An Assessment of Teacher Perceptions of K-12 Social Studies Objectives.

The paper describes a study of the comparative effectiveness of certain courses in achieving specified educational objectives. Social studies, language arts, vocational/technical, math, science, and fine arts courses were compared as to their effectiveness in achieving "social education." By means of a group concensus of elementary and secondary teachers, common objectives of social education were identified, such as "builds character and good citizenship." The objectives were then arranged in an attitude scale on which teachers could register the degree to which they believed any particular course accomplished those objectives. In the study, 115 teachers responded to the scale six times, once each for the six content areas listed above. The results were compared among the six curricular areas to determine a composite teacher perception of which area was most effective in meeting the objectives of social education. Social studies objectives seemed representative of general education objectives. Objectives for individual curriculum areas did not seem to change from elementary to secondary grades. The strongest relationship existed between science and mathematics objectives. Social studies was ranked among the top third of most useful curriculum areas. (Author/AV)