Secondary Social Studies Teachers’ Time Commitment when Addressing the Common Core State Standards

Year 2015, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 26 - 48, 28.05.2015

Joshua Kenna William Russell Iıı

https://doi.org/10.17499/jsser.37219

Cited By: 3

Abstract

In 2010 the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were officially released in America for mathematics and English language arts and soon adopted by 45 of the 50 states. However, within the English langue arts domain there were standards intended for secondary social studies teachers under the title, Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects. Moreover, the CCSS have been advertised as being able to transform the way teachers teach. That is, social studies teachers are expected to alter their instructional practices as a direct result of the implementation of the CCSS. Therefore, this study examined, using a self-reporting survey, whether the instructional practices of secondary social studies teachers in one Southeastern state had been “transformed” by the CCSS.

Keywords

Standards, Social Studies, Testing, Common Core, Teaching

References

• Ahn, R. & Class, M. (2011). Student-centered pedagogy: Co-construction of knowledge through student-generated midterm exams. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 23(2), 269-281.
• Anderson, N. (2010, March 10). Common set of school standards to be proposed; Achievement is chief goal Governors, state chiefs develop blueprint. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2010/03/10/AR2010031000024.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR
• Barksdale-Ladd, M. A., & Thomas, K. F. (2000). What's at stake in high-stakes testing: Teachers and parents speak out. Journal of Teacher Education, 57(3), 384-397.
• Barton, K., & Levstik, L. (2003). Why don’t more history teachers engage students in interpretation? Social Education, 67, 358–361.
• Beck, D. & Eno, J. (2012). Signature pedagogy: A literature review of social studies and technology research. Computers in the Schools, 29:70–94
• Caron, E. J. (2005). What leads to the fall of a great empire? Using central questions to design issues-based history units. Social Studies, 96(2), 51.
• Chudowsky, N., & Pellegrino, J. W. (2003). Large-scale assessments that support learning: What will it take? Theory into Practice, 42, 75–83.
• Cimbricz, S. (2002). State-mandated testing and teachers’ beliefs and practice Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 10(2). Retrieved from http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/281
• Conley, D. (2011). Building on the common core. Educational Leadership, (68)6, 16-20.
• Creswell, J. (2005) Educational research: planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
• Dillman, D. A., Smyth, J. D., & Christian, L. M. (2009). Internet, mail, and mixed-mode surveys: The tailored-design method. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons.
• Education Week. 2006. Quality counts, January 5.
• Fischer, C., Boi, L., & Pribesh, S. (2011). An investigation of higher-orderthinking skills in smaller learning community social studies classrooms. American Secondary Education, 39(2), 5–26.
• Florida Department of Education. (2012, September). Common core and the classroom: What can I expect for my child in the classroom? Just for Parents, (1)3, 1-3. Retrieved from http://www.fldoe.org/newsletter/JustForParents/2012/JFP_September_Newsletter.pdf
• Florida Department of Education. (2015). End-of-course (EOC) assessments. Retrieved from http://www.fldoe.org/accountability/assessments/k-12-student-assessment/end-of-course- eoc-assessments/
• Heafner, T. L., Lipscomb, G. B., & Fitchett, P. G. (2014). Instructional practices of elementary social studies teachers in North and South Carolina. Journal of Social Studies Research, 38(1), 15-31.
• Horn, C. (2006). The technical realities of measuring history. In S. G. Grant (Ed.), Measuring history: Cases of state-level testing across the United States (pp.105-132). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.