Alabama Social Studies SS24.US2.18b
The Standard
- SS24.US2.18
- Analyze the shifts in United States foreign policy and challenges to it after the Cold War and into the twenty-first century.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the United States’ response to the September 11 attacks, including the war in Afghanistan, creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and passage of the USA PATRIOT Act.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students judge how well three responses to September 11 worked: the war in Afghanistan, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and the PATRIOT Act. They use evidence about safety, privacy, costs, and long-term results.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain a result and a limitation of each response. They can support a judgment with evidence, such as the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 or concerns about government access to private records.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat the Taliban government’s fall in 2001 as proof the war succeeded for good. They may confuse the Department of Homeland Security with the PATRIOT Act. Some assume expanded surveillance either stopped every threat or had no effect.
How to Assess It
- On an exit ticket, ask: Which response was most effective, and by what measure? Name one piece of evidence and one cost or limitation.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs evidence slips on airport screening, access to private records, and the Taliban’s 2021 return; have them sort security gains and costs.
Ask: Was expanded access to private records worth the privacy cost? Write a claim and support it with one fact.
Display claims and evidence snippets about Afghanistan, Homeland Security, and the PATRIOT Act; students vote supported, unsupported, or mixed.
Show a TSA airport screening sign; ask students to name one safety goal, one traveler cost, and the agency responsible.
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Related Standards
- SS24.US2.7c
Evaluate the effectiveness of United States strategies in the war, including the decision to utilize atomic weapons on Japan.
- SS24.CWI.4
Compare and contrast the functions and powers of United States government entities which shape official responses to international issues and events.
- SS24.5.15
Trace the United States’ military involvement in international conflicts since 1980, including those following the September 11 attacks.
- SS24.WH.16c
Evaluate the causes of terrorist movements from the 1970s into the 2000s, including the September 11 attacks, and government responses to them.
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