The primary purpose of this Guide is to provide a blueprint for the development, revision, and implementation of state social studies standards. The process described herein offers opportunities for a range of stakeholder groups to engage in discussions around promising approaches and strategies that strategically advance implementation goals. It also offers stakeholders a common language that brings clarity and efficiency to discussions around standards development and implementation. Additionally, this guide offers tools that state education agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs) can use to analyze and assess the current status of implementation, create data-driven plans for improvement, and access resources to advance implementation goals. This work is both unique and useful because it presents a process that guides SEA and LEA staff through critical steps in the development and implementation of state social studies standards--steps based on the experiences of state social studies specialists, research, understanding of local contexts, and detailed analyses of factors known to impact implementation. The guidance provided in this document offers flexibility to SEAs and LEAs, which can select from the research-based or promising practices that appear most appropriate for their local contexts.