The curriculum content of elementary and secondary school social studies is discussed as it relates to the assessment of social studies learning. In addition, recommendations are made for future efforts in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The social studies curriculum involves both factual learning and concept learning. Topics in grades K-5 generally focus on the: child, family, and school; neighborhood; local community; state and region; and nation. Grades 6-8 usually emphasize world cultures, while high school courses are dominated by history and government. Although the learning of facts is important in social studies, assessment should also indicate whether or not students can use the collection of facts in a meaningful way. Concept learning allows students to organize and relate information, and it facilitates understanding. Concepts vary in their degrees of complexity, abstraction, and differentiation. Concepts may be learned through an informal curriculum or serendipitously, since a great deal of social studies teaching concentrates on facts. Multiple choice tests are not useful in testing students' understanding of concepts. Instead, the pretesting and posttesting of concepts in which students are weak is suggested. NAEP items should ask students to explain, interpret, compare, express relationships, and draw conclusions. (GDC)