U.S. History Interpretations of Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers.

Teachers' understandings of content affect their abilities to develop creative instructional strategies for learning. The authors investigated understandings of United States history among a convenience sample of pre-service and in-service teachers enrolled in social studies methods and multicultural education courses at two institutions of higher learning. They employed a 30-item survey concerning events and topics from all 10 United States historical eras, involving both conventional and revisionist interpretations. The authors found very low percentages of correct responses. Respondents taking more history courses generally answered more items correctly. White students answered more revisionist items correctly than underrepresented students. The findings are generally consistent with previous interpretations of preservice and in-service teachers' United States history understandings. The authors provide suggestions for teacher preparation and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]