The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) reminds local school district personnel that, pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 6-16-121, teachers should be incorporating African-American history into the social studies curriculum. February is Black History Month; this would be an excellent time to emphasize the contributions that minorities have made to society and history. The ADE Web site does have an extensive listing of resources for African-American studies, which was compiled by the Black History Task Force and can be accessed at http://arkansased.org/teachers/africanamerican/african_american_studies.html. In addition, the ADE Web site has a link to the African-American History Makers Coloring Book provided by the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission available at http://arkansased.org/teachers/resources.html.
The attachment to this memo contains additional resources for incorporating African-American history into the social studies curriculum throughout the year. These resources are also posted on the Arkansas Council of Social Studies (ACSS) list serve at http://list.k12.ar.us/mailman/listinfo/acss.