Ethnic Studies Curriculum

The Ethnic Studies curriculum is a year-long, ninth-grade course implemented in San Francisco Unified School District high schools. The course focuses on the experiences, perspectives, and histories of traditionally underrepresented ethnic and racial groups, emphasizing themes of social justice, discrimination, stereotypes, and social movements from U.S. history spanning the late 18th century until the 1970s. Students explore their individual identity, family history, and community history, and are required to design and implement service-learning projects based on their study of their local community. The course uses culturally relevant pedagogy to engage students who have previously felt marginalized by traditional curriculum. Students with eighth-grade GPAs below 2.0 were automatically enrolled in the course when they received their course schedule at the start of their ninth-grade year, though they could opt out after consulting with their academic counselor. The curriculum was developed over two years (2007-2009) by ten SFUSD social studies teachers forming the "Ethnic Studies Curriculum Collective" with support from faculty at San Francisco State University's College of Ethnic Studies.