This article describes the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) collection of "Essential Social Studies Skills and Strategies" in terms of common approaches to social studies teaching and learning (e.g., informed social criticism, reflective inquiry, transmission). We conducted descriptive and inferential analyses and found that these "essential skills" do not strongly align with common social studies approaches. Rather, these skills are broadly presented and open for interpretation as representative of various school disciplines, most notably language arts. This has the potential to dilute social studies teaching and learning.