Using data from a national social studies survey, the authors examined instructional trends among Illinois elementary and middle school social studies teachers. The authors found that teachers preferred whole-group and teacher-centered instructional strategies over more active, student-centered methods. While surveyed teachers predominately…

Using data from the National Center for Educational Statistics research spanning fifteen years, researchers examined the impact of national educational policy implementation on the role of social studies in elementary schools. Specifically, with the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2007 and the continuation of federal-mandated…

As a graduate student in a teacher-training program, I saw firsthand the gulf between the methods suggested by my professors and classroom practices that are didactic and lack depth. My concern over these issues has led me to examine research related to them, and the findings suggest that the perception that social studies is in trouble is very…

This article illustrates the challenges of teaching curriculum within the guidelines of No Child Left Behind. Nine school teachers write and speak about their experiences, what influences their curriculum choices, and how they attempt to incorporate social studies in the elementary classroom. The teachers completed a background survey, wrote about…

Since the inception of mandated testing in reading and mathematics, social studies instruction has been marginalized in elementary and middle schools. After the genesis of several state-mandated testing programs and nearly a decade after the launch of the No Child Left Behind legislation, the effects of limited K-8 social studies instruction are…

The author shares the challenges faced in her social studies methods class due to the constraints of NCLB. By incorporating the jackdaw kit project within her social studies methods course, her candidates were able to connect what they were talking about in methods and apply it to their students teaching situations where there was little time for…

Religion plays an important role in social studies content and is difficult to ignore, especially because of current world events. In our global society, it is more important than ever to know about and understand the religious beliefs of others. The social studies curriculum is infused with religion, but teachers circumvent the issue, mistakenly…

Researchers have been documenting the unfortunate status of social studies in the elementary classroom since the 1980s (J. Stark 1987), and although a lack of teacher interest, poor instructional methods, and the No Child Left Behind Act may be the current contributing factors, these factors should be viewed as just the tip of the iceberg. The…

Elementary social studies has used the same scope and sequence for more than a half century despite significant changes in society. Efforts to reform the curriculum are adversely impacted by inertia, tradition, the culture wars, traditional state autonomy in setting curriculum, publishers, and competition between disciplines for space within the…

Finding examples of exemplary social studies teaching in elementary schools is often challenging due to teachers' responsibilities for teaching many different subjects, their preparation as subject-matter generalists, the sixty-year prevalence of teacher-centered social studies instruction, and the institutional pressure to "cover" the…

In this article, the author examines how the idea (and ideal) of nation continues to serve as a directive for social studies education. He proposes discussing what a critical approach to understanding nation (and the historical narratives that define nation) might look like in the classrooms and what the stakes are for social studies educators,…