Indiana Social Studies S.4.4

Social StudiesGrades 9–12Social Stratification

The Standard

Distinguish between the terms role, status, and esteem.

2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students identify a person’s position in a group, the actions expected of that person, and the respect others give them. They use details in a scenario to tell these apart.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student labels “team captain” as a status, “leads warm-ups” as a role, and “teammates respect her” as esteem. They can explain how a captain might lose respect without losing the title.
Common Misconceptions: Students may use status to mean popularity or mistake a job title for the actions the job requires. They may assume a high position guarantees respect. Some confuse esteem with self-esteem rather than respect from others.
How to Assess It: A club president is expected to run meetings, but members no longer respect her. On an exit ticket, have students label her title, expected task, and members’ opinion as status, role, or esteem.

Lesson moves

Give pairs cards reading “club president,” “runs meetings,” and “members admire her”; have them place each under status, role, or esteem.
Ask: Can a team captain keep the title but lose teammates’ respect? What changes, and what stays the same?
Read six school scenarios aloud, and have students hold up a status, role, or esteem card for each.
Bring a grocery cashier job ad and a customer thank-you note; mark the job title, listed duties, and words of respect.

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