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This study explores accountability testing in the elementary schools of New York City with particular emphasis on the impact of a statewide social studies test on the value given to social studies instruction in comparison to other subjects. The attitudes of a group of elementary teachers are examined. Some of the teachers taught all subjects in the curriculum and others taught only social studies. Through mixed method research this study reveals that, even with a statewide test and social studies specialists created to meet the demands of the test, social studies is valued less than language arts and math, two of the other major curriculum areas that are also tested. Factors influencing this finding are the social studies test’s role in determining the adequate yearly progress report for schools and the promotion of students within New York state’s accountability system, as compared to other subjects. This exploratory study adds to the research on the narrowing of the curriculum in the elementary schools and considers the impact of a statewide test in social studies and the presence of social studies specialists in response to the test.

One way that people learn, remember and communicate is visually. We combine past experiences with new visual information to construct meaning. In this study, elementary teachers introduced their students to the peoples and places of the ancient silk routes using illustrations from two children's picture books, Marco Polo, written by Gian Paolo Cesaerani and illustrated by Piero Ventura (1977), and We're Riding on a Caravan: An Adventure on the Silk Road (2005), written by Laurie Krebs and illustrated by Helen Cann. Students in the lower elementary grades were more literal than students in the higher grades in their observations of the books' illustrations. The older students had more knowledge of China and were able to construct more meaning from the illustrations than younger students. They were also able to recognize the illustrators' intent and manner of representation. Additionally the elementary teachers suggested contextualizing the activity within a study of China.

The Silk Road is a source of fact and myth. Stretching from Western China to the Middle East, it crossed forbidding deserts and rugged mountains. In this study, students consider the geography and climate of the region crossed by the silk routes and determine the best route a caravan would take across this region one thousand years ago. The study’s lesson serves as an introduction to the history of the region and the trade routes that crisscrossed it. Students make the same decisions about travel routes that ancient peoples made. The study’s purpose is to determine how elementary students think spatially, the prior knowledge that they bring to their thinking, and the conclusions they draw in critiquing a physical map.

Teachers were among the public servants at work in New York City on September 11, 2001. This study focuses on the feelings and actions of a representative group of elementary teachers in Queens, New York. As they became aware of the unfolding tragedy of the World Trade Center attacks, they demonstrated the essential qualities of public service, which include selflessness and placing others’ needs above their own. On that day, teachers, and other public servants, such as police and firefighters, became for ordinary citizens the voice and face of the democratic state in a time of crisis.