The following standards have been taken from the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McRel) standards.

Students will work in groups to:

• Understand the importance of equality of opportunity and equal protection of the law as a characteristic of American society.
• Understand the important factors that have helped shape American society.
• Know ways in which Americans have attempted to make the values and principles of the U.S. Constitution a reality.
• Understand the significance of fundamental values and principles for the individual and society.
• Know the historical and contemporary efforts put forth to reduce discrepancies between ideals and the reality of American public life.
• Know how various individual, social, and political actions have helped to reduce discrepancies between reality and the ideals of American constitutional democracy.
• Know different types of primary and secondary sources and the motives, interests, and biases they express.
• Analyze the values held by specific people who influence history and the role their values played in influencing history.
• Evaluate the validity and credibility of different historical interpretations.
• Use a variety of resource materials, including various primary sources, to gather information for research topics.
• Use a variety of criteria to evaluate the validity and reliability of primary and secondary source information.
• Synthesize information from multiple research studies to draw conclusions that go beyond those found in any of the individual studies.
• Use criteria to evaluate own and others' effectiveness in group discussions and formal presentations and evaluate the clarity and accuracy of information.
• Understand elements of persuasion and appeal in spoken texts.
• Understand the use of stereotypes and biases in visual media.
• Analyze complex elements of plot in specific literary works.
• Understand how themes are used across literary works and genres.
• Understand the effects of author's style and complex literary devices and techniques on the overall quality of a work.
• Understand the relationships between literature and its historical period, culture, and society.
• Understand inferred and recurring themes in literary works.
• Understand writing techniques used to influence the reader and accomplish an author's purpose.
• Understand the philosophical assumptions and basic beliefs underlying an author's work.