State Standards for the Licensure of Secondary Social Studies Teachers

Abstract

Early in the 1980s, a study was conducted by the authors of the status of standards for the initial licensure of secondary social studies teachers in the fifty states. Following the intrusion of a number of highly publicized efforts directed toward the reform of teacher education, a follow-up study was conducted during the winter of 1988–89. The follow-up study surprisingly reveals no general efforts by state education agencies to expand the general education component of teacher education programs and equally surprising moves to increase requirements within the professional component, most importantly in the area of field experiences. Requirements in history and the social sciences have been substantially increased during the decade, though this requirement continues to fall far short of NCSS standards. The behavioral sciences appear to play a lesser role in the history/social science component than at the beginning of the decade.