Oklahoma Academic Standard 6. The student will investigate how post-war social, political, and economic events continued to transform the state of Oklahoma from the 1950s through the present.

Objective 6.9  Examine ongoing issues including immigration, criminal justice reform, employment, environmental issues, race relations, civic engagement, and education. 

In a Nutshell

This objective should help students identify their role within society and how they can become engaged and participatory citizens. Students should understand how different governmental institutions impact their daily lives and that civic engagement is vital to societal productivity.    

Teacher Action 

Student Action 

• Assist students in engaging in a range of deliberative and democratic processes to develop strategies to address contemporary issues in state society, politics, and economics.

• Guide students in using interdisciplinary lenses to gather and evaluate information regarding complex local and regional problems regarding significant challenges in modern Oklahoma. 

• Gather and evaluate information related to ongoing issues facing Oklahoma and assess individual and collective actions taken to address such problems. 

• Develop a self generated theses or claim related to ongoing issues facing Oklahoma through independent research and investigations using relevant sources.  

Key Concepts 

Misconceptions 

• impact, contributions, and status of undocumented immigrants 

• alternatives to incarceration, reform of the criminal code system, prison reform measures

• minimum wage, right to work

• fracking and earthquakes, ozone pollution, coal-fired plants and water quality, chronic drought

• funding education, teacher deficit

• income and opportunity gaps, associated with race and ethnicity  

• Some students may underestimate how important it is for citizens to keep informed about current issues facing their local communities in order to make the best decisions regarding public policy. 

• Many students may fail to see the connection between local challenges to state, national, and international issues.

Instructional Resources