Academic majors of social studies teachers and student achievement in the U.S.

Savage, C. (2019) Academic majors of social studies teachers and student achievement in the U.S. Teaching and Teacher Education, 84, pp. 66-73. (doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2019.04.020)

Abstract

The education of social studies teachers has been understudied at a large scale, relative to other subject areas. This study estimated whether the undergraduate and/or graduate majors of social studies teachers are associated with student achievement in civics, U.S. history, and geography. Broad categorizations of social studies-related majors were not associated with student achievement. However, a graduate major in political science for students' teachers was positively and significantly associated with student achievement in civics, and an undergraduate major in geography/geography education was negatively associated with student achievement in civics and U.S. history. Implications for policy and research are discussed.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The writing of this manuscript was supported, in part, by the Postdoctoral Academy for Research on Education of the Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, Tübingen, funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Savage, Dr Corey
• Authors: Savage, C.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Educational Leadership & Policy
• Journal Name: Teaching and Teacher Education
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0742-051X
• ISSN (Online): 1879-2480
• Published Online: 15 May 2019
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 The Author(s)
• First Published: First published in Teaching and Teacher Education 84:66-73
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence