Study Guide
Overview and Test Objectives
Field 009: History
Test Overview
| Format | Computer-based test (CBT) |
|---|---|
| Number of Questions | 100 multiple-choice questions |
| Time | 2 hours 30 minutes* |
| Passing Score | 220 |
*Does not include 15-minute CBT tutorial
Test Objectives
| Subarea | Range of Objectives | Approximate Percentage of Questions on Test | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Historical Concepts and Skills | 001–002 | 10% |
| 2 | World History | 003–009 | 33% |
| 3 | U.S. History | 010–016 | 33% |
| 4 | Interdisciplinary Perspectives | 017–021 | 24% |
Hover over each subarea for details of subtest content or see table above.
Sub area 1 10%, Sub area 2 33%, Sub area 3 33%, and Sub area 4 24%.
Subarea 1—HISTORICAL CONCEPTS AND SKILLS
Objective 001—Understand historical terms, concepts, sources, and perspectives.
Includes:
- basic historical terms, concepts, and conceptual devices (e.g., calendars, maps) and periodization schemes used to organize the past
- construction of time lines and the identification of chronological relationships between major events and developments in Michigan, U.S., and world history
- differences between primary and secondary sources of historical information
- reference sources used in historical research
- uses and limitations of various historical source materials
- multiple historical interpretations of the past, the impact of major theories and frameworks that shape our interpretation of history, and the biases that these theories and frameworks might present
- evaluation of major historical issues and events from diverse perspectives (e.g., regional, interregional, global, racial, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic class, gender)
- instructional strategies and resources for promoting the acquisition of historical knowledge, applying techniques for assessing student understanding of history, and utilizing knowledge of professional standards and technology in history instruction
Objective 002—Apply methods for conducting historical investigations and analyzing and interpreting historical information.
Includes:
- steps in the research process (e.g., formulating historical questions, choosing a research design, identifying and gathering evidence, organizing and interpreting the evidence)
- acquisition and organization of historical evidence (e.g., gathering sources, note taking, file maintenance, preparation of bibliographies) and the use of electronic technologies to assist in assessing and managing information
- analysis of historical documents and narratives (e.g., recognizing purpose, point of view, and central questions; distinguishing between fact and opinion; making inferences and drawing conclusions)
- evaluation of historical documents and narratives (e.g., assessing evidence, identifying underlying assumptions, recognizing multiple perspectives)
- cause-and-effect relationships between historical events and developments and the implications and short- and long-term consequences of key historical decisions
- interpretation of historical issues represented in graphic formats (e.g., charts, diagrams, maps, political cartoons, graphs)
Subarea 2—WORLD HISTORY
Objective 003—Understand major events and developments in world history during Era 1, the beginnings of human society to 4000 BCE; and Era 2, early civilizations and cultures and the emergence of pastoral peoples, 4000 to 1000 BCE.
Includes:
- the Neolithic Revolution and the beginnings of human society (e.g., the growth of agriculture, the domestication of animals, the development of pastoral societies, economic specialization, the emergence of towns)
- geographic, social, political, economic, religious, and cultural characteristics of early civilizations in Mesopotamia, the Near East, and North (e.g., Sumer, Babylonia, the Hebrew kingdoms, Phoenicia, Egypt)
- geographic, social, political, economic, religious, and cultural characteristics of early civilizations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas (e.g., the Shang and Zhou dynasties of China, the Indus and Aryan cultures of India, the African kingdom of Kush, the Olmec civilization of Mesoamerica)
- major population movements and commercial and cultural interactions within and between Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas
- the significance of technological innovations and cultural developments (e.g., bronze-making and iron-making technology, the invention of plows, the use of written records, the advent of monotheistic religion)
Objective 004—Understand major events and developments in world history during Era 3, classical traditions, world religions, and major empires, 1000 BCE to 300 CE.
Includes:
- social and political features, major intellectual figures, and contributions of ancient Greek civilization
- events, developments, characteristics, and contributions of ancient Roman society
- geographic, social, political, economic, religious, and cultural characteristics of Persian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations (e.g., locations and causes of frontier interactions and conflicts; internal disputes between cultural, social, and religious groups; causes of the collapse of classical empires)
- geographic, social, political, economic, religious, and cultural characteristics of civilizations in Africa and the Americas
- principal beliefs, sacred texts, and the historical development and spread of Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism
Objective 005—Understand major events and developments in world history during Era 4, expanding and intensified hemispheric interactions, 300 to 1500 CE.
Includes:
- geographic, social, political, economic, religious, and cultural characteristics of the Byzantine Empire (e.g., Byzantium's critical spatial location, tensions between Catholic and Orthodox Christianity, Justinian's conquests and legal reforms, the influence and decline of Byzantine civilization)
- geographic, social, political, economic, religious, and cultural characteristics of Islamic civilization (e.g., expansion of Islamic civilization, the work of Islamic scholars, the caliphate as both a political and religious institution, disunity and division within the Muslim caliphate)
- social, political, economic, religious, and cultural developments in Europe (e.g., the Germanic invasions and the decline of the Roman Empire, the emergence of feudalism and medieval society, the role of the Catholic Church, the Crusades, the Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, the emergence of Muscovite Russia)
- the development, interdependence, specialization, and importance of interregional trading systems both within and between societies (e.g., land-based routes across the Sahara, Eurasia, and Europe; water-based routes across the Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, South China Sea, and Mediterranean Sea)
- origins, major developments, significant individuals, and consequences of the European Renaissance
- social, political, economic, religious, and cultural developments in India, China, Japan, and Southeast Asia (e.g., the Muslim-Hindu encounter in India, Tang government and culture, internal and external challenges to China, Japanese feudalism and the rise of the Samurai, the expansion of Indian influence in Southeast Asia)
- major features of Mongol society and developments related to the Mongol invasions (e.g., Mongol military tactics; Mongol rule in China, Russia, and Southwest Asia; the effect of the Mongol invasions on relations between Europe and Asia)
- geographic, political, economic, religious, and cultural characteristics of major civilizations in Africa and the Americas (e.g., the rise and decline of the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires; the influence of Islam in Africa; religion and government in Aztec and Incan societies)
Objective 006—Understand major events and developments in world history during Era 5, the emergence of the first global age, fifteenth to eighteenth centuries CE.
Includes:
- causes and consequences of the Protestant Reformation (e.g., the role of leading reformers, the response of the Catholic Church, the religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries)
- European expansion and its consequences (e.g., changes in the global system of trade, migration, and political power; the Columbian exchange; the rise of transatlantic slave systems; the demographic and environmental consequences of European oceanic travel and conquest)
- patterns of continuity and change among major civilizations of Eurasia and Africa (e.g., the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires of Southwest Asia; the Ming and Qing dynasties of China; the Warring States and Tokugawa eras in Japan; the Russian Empire)
- political developments in Europe (e.g., the consolidation of nation-states, the growth of absolutism, the emergence of parliamentary government)
- major figures of the Scientific Revolution and the impact of their discoveries on the development of the modern world
- major thinkers of the European Enlightenment and their influence on events and developments in Europe and the Americas
Objective 007—Understand major events and developments in world history during Era 6, an age of global revolutions, eighteenth century to 1914 CE.
Includes:
- causes, major events, similarities, differences, and consequences of the American Revolution, French Revolution, and Latin American wars of independence
- economic, social, and political factors related to the emergence and spread of industrialization in Europe (e.g., major technological innovations, migration and population change, the growth of urban centers, the transformation of social relations, the environmental effects of industrialization)
- political developments, reform movements, and military conflicts in Europe during the nineteenth century (e.g., the Napoleonic Wars; the revolutions of 1848; the rise of nationalism, constitutionalism, and socialism; Italian and German unification)
- causes, events, comparative developments, and consequences of European imperialism (e.g., motives for the pursuit of colonial empires, encounters between imperial powers, imperialism and the social construction of race, the responses to imperialism by Asian and African peoples, the effect of imperialism on Asian and African society)
- political developments and military conflicts in East Asia (e.g., the Opium Wars, the Taiping Rebellion, the Meiji Restoration, the Boxer Rebellion, the Russo-Japanese War, the Chinese Revolution of 1911)
- major literary, artistic, intellectual, and scientific developments in Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Australia
Objective 008—Understand major events and developments in world history during Era 7, global crisis and achievement, 1900 to 1945 CE.
Includes:
- origins, major events, and consequences of World War I (e.g., the prewar alliance system, nationalist tensions in the Balkans, major battles of the war, the Russian Revolution, the Treaty of Versailles, the decline of the Ottoman Empire)
- social, economic, and political developments in Europe (e.g., changing patterns of leisure and consumption, the expanding role of state power in managing economies, major technological innovations, the Great Depression)
- changes in the global balance of power, including causes and consequences of the emergence of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes in Russia, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Japan
- the rise of nationalist movements in China, Turkey, and India
- origins, major events, and consequences of World War II (e.g., Nazi and Japanese aggression, major turning points and unique characteristics of the war, the role of technology in warfare, the Holocaust, the use of the atom bomb, the Nuremberg war crimes tribunals, the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as global superpowers)
- major literary, artistic, intellectual, scientific, and technological developments in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Australia
- major world figures (e.g., V. I. Lenin, Sun Yat-sen, Mohandas Gandhi, Josef Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Francisco Franco)
Objective 009—Understand major events and developments in world history during Era 8, the Cold War and its aftermath, the twentieth century since 1945 CE.
Includes:
- causes, major events, and consequences of the Cold War (e.g., U.S.-Soviet differences concerning Eastern Europe, ideological confrontation, major Cold War conflicts, the nuclear arms race, détente, the collapse of the Soviet Union)
- major events, developments, and issues related to the decline of European empires and the process of decolonization in postwar Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and the social, political, economic, religious, and cultural challenges new nations faced as they confronted the legacy of imperialism
- social, political, economic, religious, and cultural developments in Europe (e.g., changing patterns of work, leisure, and gender relations; demographic changes; the creation of the European Union)
- social, political, economic, religious, and cultural developments in East Asia (e.g., the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the reconstruction of postwar Japan, the economic rise of South Korea and Taiwan)
- patterns of continuity and change in Latin America (e.g., revolutions in Cuba and Nicaragua, the persistence of traditional elites, relations with the United States)
- causes and consequences of major regional conflicts in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas
- major world figures (e.g., Mao Tse-tung, Gamal Abdel Nassar, Ho Chi Minh, Golda Meir, Kwame Nkrumah, Margaret Thatcher, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev)
- major developments and challenges of the late twentieth century (e.g., population movement and demographic change, economic globalization, environmental degradation, terrorism, human rights abuses, limited supplies of natural resources, economic inequalities among the world's peoples)
Subarea 3—U.S. HISTORY
Objective 010—Understand major events and developments in U.S. history during Era 1, beginnings to 1620 CE; Era 2, colonization and settlement, 1585 to 1763 CE; and Era 3, revolution and the new nation, 1754 to 1800 CE.
Includes:
- social, political, economic, religious, and cultural features of major American Indian peoples of the precontact period
- events related to the European colonization of North America (e.g., objectives of various explorers, consequences of key expeditions and settlements, first contact with American Indians)
- interaction and conflict between Europeans and American Indians (e.g., different cultural perspectives, converging and diverging economic interests, violence and war)
- social, political, economic, religious, and cultural features of the New England, mid-Atlantic, and southern colonies
- operation of the European slave trade, the development of slavery in North America, and African American life and culture in the North American colonies
- causes, developments, and consequences of the Revolutionary War (e.g., changes in British imperial policy, arguments over the rights of English people, major battles of the conflict, the roles and perspectives of various groups during the war)
- the evolution of national and state governments during and after the Revolution and the development and ratification of the Constitution (e.g., arguments over the Articles of Confederation, differences between Federalists and Antifederalists, major debates and compromises at the Constitutional Convention)
- major figures (e.g., Thomas Paine, Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington)
Objective 011—Understand major events and developments in U.S. history during Era 4, expansion and reform, 1792 to 1861 CE.
Includes:
- events and developments related to westward expansion (e.g., major territorial acquisitions, factors encouraging migration, the impact of westward migration and the American Indian response)
- political and constitutional developments (e.g., the Washington and Adams administrations, differences between Jefferson and Hamilton, John Marshall and the Supreme Court, the emergence of Jacksonian democracy, the states' rights movement, the expansion of suffrage)
- causes and consequences of economic growth (e.g., improvements in transportation, technological innovations, the spread of factory production, immigration and urbanization)
- major events and developments in U.S. foreign relations (e.g., the War of 1812, the Monroe Doctrine, the Mexican War)
- origins and objectives of major antebellum reform movements (e.g., the Second Great Awakening, abolitionism, temperance, public education) and the activities and achievements of key reformers (e.g., William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Horace Mann, Dorothea Dix)
- the impact of slavery in the United States (e.g., forces promoting the expansion of slavery, the emergence of a distinctive African American culture, the influence of slavery on national politics)
- literary, artistic, intellectual, and scientific developments of the period and the beginnings of a distinctly American literary and intellectual culture
Objective 012—Understand major events and developments in U.S. history during Era 5, the Civil War and Reconstruction, 1850 to 1877 CE.
Includes:
- similarities and differences in the economies, cultures, and social structures of the North, South, and West in the period preceding the Civil War
- political developments of the 1850s that contributed to sectional polarization (e.g., the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the disruption of the Second Party System, the election of 1860)
- events and developments of the Civil War (e.g., strategies adopted by Union and Confederate military leaders, major battles, participation of African Americans, the Emancipation Proclamation)
- costs and consequences of the Civil War (e.g., human casualties and physical destruction, wartime restrictions on civil liberties, the impact of the war on women, the response of former slaves to emancipation)
- political and constitutional consequences of the Civil War and Reconstruction (e.g., conflict between President Johnson and Congress; the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments; the new political role of African Americans; the development of a one-party political system in the former Confederacy)
- social and economic developments during Reconstruction (e.g., the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, the development of sharecropping)
- significant figures of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras (e.g., Harriet Tubman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Stephen A. Douglas, John Brown, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Clara Barton, Charles Sumner)
Objective 013—Understand major events in U.S. history during Era 6, the development of an industrial, urban, and global United States, 1870 to 1920 CE.
Includes:
- the growth of the industrial economy (e.g., the consolidation of industrial and financial empires, major technological and managerial innovations, the rise of the automobile industry, the conflict between industrial capitalism and organized labor)
- changing patterns of immigration to the United States and the impact of immigration and urbanization on U.S. society
- the settlement of the trans-Mississippi West (e.g., life on the mining, ranching, and farming frontiers; the effects of expanding settlement on American Indian peoples)
- the emergence of the United States as a world power (e.g., the Spanish-American War, location of U.S. territorial acquisitions, the Open Door policy, the Philippine Revolution, the Panama Canal, the Roosevelt Corollary, dollar diplomacy, U.S. interventions in Latin America)
- the rise of the New South, the disenfranchisement and segregation of African Americans, and the efforts of African Americans to overcome the social, economic, and political obstacles that confronted them
- origins, strategies, and influence of the Populist movement (e.g., economic crises of the 1870s and 1890s, bimetallism, the Grange)
- origins, strategies, and consequences of Progressive reforms (e.g., the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Amendments)
- causes and consequences of U.S. participation in World War I (e.g., reasons for U.S. intervention in the conflict, the effect of the war on U.S. society, opposition to Wilson's policies, the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment)
- major figures (e.g., Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, Ida Tarbell, Jane Addams, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson)
Objective 014—Understand major events and developments in U.S. history during Era 7, the Great Depression and World War II, 1920 to 1945 CE.
Includes:
- political, social, and economic developments of the 1920s (e.g., the Red Scare, Prohibition, the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, the growth of a consumer economy, debates over immigration restriction, laissez-faire)
- intellectual and cultural developments of the period (e.g., the cultural impact of radio, the Lost Generation, the Harlem Renaissance, Depression-era literature, the New Deal and the arts)
- causes and consequences of the Great Depression
- response of the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations to economic collapse and the effect of New Deal reforms on U.S. society
- issues and developments in U.S. foreign policy between 1920 and 1941 (e.g., relations with Latin America, isolationism and neutrality, the events leading to World War II)
- events and developments related to U.S. participation in World War II (e.g., war mobilization, major battles involving U.S. forces, the impact of the war on U.S. society, Japanese American internment, the decision to drop the atom bomb)
- major figures (e.g., Herbert Hoover, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Huey Long, John L. Lewis, Dwight D. Eisenhower)
Objective 015—Understand major events and developments in U.S. history during Era 8, the post–World War II United States, 1945 to 1970 CE.
Includes:
- events and developments of the Cold War (e.g., the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, the formation of NATO, the arms race, the space race, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the effect of the Cold War on U.S. society, détente)
- social and economic developments (e.g., the postwar economic boom, suburbanization, the baby boom, the rise of the Sun Belt, the emergence of a youth culture)
- major political events and developments (e.g., the passage of the G.I. Bill of Rights, McCarthyism, major decisions of the Warren Court, Lyndon Johnson's Great Society)
- aims, activities, strategies, ideals, and consequences of the struggle for African American rights (e.g., Brown v. Board of Education, the Montgomery bus boycott, the sit-in movement, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, civil unrest in Detroit and other cities)
- social and political activism (e.g., the feminist movement, the American Indian Movement, the Hispanic rights movement, the Asian American movement, the counterculture, the environmental movement)
- major figures (e.g., George Kennan, Thurgood Marshall, Rachel Carson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Betty Friedan, Cesar Chavez, Barry Goldwater)
Objective 016—Understand major events and developments in U.S. history during Era 8, the post–World War II United States, 1970 to 1989; and Era 9, America in a new global age, 1990 to the present.
Includes:
- major political events and developments (e.g., Watergate, the decline of liberalism and the rise of the conservative movement, significant Supreme Court decisions, the role of regional differences in national politics)
- issues and developments in U.S. foreign policy (e.g., the Camp David Accords, the Iran hostage crisis, the end of the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, 9/11 and the U.S. response to terrorism, the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, nuclear proliferation)
- economic developments (e.g., Reaganomics, deindustrialization and the shift toward a service economy, information technology and the computer revolution, globalization)
- social developments (e.g., demographic change and population shifts, continuing struggles for civil rights, changing patterns of immigration, increased disparities in income and wealth)
- major figures (e.g., Jimmy Carter, Jesse Jackson, Ronald Reagan, Jerry Falwell, Bill Gates, Henry Kissinger, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama)
- developments in literature, the arts, popular culture, science, and technology in the United States
Subarea 4—INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES
Objective 017—Understand basic geographic concepts and the physical features of the earth.
Includes:
- basic geographic terms and concepts (e.g., region, interdependence, assimilation, demographic cycle, cultural diffusion) and their application to geographic issues and problems in the United States and major world regions
- the five fundamental themes of geography (i.e., location, place, human–environment interaction, movement, and region)
- the six essential elements of geography (i.e., the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical systems, human systems, environment and society, and the uses of geography)
- basic properties (e.g., grid systems, symbols, scales) and uses of maps, globes, and projections
- the shape, location, and significant features of major landmasses and bodies of water in the United States and major world regions
- uses of geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, global positioning systems (GPS), and other tools to acquire, process, and communicate information about the United States and major world regions
- resources used in geographic research (e.g., atlases, almanacs, aerial surveys, satellite imagery, meteorological tables)
Objective 018—Understand the relationship between geography and history.
Includes:
- how physical factors such as climate, topography, and natural resources have influenced historical events and developments
- the role of cultural factors such as language, religion, and ethnicity in cooperation and conflict between groups and nations
- how historical events and developments (e.g., territorial conquest, imperialism and colonization, technological innovation) have shaped the human and physical geography of the world
- the environmental consequences of major world processes and events
- how processes such as population growth, economic development, resource use, international trade, and global communication have affected different world regions
- comparison of major world regions with respect to cultures, environments, economies, and transportation and communication systems
- important hemispheric interactions and cross-regional developments throughout world history
Objective 019—Understand basic economic concepts and the relationship between economics and history.
Includes:
- basic economic terms, concepts, and economic indicators (e.g., scarcity, opportunity cost, economic incentives, competition, specialization, forms of unemployment, circular flow and the national economy, gross domestic product, consumer price index)
- basic characteristics of a free market economic system and similarities and differences between major economic systems
- basic principles and components of international economics (e.g., the concept of comparative advantage, the principles of free trade and protectionism, international trade agreements, exchange rates), and the changing relationship between the U.S. economy and the global economy
- the application of core economic principles (e.g., people choose, all choices involve cost, people respond to incentives in predictable ways) to historical and contemporary economic issues
- shifting patterns of economic activity and the rise of different economic systems during the major eras of world and U.S. history
- major events and developments in U.S. history that have shaped the U.S. economic system (e.g., slavery and the development of the southern plantation economy, the settlement of the trans-Appalachian West, the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War II)
- major economic turning points in world history that have influenced the development of human civilizations (e.g., the Agricultural Revolution, the Commercial Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the Communications Revolution)
Objective 020—Understand basic political science concepts and the relationship between political science and history.
Includes:
- basic political science terms and concepts (e.g., sovereignty, authority, balance of power, judicial review, reserved and concurrent powers, social contract theory)
- documents related to the origins of American constitutional government and the development of democratic values and ideals (e.g., Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, the Mayflower Compact, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Federalist Papers, the Gettysburg Address, the Atlantic Charter, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the equal rights amendment)
- basic principles (e.g., federalism, rule of law, limited government) and major components of the U.S. Constitution and the Michigan Constitution
- purposes, organization, and functions of government in the United States at the federal, state, and local levels and relationships between different levels of government
- political parties and the U.S. political process (e.g., the origin and evolution of political parties and their influence; the U.S. electoral system; how interest groups, the media, individuals, and public opinion shape the public agenda)
- chronology and causes of governmental transitions throughout the various eras of world and U.S. history
- major events and developments in U.S. and world history that have shaped the evolution of political thought and governmental institutions (e.g., Athenian democracy, the European Enlightenment, the Great Depression, World War II)
- the influence of major political ideas and developments on U.S. and world history (e.g., representative government and the American Revolution, the Leninist concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat and the growth of totalitarianism)
Objective 021—Understand core democratic values, recognize the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic society, and apply methods for analyzing public policy questions.
Includes:
- core democratic values of America's constitutional republic (e.g., the Bill of Rights, individual rights, justice for all, equal opportunity, respect and appreciation for diversity, patriotism) and ways in which pivotal decisions and major debates in U.S. history reflect core democratic values
- responsibilities of citizens in a democratic society (e.g., how an individual's actions affect other people, how one acts in accordance with the rule of law, how one acts in a virtuous and responsible way as a member of society, how individuals in history demonstrated democratic values and virtues)
- steps in the decision-making and problem-solving processes (e.g., identifying decisions to be made or problems to be solved, gathering information, identifying alternative courses of action)
- ways of engaging in constructive conversation about matters of public concern (e.g., clarifying issues, considering opposing views, applying core democratic values, anticipating consequences, working toward making decisions)
- reasoned and informed decision making on public issues (e.g., stating issues clearly, tracing the origins of issues, analyzing various perspectives people bring to public policy debates, recognizing factors to be considered when formulating resolutions to public issues, evaluating possible solutions)
- criteria used to analyze evidence and position statements (e.g., logical validity, factual accuracy and/or omission, emotional appeal, credibility, unstated assumptions, logical fallacies, distortions, appeals to bias or prejudice)
- ways of composing coherent essays that express positions on public issues supported by reasoned arguments and pertinent evidence