US History for 10th
Graders: One School's
Experience
Session
Goals:

Start a discussion about options
for Social Studies under HB 5.

Talk to you about our approach
and the reasons behind our
decision to move U.S. History to
the 10th grade.

Discuss our implementation
plan.

Share data that has been
gathered since moving our U.S.
History course to the 10th
grade.

Open the session for discussion.
Background
Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School
 Orange, TX
 Demographics
 1050 Students
 Economically Disadvantaged: 33.2%
 African American: 7.1%
 Hispanic: 8.8%
 White: 79.2%
 Special Education: 11.9%
 At-Risk: 45.5%

TEA Designated T-STEM Academy in 2014
 Changed
our
Culture
 Changed
our
Outlook
 Changed
our Goals
for Testing
HB 5 Social Studies Requirements:
Social Studies Three credits
• U.S. History
• U.S. Government (one-half credit)
• Economics (one-half credit)
• World Geography or World History or
Combined World History/World Geography (course
not developed yet)
Considerations
 Teachers
needed composite certifications
to teach World Geography.
 Students were taking the US History test
for the first time at the end of their 11th
grade year, leaving little time for
remediation.
 We wanted students to be finished with
all testing by the end of their 10th grade
year in order to take advantage of dual
credit opportunities.
We wanted to keep the four year social
studies requirement due to college
admissions requirements.
Many colleges still require 4 years of
social studies…
We did not want to lose personnel.
Core Courses
To play sports at a Division I school,
you must complete these core
courses:
• 4 years of English;
• 3 years of math (Algebra 1 or higher);
• 2 years of natural or physical science
(including one year of lab science if your
high school offers it);
• 1 additional year of English, math or
natural or physical science;
• 2 years of social science; and
• 4 additional years of English, math, natural
or physical science, social science,
foreign language, comparative religion or
philosophy.
Our Decision
Make
four years of Social Studies a
local graduation requirement.
Move
US History to 10th grade.
LCMHS Social Studies
Course Sequence:
9th
10th
11th
th
12
World History
U.S. History
Social Studies Elective
Government/ Economics
Add an elective course for the third year
 Change
APUSH to a 2nd year course
APUSH
Dual Credit US History
Dual
Credit Texas History
World War II History
Modern US History
World Geography
Major Issues in US History
Course Sequence and Testing
9th Grade
10th Grade
 Biology
 U.S.
 Algebra
 English
1
1
History
 English
2
Implementation
 Four-year
Process
 US History for all 10th and 11th
graders in the 1st year (2013-2014)
 World History for all 9th and 11th
graders in 2nd and 3rd years (20152015 and 2015-2016)
 Full implementation in 4th year
(2016-2017)
Our Plan
Grade 2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
9
World
Geography
World
Geography
World
Geography
World
History
World
History
World
History
World
History
10
World
History
World
History
US History
US History
US History
US History
US History
11
US History
US History
US History
World
History
World
History
Elective
Elective
12
Govt/Eco
Govt/Eco
Govt/Eco
Govt Eco
Govt/Eco
Govt/Eco
Govt/Eco
Complications
Textbooks:
very few extras
Teachers had to leave comfort
zones
Scheduling: split 9th and 11th
grade World History
Students transfer in with World
Geography
Our Results
Year
2014
2015
All
Level III
Students Advanced
91.63%
89.27%
5.79%
19.54%
10th
Grade
Only
89.5%
91.18%
Questions
Dr. Terri Estes, Principal
terriestes@lcmcisd.org
Kristy Brown, Asst. Principal for
Curriculum and CTE
kbrown@lcmcisd.org
409-886-5821
Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School