NY Social Studies 8.9d

Social Studies8th GradeKey Idea 8.9

The Standard

Economic recession during the 1970s and concerns about the growth and size of the federal government encouraged fiscal conservatives to push for changes in regulation and policy.

New York State K–12 Social Studies Framework

Key Idea 8.9

DOMESTIC POLITICS AND REFORM: The civil rights movement and the Great Society were attempts by people and the government to address major social, legal, economic, and environmental problems. Subsequent economic recession called for a new economic program. (Standards: 1, 4, 5; Themes: TCC, SOC, CIV, ECO)

Teacher's field guide

What This Standard Means

What Students Need to Do: Students explain why inflation, unemployment, and slow growth increased support for lower taxes, less regulation, and reduced federal spending. They examine Reagan and George H. W. Bush policies and connect their goals to effects on different groups.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students can read a budget or tax chart, identify a policy change, and state its intended economic effect. They can explain who benefited, who faced cuts, and whether the results matched supporters’ claims.
Common Misconceptions: Students often assume tax cuts automatically reduce federal deficits or that every federal program was cut equally. They may confuse deregulation with ending all rules and treat Reagan and Bush policies as identical.
How to Assess It: Give students a chart showing tax rates, social spending, and federal deficits in 1980 and 1988. Ask them to identify one policy goal and one tradeoff supported by the data.

Lesson moves

Ways to Teach It

Have pairs sort cards labeled recession, tax cuts, program cuts, deregulation, growth, and deficits into cause, policy, intended result, and tradeoff.
Ask students to write: Should economic growth take priority over funding social programs during a recession? Use two facts to support your answer.
Play a policy consequence matching game where teams pair Reagan or Bush actions with intended results and possible effects on households.
Give students a current headline about taxes or government spending and ask them to identify the goal, affected groups, and likely tradeoff.

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