Revised 2022 History and Social Science Standards of Learning

TOP LINE MESSAGING

• Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders ARE included in the revised
standards draft. The standards were NOT changed to exclude any historic, influential
figures.

• Coverage of King’s leadership and the heroics of other Civil Rights Leaders is significant
across grade levels.

• The standards before the Board today have expansive coverage of slavery, prejudice,
and discrimination in American history, and criticisms to the contrary are false.

BACKGROUND
• Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders ARE included in the revised standards
draft. The standards were NOT changed to exclude any historic, influential figures.

• The August 2022 draft standards, produced by the Northam Administration, included a
reference to Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the K-5 standards but did not reference him
otherwise.

• The draft submitted to the Board of Education last Friday by Governor Youngkin’s team at
the Virginia Department of Education made it clear that students would learn about all
designated holidays in K-5, which would include Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

• A list of officially designated Virginia holidays include Martin Luther King Jr. Day,
Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Columbus/Yorktown Victory Day, and others, and
students should learn about all of the official holidays listed in Code.
(https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title2.2/chapter33/section2.2-3300/)

• However, that draft only listed a few holidays as examples that should be taught to students
beginning in Kindergarten. The omission of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as an enumerated
example has been corrected in the standards before the Board today.

• While it was added as an example, it is important to note that MLK Jr Day related content
would absolutely have been taught have been taught to students since it is a designated
holiday.

• Coverage of King’s leadership and other national Civil Rights Leaders has been expanded
and the draft standards continue the inclusion of Virginia Civil Rights figures including
Maggie L. Walker, Oliver W. Hill, Sr., Irene Morgan, Arthur R. Ashe, Barbara Johns, A.
Linwood Holton, Jr., and L. Douglas Wilder.

• Martin Luther King Jr. is mentioned four times in the updated history standards in three
different units: 6th grade US history, 10th grade World History, and 11th grade Virginia and US
History.

• The depth of the coverage of MLK has also expanded substantially from the August 2022
draft including “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”, civil disobedience, the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, “I Have a Dream” speech, and his assassination.
• Additionally, coverage of other Civil Rights heroes has been significantly expanded in the
updated standards. See this excerpt from the grade 4 Virginia studies standards: students
are expected “to describe the Civil Rights Movement in Virginia by: a. explaining the causes
and effects of desegregation and Massive Resistance (e.g., 1940 Norfolk School Board
case, 1951 Farmville protest, the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision,
1964 Prince Edward County Supreme Court case, “Redlining,” the displacement of Virginia
families when the Blue Ridge Parkway was built, the effects that the building of interstate
highways had on marginalized communities, and Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court decision
in 1967); and investigating the political, social, or economic effects of choices made by
Virginians during the civil rights era.

• The standards before the Board today have expansive coverage of discrimination in
American history.

• An entire section of the US History since WWII standards are about the “causes and effects
of the Civil Rights movement”, including:
• analyzing the origins of the Civil Rights Movement, the effects of segregation (de jure
and de facto) and efforts to desegregate schools, transportation, and public areas
• evaluating the impact and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., including "A Letter from a
Birmingham Jail,” civil disobedience, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference,
“I Have a Dream” speech (comparing to The Gettysburg Address), and his
assassination
• evaluating and explaining the impact of the Brown v. Board of Education decision,
the roles of Thurgood Marshall and Oliver W. Hill, Sr., and how Virginia responded
with Massive Resistance (with a focus on the critical role of Virginia communities and
people such as Prince Edward County and
• explaining how the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), the 1963 March on Washington, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 had an effect on all Americans.

• Students analyzing the “causes and effects” of the Civil Rights movement implies ongoing
analysis and relating the effects of the movement on our country today.

• The proposed history standards are out for public comment now. What is in front of
the Board of Education today is a first review item, not the final review.

• There will be months of public engagement opportunities and time for members of
the public, scholars, historians, and others to give feedback on the standards and
raise topics that they believe should be included or are not adequately covered.
Board members and VDOE experts will be able to make updates as appropriate.

• It is also important to note that these standards will be accompanied by hundreds of

pages worth of curriculum frameworks, the materials that support the teaching of the
standards. The frameworks will have instructional guidance, sample student
activities, and research ideas which will undergo a similar review process by
historians and experts, followed by opportunities for the public to provide feedback.

• The Board of Education decided to have the standards undergo further development
to bring in more review and feedback from Historians and other experts.
• The draft standards were reviewed and revised through numerous phases of
meetings convened with Virginia students, parents, educators, historians, college
professors, and organizations.

• In mid-December, VDOE staff will hold public engagement sessions where they will
present information about the standards to attendees and divide participants into
small discussion groups depending on interest for each session. In January, the
Board of Education will hold public hearings for citizens across the Commonwealth to
provide their feedback on the standards.