explain how the course cites all fourteen Model Curriculum values and outcomes, meets UC A-G area G expectations, and builds the Community Action Project in four phases.
The course is one semester of four units, each with five lessons in the same order: an Identity & Community Launch, a Primary Source & Counter-Narrative Lab, a Dialogue & Multiple Perspectives Lab, an Evidence-Based Writing Workshop and a Community Action Project phase. The sameness is deliberate. By Unit 3, students know what each kind of lesson asks of them, and your energy can go into the content and the discussion rather than into explaining the format.
The standards. The Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (CDE, 2021) is a model curriculum, not a set of adopted content standards. The course therefore cites its six guiding values and principles and its eight outcomes by SLS labels — ES.GV1-6 and ES.OUT1-8 — paraphrased from Chapter 1. Every one of the fourteen is cited at least once, and every unit also cites a grades 9-12 Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skill (HSS.9-12) and the grades 9-10 CCSS literacy standards for reading (RH) and writing (WHST) in history/social studies, with speaking and listening (SL) in every dialogue lab. The alignment matrix produced with the course lists where each code is taught.
Why it is college-preparatory. UC area G asks for academic rigor, not a particular topic. Here the rigor is in three places. Students read adult primary legal texts — statutes, treaties, an executive order and Supreme Court majority and dissenting opinions — and use them as evidence. They weigh attributed scholarly interpretations of contested questions and must state positions they may not hold in terms their holders would accept. And they write at least 3,500 words of multi-draft prose and present orally in every unit.
The Community Action Project arc. The project is not a final-week add-on. Phase 1 (Unit 1) is a Community Asset Portrait of a community each student chooses; Phase 2 (Unit 2) is a Documented History Brief on one episode in that community’s history; Phase 3 (Unit 3) is a Multiple-Perspectives Issue Brief on a current, actionable issue; Phase 4 (Unit 4) is the action, a public showcase and an evaluative reflection. Each phase goes through a plan, a peer-reviewed draft, a revised final and a presentation. Students who change communities between phases may do so, but should be warned that Phase 3 depends on the research in Phases 1 and 2.
What the course does not do. It does not assign students to identity groups, ask them to rank oppression, or require them to adopt a position on any contested question. It does not teach religious doctrine. It does not invent any community’s history; where local knowledge is needed, it leaves a marked space for your school to fill (Lesson 1.3).
Where the Model Curriculum values and outcomes are taught
| Code | Focus | Lessons |
|---|---|---|
| ES.GV1 | Well-being, self-worth and self-determination | 1.1, 1.5, 4.5 |
| ES.GV2 | Honoring communities’ stories and cultural wealth | 1.4, 3.1 |
| ES.GV3 | Ancestral knowledge and narratives | 2.1, 3.4 |
| ES.GV4 | Critical analysis of empire and racism in history | 1.2, 2.2, 3.4 |
| ES.GV5 | Challenging bigotry at every level | 1.2, 1.3, 3.2, 3.3 |
| ES.GV6 | Past and present movements; critical hope | 2.4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.5 |
| ES.OUT1-2 | Justice and equity; inclusion of excluded voices | 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 3.1, 3.2, 4.2 |
| ES.OUT3 | Self-understanding (always with an alternative) | 1.1, 1.4, 1.5 |
| ES.OUT4-5 | Understanding others; intersectionality | 1.3, 2.3, 3.3, 3.5, 4.3 |
| ES.OUT6-8 | Civic engagement; community focus; communication | 1.1, 2.1, 3.5, 4.1-4.5 and every dialogue lab |
The Community Action Project is completed entirely in Unit 4.
How confident are you that you can explain how the course meets the Model Curriculum and A-G area G?