Georgia SS8H11.a
The Standard
Explain Georgia's response to Brown v. Board of Education including the 1956 flag and the Sibley Commission.
Georgia Standards of Excellence for Social Studies · Evaluate the role of Georgia in the modern civil rights movement.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students trace Georgia’s political resistance to school desegregation after the Supreme Court ruling. They explain how the redesigned state flag and the Sibley Commission reflected different responses to federal pressure.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students place the court ruling, 1956 flag change, and Sibley Commission in order. They explain that the flag became a symbol of resistance, while the commission recommended limited local compliance rather than statewide school closure.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think Georgia schools integrated immediately or that the Sibley Commission supported rapid, full integration. They may also assume the Confederate battle emblem had always appeared on Georgia’s flag.
How to Assess It
- Give students three event cards: the court ruling, the flag change, and the Sibley Commission. Ask them to order the cards and explain each response in one sentence.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Students sort photographs, speech excerpts, and hearing statements into resistance, delay, or limited compliance, then defend each choice with evidence.
Ask students to write: How did Georgia leaders resist desegregation while avoiding the closure of all public schools?
Teams race to arrange event cards, then earn points by correctly explaining each event’s cause and effect.
Students examine a local school integration timeline and compare its dates with Georgia’s statewide political responses.
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Printable SS8H11.a Worksheet
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Related Standards
- SS8H6.d
Examine reasons for and effects of the removal of African American or Black legislators from the Georgia General Assembly during Reconstruction.
- SS8H11
Evaluate the role of Georgia in the modern civil rights movement.
- SS8H6
Analyze the impact of Reconstruction on Georgia.
- SS8H5
Analyze the impact of the Civil War on Georgia.
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