The basics of social studies are ill defined because there is little data available on which social studies goals teachers value and which they feel are best achieved. To obtain this data an instrument was developed in two forms. Form A was composed of 25 goal items from five areas in which social studies goals were commonly espoused: citizenship, history, social sciences, issues, and social studies skills. One hundred two semirural elementary and secondary teachers indicated the degree to which they believed each goal should be achieved and the degree to which they are achieved. Form B contained five additional items under the new category "world". Also, teachers were asked to select from 30 goals the ten most important and the ten least important. Form B was given to 153 upper middle class suburban area teachers. High reliabilities were reported and the instrument was deemed useful in identifying teacher perceptions of social studies goals. The findings indicated general agreement concerning social studies goals identified by semirural secondary and elementary teachers. Both suburban and semirural teachers moderately agreed that what should be taught is taught. (BC)