ERIC Number: EJ963738
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1555-5062
EISSN: N/A
Policy in the Way of Practice: How Assessment Legislation Is Affecting Social Studies Curriculum and Instruction in Ohio
Misco, Thomas; Patterson, Nancy; Doppen, Frans
International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership, v6 n7 p1-13 2011
In a national context of standards and high-stakes testing, concerns are emerging about challenges to the already tenuous position of the citizenship mission in the social studies curriculum. In this qualitative study, the authors administered a survey to social studies teachers in Ohio and conducted follow-up interviews focusing on the present purposes of social studies and the ways in which standards and testing are affecting instructional practice. The findings reveal a perception of standards as being of high quality, yet ultimately undermined through changes in scope and sequence, narrowing of the curriculum, and a paucity of time to enact them. In addition, respondents indicated that high-stakes testing has become the primary curricular focus, which impacts instructional strategy decision making and frustrates citizenship education. (Contains 6 tables and 1 footnote.)
Descriptors: Social Studies, Citizenship Education, Secondary School Curriculum, Academic Standards, Testing, High Stakes Tests, Decision Making, Teacher Attitudes, Teacher Surveys, Interviews, Secondary School Teachers
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University, and College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University. Web site: http://journals.sfu.ca/ijepl/index.php/ijepl
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Ohio
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A