Black & Latino Studies to be Offered in CT High Schools; State Board Approves Curriculum

Every high school in Connecticut will be required to offer a course in African American, Black, Latino and Puerto Rican studies beginning in the 2022-23 academic year, after the state Board of Education unanimously approved implementation of the newly developed curriculum this week. 

Schools will be permitted to offer the new course as soon as the academic year that begins in September 2021, at the discretion of local or regional school boards.  Although schools will be required to offer the course by 2022-23, students will not be required to take it.  At least not yet. 

The full-year course, as presently designed, would have a content focus in the first semester on African American/Black history, the second semester on Puerto Rican/Latino history. It will include approximately 10 comprehensive units of study and features a two-pronged, inquiry based approach.  It is built as a one-year, one credit course. Some have suggested that the one-year elective could eventually be made mandatory, although as of now that is not the plan.

The new course curriculum, developed during the past year by the State Education Resource Center (SERC), comes as a result of legislation approved in 2019 and signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont.  The state Department of Education will be required to conduct an audit from July 2022 through July 2024 to ensure the course is being offered by each local and regional board of education.

State Board of Education virtual meeting.

“We have been smiling and cheering (and more than a little crying with joy!) as the State Board of Education has voted to approve the African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino course of studies,” read a post on the SERC website following the State Board of Education approval.  “It has been more than a privilege to lead the development of this high school course that will become available to districts in the 2021-2022 school year and will be offered in every district across Connecticut in 2022-2023.”

SERC coordinated the effort with a nucleus of five staff members supported by three people representing the State Board of Education and an Advisory Group numbering nearly 150 individuals with a broad range of expertise.

The Advisory Group, described by officials as “passionate, knowledgeable and stellar…including individuals who have lived the history,” first agreed on course objectives and next completed draft of specific units of study.  They were organized into nine committees, focusing on Research and Analysis, Focus Groups Infrastructure Supports, Course Syllabus, Content Development, Integration and Assessment, Publications and Dissemination, and Professional Learning Plan.

The final version was presented, on schedule, to the State Department of Education this month for final approval.

SERC also posted a “Thank you to the lead sponsors of PA 19-12 that led to this moment, State Senator Douglas McCrory and State Representative Bobby Gibson, and to all members of the advisory group, expert panel, and the feedback of our fellow citizens who contributed to this history in the making.”

The Advisory Group included numerous college and university presidents, Director of African American Studies at Central Connecticut State University, Associate Provost/VP for Equity and Diversity at Eastern Connecticut State University, and UConn Professors of Latin American and Latino Studies and other disciplines.  Members also include the president of the CT Council for the Social Studies, directors of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, Students for Educational Justice, the UConn Hartford campus and Connecticut Humanities, and numerous historians, state legislators, retired and current high school teachers and district leaders, students and organizational leaders of various education organizations in the state.

SERC also developed and conducted a Curriculum Survey, which brought responses from 350 individuals.  Nearly two-thirds (62%) of the responses were from teachers from a variety of districts and school sizes.  Of those responses, 62% indicated readiness to teach the curriculum when it is developed and requested that comprehensive curriculum development and professional learning be provided. 

A survey of 162 focus group participants, including three dozen students, brought suggestions for the group’s consideration.  Among them:  Include a deeper study of the subjects of the course; teach beyond the stereotypes; include a study of existing inequalities in American society; don’t just teach victimization: teach resistance; teach about racism as a social construct/institutional racism; Include varied backgrounds of Latin American countries; teach the “real” history: historical events from different perspectives; include an emphasis that differences are a strength - not a weakness; and include the state and local context.

SERC is a quasi-public agency established by state statute to serve the Connecticut State Board of Education in supporting educational equity and excellence. SERC provides professional development and information dissemination in the latest research and best practices to educators, service providers, and families throughout the state, as well as job-embedded technical assistance and training within schools, programs, and districts.

Connecticut’s law was approved unanimously by the State Senate and by a margin of 122-24 in the House, and was subsequently signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont on June 21, 2019.  It reads, in part, “For the school year commencing July 1, 2021, and each school year thereafter, each local and regional board of education shall include African-American and black studies and Puerto Rican and Latino studies as part of the curriculum for the school district.”