Date of Award
2-1-1992
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Child and Youth Care Administration
Advisor
Joan Mignerey
Committee Member
Thrisha Shiver
Committee Member
David S. Flight
Keywords
business involvement, Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills, curriculum improvement, district curriculum guide, elementary education, fifth grade, fourth grade, interdisciplinary instruction, parent involvement, resource people, social studies, social studies curriculum, standardized test scores, student achievement, student attitudes, teacher conferences, teacher training, textbook dependence, time allocation, curriculum correlation, test data analysis, school-community partnerships
Abstract
This report describes a program that was designed to improve the social studies curriculum and the attitudes toward social studies in the fourth and fifth grades at J. Paul Beam Elementary School in South Carolina. The problem was that students' scores in these grades had declined or fluctuated in the classroom as evidenced by grades and performance on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS). This disparity had been documented for the 1987, 1988, and 1989 school years.
Probable causes of the problem were identified as: outdated district curriculum guide, too much dependence on the textbook, lack of importance put on social studies, lack of students ' interest in social studies, and lack of teaching time, devoted to social studies.
Implementation of this practicum included providing assistance to the teachers through monthly conferences; analyzing test data for curriculum improvement; training teachers; correlating social studies with other subjects; and involving parents, resource people, and businesses.
The effectiveness of the solution strategies was determined by the use of a plan to improve the fourth and fifth grade social studies curriculum. The solutions were effective as revealed by post-intervention standardized test results and an improvement in students' attitudes toward social studies which confirmed a successful social studies program for the fourth and fifth grades.