Studies Weekly moves toward better social studies curriculum
In an effort to be more mindful and create better cultural literacy and inclusion both internally and externally, Studies Weekly is taking deliberate steps to address past, current, and future publications.
OREM, Utah, June 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Studies Weekly recently came under criticism for some older publications that contain culturally insensitive materials.
"While the article did cast an accurate light on some of our past content, the reality is that the company was already taking a proactive approach to these issues over the last 15 months," said John McCurdy, Studies Weekly CEO. "We apologize that we have not been able to complete this process faster."
Studies Weekly writes its curriculum to align with the standards of each state it services. Because of this, while all corrections are updated at Studies Weekly Online, the printed revisions and reprintings take time to update and ship out to customers.
For the publications that had the most egregious errors, though, Studies Weekly is sending reprints as soon as they can be printed.
"We cannot change our past, but we are changing our future by addressing all old and biased content. All of these issues are a concern for history and social studies publishers across the industry. That is why the diversity board was put in place last year — to help us find these problems, fix them and better serve students and teachers across the nation," McCurdy said.
In addition to the diversity board's work, the company recently hired a new Chief Curriculum Officer and Product Manager to help align its materials with national, state and district standards, frameworks and cultural nuances. As Lavora Gadison, a member of the diversity board, told the writer of the article about Studies Weekly, the issues she saw in Studies Weekly materials were similar to other social studies products nationwide.
"The stories [in Studies Weekly] were no more objectionable than the stories that we find in other U.S. history textbooks," she explained. "At least there was a start there, and at least there was an acknowledgment — it was acknowledged that there was a problem."
Moving forward, and in an effort to be more mindful and create better cultural literacy and inclusion both internally and externally, the company is taking deliberate steps to address past, current, and future publications.
"Our curriculum processes have drastically changed, and we have a diverse curriculum team that is amazing and committed to getting this right. They help us to be more culturally sensitive and better serve all learners," McCurdy said.
SOURCE Studies Weekly
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