This article begins with an overview of elementary social studies, considering its purposes and goals, historical and contemporary controversies about learner readiness and curriculum content, and commonly reported problems with textbooks and time pressures. It then considers proposed reforms, first considering approaches recommended by others and…

Despite scholarly disagreement about the nature and purposes of social studies education, the most widely adopted elementary social studies textbook series tend to be remarkably uniform, consisting of compendia of facts organized within the expanding communities curriculum structure. Content selection and explication tend to be guided primarily by…

Issues relating to the design, selection, and evaluation of learning activities have been relatively neglected in educational research and scholarship. This paper identified some fundamental questions in need of scholarly attention, reviews recent research findings, and then offers a conceptual analysis and a tentative list of principles that…

Reviews criticism of elementary social studies textbooks, focusing on how the written text, the pictures, and graphics often seem unrelated. Asserts that the inclusion and use of literature selections in K-3 social studies textbooks is a newly emerging strategy. (CFR)

A major problem with most contemporary social studies textbook series is that they cannot see the forest for the trees. Instead of being designed to accomplish major, long-term goals that reflect the purpose of social education, they have been constructed to cover long lists of topics and skills found in state and district curriculum guidelines.…

This booklet presents a synthesis of the principles of effective teaching that have emerged from research in classrooms. It addresses generic aspects of curriculum, instruction, and assessment as well as classroom organization and management practices that support effective instruction. It focuses on learning outcomes, but recognizes the need for…