As the notable Civil Rights icon, Angela Davis said, “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change; I am changing the things I cannot accept.”  The Riverside County Office of Education’s history social science team is dedicated to providing our school administrators and teachers with the requisite tools so that Riverside County students have the agency necessary to embody those bold words and create the long-term change necessary in an effort to make their community and ultimately the world a better place.

History social science education must be a priority for schools because it is the bridge that connects and provides clarity as to why our civic institutions are the way that they are. Meanwhile, the skills our students learn in all areas of academics find themselves being utilized to help shape policy in classrooms, schools, cities, counties and states all throughout this country. There are a myriad of complex issues facing our collective society at present and it’s going to take complex answers to solve these complex issues. It will take deep thinking by persons who are deeply committed to these various causes. 

Featured Pages 

California State Seal of Civic Engagement Reports

The Leveraging Equity and Access in Democratic Education (LEADE) initiative housed at UCLA and UC Riverside released a new report entitled Breaking New Ground with California’s State Seal of Civic Engagement: Lessons from Year 1. The report highlights the efforts of seven early adopters of the State Seal of Civic Engagement (SSCE) and provides themes and recommendations for educators interested in rolling out the SSCE in their own districts and schools. In addition, the report details the important role that students can play in the planning and implementation of the SSCE at the state, district, and school level. With student voices at the center of the SSCE, districts and schools can effectively model democratic participation, skills, and dispositions for young people. You can read the full report here.

Eastside Stories: The Inland Empire and US History

RCOE worked in collaboration with CSUSB and UCLA’s History and Geography project to bring Eastside Stories to the Inland Empire. Eastside stories sought to connect Inland Empire History teachers with scholars of local history who had a robust understanding of the complex history in Riverside County. Our scholars told the unique stories of Inland Empire communities from a wide variety of perspectives. Each two-hour program followed a format that involved a quick introduction and processing activity to prime the pump on our adult learners.

While Eastside Stories was a grant funded partnership and that grant has sunset, we have heard your call and are looking to bring back some version of the program in 2022.

Check out the Eastside Stories page for more information.