Indian Prairie School District 204 is moving toward teaching U.S. History not solely in chronological order, but organized around four key themes to make the story of America’s past more relevant.
U.S. History is one of two high school courses proposed to be updated for the 2026-27 school year, along with French 3. Administrators shared details with the school board during Monday’s meeting, saying the proposed updates will align these courses with state standards and district goals for student achievement.
Thematic approach to American history
For U.S. History, “fairly large revisions were made,” for the first time in about a decade, since course updates were delayed during COVID, said Michael Purcell, the district’s director of high school curriculum.
Aside from aligning lessons to updates in state law, the main change involves the order in which material is presented, Purcell said.
High school history students often point out that they don’t learn about anything remotely current — nothing during their grandparents’ lifetime, even — until after spring break. By switching to a thematic model, in which the course will be broken into four themes and taught chronologically within each theme, teachers will gain more opportunities to connect to students’ current lives, said Don Pankuch, social studies department chairman at Metea Valley High School.
“By going to this model, we talk about more relevant information for students,” Pankuch said.
Themes within the new curriculum would include The Promise of America, American Capitalism, American Global Leadership and America’s Identity.
“We’re really excited about the instructional possibilities for engagement and really making connections, which is what history is all about,” Purcell said. “Really making connections over time.”
French 3 with new resources
Since French 1 and 2 have recently been updated, administrators now want to bring the third year of French language instruction in line, Purcell said.
The proposed updates would include using a new textbook and online resources that highlight authentic native speaking and French cultures throughout the world, including in places such as Haiti. The course would develop skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening, as well as factual knowledge about French towns and cities, news and media, human rights and politics, diversity and social change.
Next steps for proposed course updates
Administrators are seeking school board approval of both the proposed course updates and new resources to support the lessons during the board’s next meeting on Nov. 17.
Proposed for U.S. History is the 2025 edition of a textbook called U.S. History Interactive, which comes with six years of digital access for $135,864.
Pankuch said the digital resource will allow teachers to create a playlist of sorts out of source material to effectively reorganize the textbook in line with the four themes of instruction. Parents and staff members who assist students, especially those with special needs, would also be able to access the online platform to provide support.
For French 3, administrators propose purchasing textbooks and six years of digital access to a resource called D’Accord — Level 3 for $40,429.
The proposed course revisions and new materials are now open for public comment until the Nov. 17 meeting.
If you have a story idea, we want to hear from you!
