This book presents a substantive overview of the issues in curriculum development and implementation faced by social studies educators. The book offers contemporary perspectives on some of the most enduring problems facing the social studies. The collection of essays provides readers with a systematic investigation of a broad range of issues of the curriculum. The volume is divided into three parts with 13 chapters. Part 1, "Purposes of the Social Studies Curriculum," includes: (1) "The Struggle for the Social Studies Curriculum" (E. Wayne Ross); (2) "History as the Core of Social Studies Education" (Michael Whelan); and (3) "The Unique Mission of the Social Studies" (David Warren Saxe). Part 2, "Social Issues and the Social Studies Curriculum," includes: (4) "Social Studies and Feminism" (Nel Noddings); (5) "Gender in Social Education" (Jane Bernard-Powers); (6) "Against the Sovereignty of Origins: Contradictions in the Experience of Racial Inequality in Education and Society" (Cameron McCarthy); and (7) "Multicultural Social Studies: Schools as Places for Examining and Challenging Inequality" (David Hursh). Part 3, "The Social Studies Curriculum in Practice," contains: (8) "Crafting A Culturally Relevant Social Studies Approach" (Gloria Ladson-Billings); (9) "Social Studies and the Arts" (Terrie L. Epstein); (10) "Science in Social Studies: Reclaiming Science for Social Knowledge" (Stephen C. Fleury); (11) "Infusing Global Perspectives into the Social Studies Curriculum" (Merry M. Merryfield); (12) "Teaching Social Issues: Implementing an Issues-Centered Curriculum" (Ronald W. Evans); and (13) "Assessment in Social Studies: Moving Toward Authenticity" (Sandra Mathison). The book contains a list of references for each chapter and information about each of the essay authors. (EH)