

research interests include neoliberalism and the impact of globaliza-

tion on the operation of secondary urban centers in developing coun-

tries; the impact of gender on the teaching and learning of geography;

and the incorporation of technology into the teaching of social studies.

Cynthia Tyson is a professor in the department of teaching and

learning in the College of Education and Human Ecology at e Ohio

State University where she teaches courses in multicultural and equity

studies in education; early childhood social studies; and multicultural

children’s literature. Her research interests include inquiry into the

social, historical, cultural, and global intersections of teaching, learn-

ing, and educational research. She has published scholarly articles in

eory and Research in Social Education, Social Education, and Social

Studies and the Young Learner, and is the co-author of three books: e

Handbook of Social Studies Research, Charlotte Huck’s Children’s Litera-

ture, Briey: 2nd Edition, and Studying Diversity in Teacher Education.

Bruce VanSledright is professor of history and social studies edu-

cation at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. He has written

extensively about ways of improving the teaching and learning of his-

tory. His research program has included studies of how teachers teach

U.S. history and how students of various ages learn it. Most recently, he

spent a decade evaluating Teaching American History grant programs

in Maryland. His most recent book, Assessing Historical inking and

Understanding, is due to appear in summer 2013.

Merry Wiesner-Hanks is distinguished professor and chair of the

department of history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In

addition to numerous works on the history of Western Europe and the

early modern world, she has published source collections for classroom

use, textbooks for both middle school and college students, and has

worked on the redesign of Advanced Placement courses.

108 • C3 Framework

“Knowledge of our system of

government and rights and

responsibilities as citizens is not

passed down through the gene pool, it

must be taught. The ‘College, Career

and Civic Life’ Framework will help each

state improve civic learning for all

students.”

“The 21st century demands new and

innovative approaches to acquiring and

practicing competencies needed for success

in higher education, the workforce, and civic

life. The C3 Framework for Social Studies State

Standards provides the K-12 guide for students

developing critical thinking and problem

solving, collaboration, communication, and

creativity, through inquiry in social studies.”

JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR

Co-Chair,

Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools

DR. STEVE PAINE

President,

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills

The College, Career, And Civic Life (C3) Framework For Social Studies State Standards C3

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