Indiana Social Studies USG.5.9
The Standard
Analyze and evaluate landmark Supreme Court opinions concerning civil rights and civil liberties, and explain their constitutional foundations, historical context, and development over time.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students read short excerpts from Supreme Court opinions on equal protection and free speech. They explain which amendment the judges used, how events at the time shaped the ruling, and how later rulings changed it.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain how Brown rejected Plessy's reasoning about segregation under the Fourteenth Amendment. They can also compare two free speech rulings and point to words in each opinion that support their explanation.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think a ruling changed conditions everywhere as soon as it was issued. They may also assume the Court has always interpreted an amendment the same way, or confuse a judge's dissent with the Court's ruling.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Why did Brown reject Plessy's approach to segregation? Name the amendment, describe one condition at the time of Brown, and give one limit of the ruling's immediate effect.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs dated case cards and opinion excerpts for Plessy, Brown, Schenck, and Brandenburg; have them build two timelines showing what changed.
Ask students to write: Which part of Brown's reasoning challenged Plessy, and what could the ruling not change right away?
Play a matching round with case facts, amendment cards, and ruling cards; require students to explain each match before keeping it.
Give students a school protest policy and a Tinker excerpt; ask whether the policy fits the ruling and what facts matter.
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Related Standards
- USG.2.3
Analyze and interpret central ideas on government, individual rights, and the common good in founding documents of the United States.
- USH.7.7
Assess the decisions of the Supreme Court, especially those which address the contests among individual citizens, workers, and corporations.
- USG.5.3
Identify and describe the civil and constitutional rights found in the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, and describe how they are expanded by deci...
- USH.6.9
Identify and analyze the significance of key decisions of the Warren Court.
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