Alabama standards alignment

• USG.3

  Covered

  Analyze major features of the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights for purposes, organization, functions, and principles, including rule of law, federalism, limited government, popular sovereignty, judicial review, separation of powers, and checks and balances.

  Covered by

  • US Constitution 101: The Document That Builds the Government
  • State vs Federal Power: How American Government Is Divided
  • US Civics 101: How American Government Works

  • · US Constitution 101, Lessons 2-9 · the Constitution analyzed article by article
  • · US Constitution 101, Lesson 6 · Separation of powers and checks & balances
  • · US Constitution 101, Lesson 7 · Federalism: state and federal power
  • · State vs Federal Power, Lesson 1 · What is federalism, and why split power at all?
  • · US Constitution 101, Lesson 9 · Changing the Constitution: Article V and key later amendments
  • · US Constitution 101, Lesson 8 · The Bill of Rights (Amendments I to X)
  • · US Civics 101, Lesson 4 · The courts and judicial review (Marbury v. Madison)

  Note: The named principles are the spine of the civics ladder: the Constitution worked article by article, separation of powers and checks and balances, federalism, the Article V amendment process, the Bill of Rights, and judicial review through Marbury v. Madison.

• USG.2

  Partially covered

  Summarize the significance of the First and Second Continental Congresses, the Declaration of Independence, Shays' Rebellion, and the Articles of Confederation of 1781 on the writing and ratification of the Constitution of the United States of 1787 and the Bill of Rights of 1791.

  Covered by

  • US Constitution 101: The Document That Builds the Government

  • · US Constitution 101, Lesson 1 · Why a constitution? From the Articles of Confederation
  • · US Constitution 101, Lesson 8 · The Bill of Rights (Amendments I to X)

  What we do and don't cover: Partial: why the Articles of Confederation failed and how that produced the 1787 Constitution and the Bill of Rights is taught squarely (US Constitution 101). The Continental Congresses, the Declaration of Independence, and Shays' Rebellion the standard also names are not taught as their own content.

• USG.4

  Partially covered

  Explain how the federal system of the United States divides powers between national and state governments.

  Covered by

  • State vs Federal Power: How American Government Is Divided
  • US Constitution 101: The Document That Builds the Government

  • · State vs Federal Power, Lesson 1 · What is federalism, and why split power at all?
  • · State vs Federal Power, Lesson 2 · Three kinds of power: enumerated, implied, reserved
  • · State vs Federal Power, Lesson 3 · The enumerated powers: Article I, § 8 (the Necessary and Proper Clause)
  • · State vs Federal Power, Lesson 6 · Concurrent powers: what both levels share
  • · State vs Federal Power, Lesson 7 · McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): implied powers and supremacy
  • · US Constitution 101, Lesson 6 · Separation of powers and checks & balances
  • · US Constitution 101, Lesson 7 · Federalism: state and federal power

  What we do and don't cover: Partial: how power is divided is taught in full (State vs Federal Power: enumerated, implied, reserved, and concurrent powers, with McCulloch v. Maryland). The standard's sub-points on obligations to the states, admitting new states, cooperative federalism, and interstate relations are not treated systematically.

• USG.11

  Partially covered

  Evaluate constitutional provisions of the legislative branch of the government of the United States, including checks by the legislative branch on other branches of government.

  Covered by

  • US Constitution 101: The Document That Builds the Government
  • How a Bill Becomes Law (Federal): From Idea to Public Law
  • US Civics 101: How American Government Works

  • · US Constitution 101, Lessons 3-6 · Articles I-III and checks & balances
  • · How a Bill Becomes Law (Federal) · the whole course, introduction to public law
  • · US Civics 101, Lesson 3 · How a bill becomes a law
  • · US Constitution 101, Lesson 6 · Separation of powers and checks & balances
  • · US Constitution 101, Lesson 7 · Federalism: state and federal power

  What we do and don't cover: Partial: the constitutional provisions of the legislative branch, its checks on the other branches, and the whole legislative process from a bill's presentation to presidential action are taught in full (US Civics 101; How a Bill Becomes Law). The standard's sub-points on Congressional leadership hierarchy (Speaker, President Pro Tempore, whips) and committee types are not the lessons' focus.

• USG.12

  Partially covered

  Evaluate constitutional provisions of the executive branch of the government of the United States, including checks by the executive branch on other branches of government and powers, duties as head of state and head of government, the electoral process, and the Twenty-fifth Amendment.

  Covered by

  • US Constitution 101: The Document That Builds the Government
  • Voting & Elections 101

  • · US Constitution 101, Lessons 3-6 · Articles I-III and checks & balances
  • · US Constitution 101, Lesson 6 · Separation of powers and checks & balances
  • · US Constitution 101, Lesson 7 · Federalism: state and federal power
  • · Voting & Elections 101, Lesson 4 · The Electoral College: how it works
  • · Voting & Elections 101, Lesson 5 · Why the Electoral College exists

  What we do and don't cover: Partial: the executive branch's constitutional provisions, its checks on the other branches, and the electoral process (the Electoral College) are taught. The standard's informal presidential powers, White House staff and Cabinet, and the Twenty-fifth Amendment are not treated as their own content.

What we don't claim

A standards page is only worth reading if the omissions are honest too. We looked at these and left them out:

• Mathematics — nothing. This catalog does no mathematics instruction, so it meets no Alabama mathematics standard (the 2019 Alabama Course of Study: Mathematics, Alabama's own, not Common Core).
• English Language Arts — deferred, not denied. Alabama writes its own ELA standards (the 2021 Alabama Course of Study: English Language Arts, adopted after Alabama left Common Core). This catalog's media-literacy, rhetoric, argument-writing, and source-evaluation teaching would map to Alabama ELA — but our rule is fetch-or-don't-cite, and that document has not been retrieved and transcribed this pass, so we make no Alabama ELA claim yet.
• Science — deferred, not denied. Alabama is NOT an NGSS state. Alabama's science standards are the 2015 Alabama Course of Study: Science, built from the National Research Council Framework with Alabama's own codes — NOT the Next Generation Science Standards. We did not assume otherwise. That document has not been fetched and transcribed this pass, so we make no Alabama science claim; when it is, the two Earth-science claims used elsewhere (resources, hazards, and climate shaping human activity) would be the candidates.
• United States Government standards we checked and do NOT claim. USG.1 (historical and philosophical origins — the Magna Carta, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, and comparing limited and unlimited governments), USG.8 (special-interest groups, PACs, and Buckley v. Valeo), USG.9 (the media's impact on the political and election process — our media-literacy work is consumer protection, not political-media analysis), and USG.10 (the role of political parties) are not genuinely taught by these courses, so we do not claim them.
• Economics standards we checked and do NOT claim. ECON.1 and ECON.2 (scarcity, opportunity cost, and rational decision making as named concepts), ECON.5 (standard of living and productivity), ECON.7 (the organization and role of business, firm types, and market structures), ECON.9 (GDP, CPI, inflation, and unemployment measurement), ECON.10 (the Federal Reserve and monetary policy), and ECON.11 (fiscal policy, deficits, and the national debt) are financial- and macro-economics content this catalog does not teach.
• Health and Physical Education — out of scope for Social Studies this pass. Alabama publishes its own Health Education and Physical Education courses of study. This catalog's dental-health, body-data, and sport-knowledge courses could map to them, but those documents were not fetched this pass; per fetch-or-don't-cite we make no Alabama health or PE claim yet.