Still in the Past: Native Americans in Elementary Social Studies Standards

Overwhelmingly, elementary social studies standards focus on Native Americans in past tense. If elementary teachers follow state curriculum for social studies, students are often not provided the opportunity to learn about Native people in the present. The purposes of this study were to (a) determine the number of current state elementary (K-5) social studies standards that addressed Native Americans to ascertain the depth and breadth to which Native people and culture are covered, (b) determine how many of the standards kept Native Americans in the past vs. the present and (c) further examine standards related to Native content. Results indicate progress is being made to bring Native people and issues into the present, but additional work is still needed.