Predictive validity was explored between vocabulary matching (VM) probe scores and the "integrated" Louisiana Education Assessment Program (iLEAP) social studies standardized subtest score for 224 sixth-grade students across demographic categories from one rural southeastern Louisiana school district. Multiple Linear Regression (MLR)…

Today, big countries and other countries inside their axes have entered power wars in regions where underground and aboveground sources are important. One of the characteristics of countries where these power wars take place is them not being able to understand the current world politics and elements of political geography. These countries cannot…

This paper presents web research strategies for teachers and students to use in building Dramatic Event, Historical Biography, and Influential Literature wiki pages for history/social studies learning. Dramatic Events refer to milestone or turning point moments in history. Historical Biographies and Influential Literature pages feature…

This study aimed at examining the self-efficacy perceptions of social studies teacher candidates with respect to educational internet use. This research was conducted on a sample of 174 social studies teacher candidates enrolled in Gaziantep University Nizip Faculty of Education. The "Educational Internet Self-Efficacy Scale," developed…

This present study aims to describe the classroom teachers' views towards the conformity of elementary school 4th grade social studies textbooks to the critical thinking standards. A descriptive study, this research is a screening model. The sample of the study constitutes 122 classroom teachers. As a data collection tool; a scale was developed…

Growing numbers of educators are using social media platforms to connect with other educators to form professional learning networks. These networks serve as alternative sources of professional development for teachers who seek to enrich their professional growth beyond school-based programs. This study aims to add to the small but growing body of…

Critical and higher order thinking is essential to education, but it is not clear what teachers understand this to mean and what role this has in their instruction. We interviewed 38 teachers in Kindergarten to Grade 9 classrooms from 14 schools in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, to obtain their understandings of critical and higher order…

For almost a decade, Nigeria has been facing serious peace and security challenges. The different ethnic nationalities have wedged one form of violent confrontation or the other against the federal government. Peace has been elusive. Beginning with the Niger-Delta militancy in the South-South to the on-going Boko Haram insurgency in the North East…

We describe teacher fidelity (adherence to the components of the treatment as specified by the research team) based on a series of studies of a multicomponent intervention, Promoting Acceleration of Comprehension and Content Through Text (PACT), with middle and high school social studies teachers and their students. Findings reveal that even with…

Rather than just teach students facts about history, high school social studies teacher Amy Presley searched for ways to create meaningful experiences they would remember forever. This article describes how she found a group of social studies educators using a Twitter hashtag as a way to share resources and improve her teaching skills. Energized…

The classroom with its teaching-learning dynamics creates a kind of "embryonic society" in which the micro-policies of collective social knowledge construction and meaning can be re-constructed; therefore, it can be considered as a kind of "mirror" of political culture. Thus, comparative lesson research, which requires in-depth…

In response to the marginalization of social studies instruction in U.S. elementary schools, these teacher educators developed a study to explore the impact that service-learning might have on the preparation of elementary teacher candidates. These authors specifically designed a study in which elementary teacher candidates created and implemented…

Drawing from a theory of racial literacy and literature on the post-racial phenomenon after the 2008 election, this case study examines how high school students of color have learned about Barack Obama as a racial and political figure. Findings suggest that schools can be unfriendly spaces for learning about these topics, with history and social…

In this article, the authors introduce a series of interconnected, inquiry-based activities from a fifth grade social studies curriculum, "My Place in Time and Space," which was developed in part through a Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Regional Grant Program--Eastern Region. These activities are designed to…

Social studies teachers often find themselves in search of professional development that transforms lessons from facts, figures, and boldfaced vocabulary to lessons that develop the sophisticated thinking skills students need to make sense of the social issues of one's everyday world. Furthermore, teachers want their own learning to be similar to…