Geography as a separate subject lost ground in the secondary school curriculum after the Korean War. A High School Geography Project stressing urban themes was developed in the late 1960s, but faded by the mid-1970s. A 1980s renaissance, spurred by educational reform mandates, seems a promising development. Includes seven references. (MLH)

The kindergarten-primary age child is introduced to law by studying rules, with the stressed concepts being those of leadership, fairness, and responsibility. (MJB)

To improve the teaching of thinking skills, social studies teachers need to identify and select a few key skills on which to focus continuously throughout the K-12 social studies curricula. They also need to identify the attributes of these skills. A model skill description is included. (RM)

Describes the San Francisco Unified School District's Educational Redesign Plan with respect to social studies and global education. The new curriculum is global in outlook, multicultural in focus, and emphasizes basic competencies. (KC)

This pamphlet has been prepared as a practical tool to be used by educators and community people who want to strengthen the relationship between multicultural education and the basic skills. A model for multicultural education in the basic skills is provided for the following grade levels: K-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12. For each of these grade levels,…

Presents an alternative scope and sequence for the social studies. Offers an integrated social science and humanities approach, placing history and geography at the center of the curriculum. Scrapping the prevailing pattern of repeated history surveys, the proposed alternative emphasizes a different historical period at each grade level to give…

Reviews various movements since 1960 to alter the social studies syllabus for New York State and suggests that an effective way to meet student needs today in the areas of social studies and basic skills would be to restructure the seventh- and eighth-grade curriculum into a two-year American history program. (DB)

The purposes of this paper are to identify the current trends in social studies curriculum and teaching strategies and to make some projections about the future. Three conflicting movements, or paradoxes, are identified. The first paradox is the back-to-the-basics movement vs. an expanded curriculum. This is due to conservative reactions to…

This list of essential skills for social studies emerged from a statewide effort to identify a scope and sequence of content, concepts, and skills in social studies from kindergarten through grade eight and for the United States History course at the high school level. These skills are meant to be included in the curriculum along with concepts and…

Describes a study conducted in 1975 by the University of Texas to identify basic skills needed for adulthood. Identifies five knowledge areas for required skills, reports results of competency testing of 7,500 adult subjects in the five areas, and reviews implications for life skills instruction in the schools. (AV)

Some educators applaud this effort to provide guidance to school systems; others, however, are not pleased with the guidelines. Reasons for negative reactions include: lack of rationale, narrow scope, conservative tone, lack of attention to research concerning developmental learning stages, and the reactionary nature of the report. (RM)

The paper suggests ways to coordinate basic social studies skills to achieve the goal of developing reasoning ability in elementary and secondary students. The first three sections present a rationale for teaching the reasoning process in the social studies curriculum. The author stresses that in order to be an effective thinker, one should be…

Contends that decisions about scope and sequence are most appropriately made by local curriculum committees and teachers. Provides guidance for this work by identifying four goals for the K-12 social studies curriculum, along with seven major themes, including social history, cultural heritage, and development of a global perspective. Key…

Maintains that the extraordinary privileges and responsibilities attached to contemporary and future United States citizenship demands a more global approach to social studies. Proposes four essential elements and three major themes to set the boundary for the scope of the social studies. Provides an illustrative example of appropriate grade level…

This publication responds to a paper by Judith Stecher which strongly urges that a law related/humanities curriculum be included at the elementary school level. Currently most elementary teachers are concentrating their efforts on just two skills--reading and computing. A recent study of elementary schools in the northern counties of California,…