This handbook was developed to assist secondary social studies department chairpersons and others who are concerned with effective leadership in the social studies. It is a revised edition which discusses a variety of topics and contains many instruments, forms, and checklists which can be duplicated. The handbook is comprised of four major sections. Section I, Personnel and Staff Relations, discusses departmental development and communication between and among department members and contains a staff selection instrument, a checklist for determining the department's capacity to cope with change, and a teacher evaluation report. Section II, Department Organization, discusses scheduling, budgets, and department meetings and describes some group interaction techniques. Section III, which comprises approximately one-half of the publication, deals with curriculum planning and implementation. A model for curriculum change is present and a number of topics are discussed including the curriculum revision process, the change process, workshops, and inservice training institutes, and resource identification. This section also contains an evaluation checklist, textbook and supplementary materials evaluation forms, directions for doing a Fry readability, and a personal self-assessment inventory for social studies teachers. The School in the Community is the topic of Section IV. The need for interaction within the entire school district in the area of social studies is discussed. Included are a controversial materials checklist and a checklist for handling community complaints over controversial issues. The last section presents an annotated listing of print and human resources. (Author/RM)