Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2018, Curriculum and Instruction (Education)

Teacher perceptions of fourth-grade students' readiness to learn Ohio's fourth-grade social studies standards were explored through this sequential explanatory mixed methods study. Implementation of Ohio's new reading policies in the lower elementary may have had an unintended future impact on the teaching of social studies in the upper elementary grades. The implementation of these policies in the third grade continues to increase the marginalization of social studies instruction. If Ohio's third-grade social studies teachers do not explicitly teach the readiness standards, the burden falls to the fourth-grade teachers. Initially, the research focus of this study of the marginalization of social studies in the upper elementary was its potential impact on the readiness of students to successfully pass the fourth grade state-mandated social studies test. However, after the quantitative phase of this study was completed, the Ohio legislature made the decision to eliminate the fourth-grade social studies year-end test. Nonetheless the findings emphasize the importance of strong school-wide social studies curricula across Ohio as well as inform policy makers in states that currently have both reading guarantees and social studies assessments that student readiness has a significant impact on social studies instruction at the next grade level.

Committee: Frans Doppen Dr. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Early Childhood Education; Education; Education Policy; Social Studies Education; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, EDU Teaching and Learning

This is a descriptive study that describes the teacher educators that teach the early and middle childhood social studies methods courses in Ohio colleges and universities. The specific purpose of this study was to investigate: 1) How do we know if the teacher educators teaching the early and middle childhood social studies methods courses are grounded in the importance of social studies?, 2) What actions in the early and middle childhood social studies methods course do the early and middle childhood social studies teacher educators in the study describe as advocacy for elementary school social studies?, and 3) How do these teacher educators teach their students to respond to the marginalization of elementary school social studies? The study also focused on identifying ways teacher educators are advocating for elementary social studies in early and middle childhood social studies methods courses in an era when content disciplines are competing for pedagogical time. To collect data the researcher used a survey research design through an on-line data collection service called SurveyMonkey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/). The participant list consisted of 84 teacher educators from 45 Ohio colleges and universities offering an accredited undergraduate teacher preparation program that leads to licensure to teach social studies in elementary school classrooms (grades Kindergarten through five) in the state of Ohio. The questionnaire, titled Advocating for Elementary Social Studies: Where does it Begin?, consisted of two sections: a) Participant Demographics and Background Data and b) Professional Viewpoints. The researcher used a five-step process to increase response rate; 51 responses (61%) was collected. The statistical package used to perform the data analysis in this study was the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 17 for Windows. The study includes implications for Teacher Preparation Programs and recommendations for further research of early (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Cynthia Tyson (Advisor); Charles Hancock (Committee Member); Barbara Seidl (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Elementary Education; Social Studies Education; Teacher Education