This report outlines the current status of the social studies field in three parts: (1) the intellectual history of the social studies, the dominant conceptual approaches in the past, and a new way of looking at the field; (2) the goals and objectives of the social studies, state requirements and mandates, practices of social studies education (textbooks, teaching techniques and strategies, teachers, and supplemental materials); and (3) recommendations of some experts, the state of political knowledge and attitudes of youth, the perceptions of social studies teachers, and the discrepancies between social studies goals and practice. Each of the three sections contains a separate bibliography. The report concludes with recommendations to the Agency for Instructional Television regarding the nature, content, and scope of needed film/video materials in secondary social studies. (Author/LMM)