Alex Abbe
Marshalltown High School history and government teacher Alex Abbe has been selected to be part of a statewide team to conduct a public review of the draft of the Iowa standards for social studies.
Abbe and the rest of the 20-member team will have its first meeting on November 8 to go over the draft standards.
The draft standards, developed over the past year by a statewide writing team, outline what students should know and be able to do in social studies from kindergarten through 12th grade.
“The current social studies standards date back to 2008, have never been updated, and are desperately in need of an overhaul,” Abbe said. “This is a unique opportunity to work with other colleagues from across the state and play a role in finalizing the standards that teachers and students will be responsible for.”
Among the group of educators who wrote the draft standards was Christian Davison, also a teacher from Marshalltown High School.
Abbe said these standards are just a part of the direction the high school will take as it works to “make progress towards our goal of creating independent thinkers who not just consume information, but evaluate it and use it to meet their needs in their post-secondary education or careers.”
Abbe said he was asked to participate in the statewide team by a consultant with the Iowa Department of Education.
