Figure 1: Conceptual / Theoretical Framework
In preparation for this study, I located myself, a teacher – researcher, in multiple and varied theoretical frameworks. I selected these literatures because they include my epistemology, methodology, content, context and strategies. The primary theories that influenced this study include:
(1) Advanced Placement (Hayes, 2010; Katz, 2006; Klopfenstein & Thomas, 2010; Parker, Mosborg, Bransford, Vye, Wilkerson, & Abbott, 2011; Pucci & Cramer, 2012; Pust, 2006; Rothschild, 1999; Schneider, 2009; Torres, 2010; Walker, 2007)
(2) Civic or democratic education (Banks, 2004, 2007; Castles, 2004; Hess, 2009; Ochoa-Becker, 2007; Parker, 1996, 2003; Westheimer & Kahne, 2004);
The AP Test / Process Civic / Democratic Education Student knowledge, points of view, and identity Learning in community Making Content Accessible Teacher Research / Inquiry Evaluating & moving forward
(3) Students’ knowledge (Bradford, Derry, Berliner, Hammerness, & Beckett, 2005; Cohen, Steele, & Ross, 1999; Delpit, 1988; Dochy, 1994; Dwek, 2006, 2010; Freire, 1970, 1993; Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005; Nieto, 1999)
(4) Learning in community and scaffolding participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Taba, 1962; Vygotsky, 1978; Walqui & van Lier, 2010)
(5) Academic, disciplinary and second language acquisition and social studies (Chamot, 2009; Cruz & Thornton, 2009; Cummins, 1981, 2008; Haynes, 2007; Jiménez, García, & Pearson, 1996; Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008; Short, 1994, 1998, 2005; Short, Vogt, & Echevarria, 2011; Walqui & van Lier, 2010; Zwiers, 2008)
(6) Teacher practitioner research (Allwright, Autumn, 2005; Anderson & Herr, 1999; Anderson, Herr, Nihlen, 2007; Campano, 2007, 2009; Cochran-Smith and Lytle, 1999, 2001, 2009; Freeman, 1998; Herr & Anderson, 2005; Johnston, 2006)
In addition to the formal theoretical framework, I consider professional development experiences that influenced my practice as a teacher. These include participation in the local Writing Project summer institutes, a civic engagement program, Student Voices, and a Street Law summer seminar.
Before addressing the theoretical frameworks, I will review the historical context of United States social studies education and the College Board’s Advanced Placement program. Locating research in an historical frame of reference provides grounding for contemporary research (Marshall & Rossman, 2011, p. 185). My analysis of the evolution of social studies education in the United States informs my understanding of civic competence. My review of the Advanced Placement program includes research on teaching Advanced Placement U.S. Government and concerns regarding
“underrepresented” students. As a teacher – researcher, situating the content I am teaching in its historical context diminishes the isolation of classroom instruction. It is a
reminder of the intellectual, political and social struggles of curricula development that my students and I embark on each day.
Historical context of teaching of social studies
Contemporary school based citizenship or social studies education in the United States has its origins in late 19th and early 20th century curricular committees. Civics was included in proposed course content beginning with the National Education Association and American Historical Association Committee of Ten (1893 – 1895; 1892 – 1894) through the Committee on History and Education for Citizenship (1918 – 1921) (Douglass, 1967; Evans, 2004; Jorgensen, 2010; Lybarger, 1983; Nash et al., 1997; Nelson, 1994; Rugg, 1926; Saxe, 1991; Whelan, 1991). In the midst of the committee reports, the American Political Science Association Committee of Seven, 1911 – 1916, shifted the focus in civics from structures and workings of government to “Community Civics” or students’ engagement in current issues for the betterment of the students’ communities. The 1913 Preliminary Statement and the 1915 Report on Community Civics sponsored by the National Education Association Commission on the
Reorganization of Secondary Education (CRSE) supported this shift. CRSE also
sponsored The Social Studies in Secondary Education report that emphasized the study of contemporary issues and students developing solutions for societal problems such as sanitation, housing, child labor, recreation and health. Lastly, the report included “Vocational Civics” or preparation for industrial work and trade. By 1921, the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) was created; according to its manifesto, A National Council for the Social Studies (1921), NCSS would promote citizenship and train “democratic citizens” (The National Council to Promote Social Studies Report, 1922, p. 130).
The committee reports and statements did not temper the debates on how curricula might promote “democratic citizens.” In the 1930s, an early proponent and creator of Social Studies curricular materials that included problem solving and
controversial issues was Harold Rugg (Evans, 2007; Kliebard, 2002). By World War II, some school districts banned Rugg’s curricular materials (Nash et al., 1997; Zimmerman, 2002). During the early 1950s, social studies teachers were cautioned to focus on factual information, maintain neutrality and to not allow students to take action on controversial issues (Ballinger, 1963). By the end of the decade, the Cold War’s shift from
blacklisting to the space race led to National Science Foundation funding of “New Social Studies” curricula. The “New Social Studies” emerged from the 1958 National Defense Education Act that called for “social efficiency” education to defend the United States by focusing on rigor and technical skills developed in top down, university created curricula (Kliebard, 2004, p. 267). According to Thornton (1994), the “New Social Studies” attempted to move from “entrenched citizenship transmission / recitation” to a more transformative approach but it failed to gain wide acceptance (p. 229).
Three projects are illustrative of the academic foci, pedagogical approaches and controversies surrounding the “New Social Studies.” First, Man: A Course of Study or MACOS, begun in 1962 by anthropologist Douglas Oliver and continued by Jerome Bruner and Peter Dow, introduced fifth graders to inquiry and issues through film, artifacts, material culture, games, stories, maps, and pictures (Bruner, 1960, 1977; Johnson, 2010). Eventually, MACOS was also labeled “anti-American” and criticized for its cultural relativism and humanism (Evans, 2011b; Kihss, 1975; Wolcott, 2007). Second, The Harvard Studies Project (1967) included case studies that incorporated
historical and social science knowledge to address current issues. By 1972 there were 30 pamphlets that reinforced U.S. values of civil liberties and private property, majority rule and the rights of minorities while incorporating multiple perspectives, historical and contemporary understandings and evaluating evidence (Evans, 2004; Haeussler Bohan & Feinberg, 2010; Parker, 1991). Despite the early praise, it was criticized for its lack of impact on teacher practice and promoting the illusion of an inquiry based curricula (Evans, 2004; Lybarger, 1991). A third project, the 1969 High School Curriculum for Able Students led by Edwin Fenton at Carnegie Mellon University, combined inquiry, primary sources, study skills and content knowledge (Cude, 2010; Evans, 2011a; Fenton, 1971; Good, Farley & Fenton, 1969). Similar to Harold Rugg, Fenton was targeted with charges of “anti-Americanism,” fostering strife and controversy (Evans, 2011).
Eventually, the “New Social Studies” was also criticized for its inability to critically analyze race and racism, and Euro-centrism (Contreras, 2010; Sleeter, 1996). Curriculum themes of international conflict, war / peace, decision-making and the environment were included in some curricular publications but people of color were still marginalized or ignored. By the early 1980s, United States federal government funding of inquiry based curricula ended with the shift to academic standards and conformity.
While national organizations were developing academic standards, a series of publications and reports provided philosophical and curricular models for “standards driven” instruction. A publication that gained attention and support by advocates of standards was E. D. Hirsch's Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know
(1987, 1988). Hirsch emphasized “common” content and promotion of “democracy.” A report, Bennett’s (1987) James Madison High School: A Curriculum for American
Students was similar to Hirsch's Cultural Literacy; both promoted “common” knowledge, skills and ideals. The next report, The Bradley Commission on History in Schools
(1989), included more cultural and global diversity and critiques of U.S. ideals. Like The Bradley Commission’s report, Charging a Course: Social Studies for the 21st Century by the National Commission on Social Studies (1989) included “civic responsibility and participation,” and U.S. ideals but added community service.
The 1980s reports led to the 1990s state and national standards under Goals 2000: Educate America Act (Cavanaugh, 2010). The most contested national standards were the National Standards for History. The history standards, developed by broad based National Council and affiliated organizations, included civic education, literature and geography (Nash et al., 1997). Critics ranged from the American Federation of Teachers to the U.S. Congress. Within a decade, the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) reinforced the use of academic standards in the development of standardized tests and teaching “traditional American history” (No Child Left Behind Act, 2002b). NCLB also promoted the expansion of Advanced Placement courses and subsequent testing (No Child Left Behind Act, 2002a). Nearly 100 years of debating how to define, nurture and promote “democratic citizenship” shifted to debating and measuring
Literature Review
Advanced Placement
At the beginning of the Cold War, the Advanced Placement (AP) program was created on the premise that, according to David A. Dudley (1958), the Director of the 1957-1958 College Entrance Examination Board’s Advanced Placement Program, “all students are not created equal” (p. 1). The idea of identifying high performing students and targeting them for special courses came on the heels of the Ford Foundation’s “pre- induction scholarships” award beginning in 1951. These were designed to take
“talented” high school students” out of high school before they were eligible for the draft and enroll them in prestigious universities (Rothschild, 1999, p. 79). Representatives from Andover, Exeter, Lawrenceville, Harvard, Princeton and Yale met in 1951 to align their high school and introductory college courses to decrease “wasted” repetition and increase rigor in school (Blackmer, Bragdon, McGeorge, Harbison, Seymour, & Taylor, 1952, p. 13 – 15). The need for an exclusive program for exceptional students was accepted as necessary to reach their maximal potential (Angermann, 1961, p. 50) and to provide academic programs grounded in students’ aspirations and competencies (Dudley, 1958, p. 2). As Rothschild (1999) points out, a goal was to increase the number of “strong college graduates” entering graduate school so as to better position the United States to compete with its adversaries.
According to Charles R. Keller, chair of the Department of History at Williams College and Director of the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) Program from
1955 – 1957, AP “affected curricular thinking, course planning, articulation of work done in school and college, communication between schools and colleges, particularly at the teachers level, and the intellectual tone in schools and colleges” but not in history or social studies (1958, p. 7 – 8). Keller (1958) lamented the lack of “rethinking” in either curriculum or pedagogy.
Starting in 1952, the Advanced Placement report, General Education in School and College, found that in social studies there was more agreement on goals versus how to obtain the goals (Blackmer et al., 1952, p. 66). The Advanced Placement committee recommended studying current issues and “the remote” or “non-Western thought and institutions” (p. 67) in college survey courses. To avoid students taking courses to boost their grade point average (GPA), the committee recommended that “narrative American history” be taught in secondary schools; the emphasis should be on “the continuity of our national development… political factors in that development… and (the) problem of interpreting (historical) evidence” (Blackmer et al., 1952, p. 70-72). Pedagogically, the committee recommended that students learn to take notes from books and lectures, to read maps, interpret and confront controversial issues, take exams based on reasoning and memorization and to have opportunities to explore topics of personal interest (Blackmer et al., 1952, p. 72 - 73). Memorization and reliance on one textbook were considered inappropriate; workbooks, weekly quizzes and test review questions were equated with the dangers of “the older slavery to the text” (Blackmer et al., p. 73).
To raise standards in both high school and college courses, the AP committee proposed the creation of exams approved by college professors to replace freshman college courses (Blackmer et al., 1952, p. 129). To begin the process, a test committee
consisting of two college professors and one high school teacher collaborated with Educational Testing Service to create exams for “superior” students (Blackmer et al., 1952, p. 132). The first exams were administered in 1954 to students from selected private schools. By 1957, 2000 students took 3,700 exams and 150 colleges participated (Marland, 1975). To the credit of the founders, by January 1960 there were AP courses in 24 public school districts (Ralston, 1961).
While AP helped align high schools and college survey courses, it did not deviate from its original design for the academically talented. However, even those students needed support. Teachers quickly realized the need to identify students in sixth grade and begin separation of students by perceived academic ability and prepare them for AP courses starting in seventh grade (Whipple, 1958, pp. 24 - 25). While teachers made adaptations and determined how to implement Advanced Placement requirements, the content and scoring of exams was an ongoing debate and limited funding for these additional activities. Nevertheless, as early as 1958, AP exams for “academically talented” high school students gained wider recognition in colleges as was clear in educational publications (Keller, 1958) and easier access for these students to prestigious universities (Schneider, 2009, pp. 818-819). There was concern that AP tracked students by ability, separating the “the brightest and most capable students,” but it also provided “prestige and privilege.” Schneider claims that the latter was not the original intent (p. 818). That said, despite growing concerns that tracking students by ability was leaving other students behind and unprepared for a college education (p. 819), by 1965 AP was well established and received positive national press (Rothschild, 1999, pp. 184-185).
Concern over lack of student diversity in Advanced Placement courses increased in the 1980s (Lacy, 2010). The program expanded into more urban, multi-ethnic and international schools and continued to add courses including U.S. and Comparative Government (1987), Micro and Macro Economics (1989) and Psychology (1992). In 1999, Advanced Placement was challenged in California. Two class action cases - Daniel et al. v. State of California and Castaneda et al. v. University of California
Regents - were filed to challenge enrollment and admission policies related to Advanced Placement. In the court cases, parents and students utilized the federal courts to
challenged the status quo and empower students (Solórzano and Ornelas, 2004, p. 23). The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act included federal funding for Advanced Placement exam fees – a step designed to increase the number of low-income students taking the exams (No Child Left Behind, 2002b, Part G). In 2002, the College Entrance
Examination Board, the not-for-profit organization that administers Advanced Placement, issued an “equity policy statement” which called for ending policies that limited access to Advanced Placement course to students who were “traditionally underrepresented” for “ethnic, racial or socioeconomic” reasons. By 2003, the number of “underrepresented” students who took Advanced Placement exam increased by 16.2% (College Board, 2004).
Who has access to Advanced Placement (AP) courses may be important because most educators assume the courses are synonymous with college preparation and rigor; this presumption is rarely challenged (Pucci & Cramer, 2012). Nevertheless, rigorous courses influence college readiness and attendance (Perna, 2005; King, 1996).
According to the College Board (2010), there is a correlation between four-year college graduation rates and earning college credits before entering college. College preparatory
content courses are particularly important to English Language Learners who are often isolated and tracked into substandard courses and not held to high academic standards (Callahan, 2005; American Federation of Teachers, 2006). Even if students do not score a three to five (out of five) on the Advanced Placement test, some researchers claim that students who take them are better prepared for college (Nugent & Karnes, 2002; Santoli, 2002). Nevertheless, there is a strong correlation between a passing score of 3 or higher and income; low-income students rarely gain college credit through Advanced Placement scores (Handwerk, Tognatta, Coley & Gitomer, 2008, p. 23).
Critics of Advanced Placement, like Katz (2006) and Schneider (2009), chastise the narrow focus on a standardized test rather than preparing students for the rigors of collegiate learning. Some studies support Katz (2006). From 2003 – 2009, the correlations between Advanced Placement participation and college preparation are mixed: nine studies found a positive correlation, nine a mixed correlation and four a negative correlation to college preparedness (McClanahan, 2010). According to Klopfenstein and Thomas (2010), there are no meticulous studies demonstrating causation between taking an AP course and college success. For AP to diminish the “achievement gap,” Klopfenstein and Thomas (2010) found that early preparation and supports for students are necessary (p. 184). Therefore, AP course experience is not a predictor of college success (Klopfenstein & Thomas, January 2009).
While the benefits of Advanced Placement for college preparation are debatable, teacher consideration of pedagogical approaches that enhance the skills needed for success in Advanced Placement courses and, ideally, college, provide insights about expanding learning. Joan Kernan Cone (1992), an English teacher, described her
responsibility to provide opportunities for all students to identify as learners in an open admission Advanced Placement English class. Cone’s practice included modeling writing and discussion to enable students to collaborate and shift toward shared
facilitation. In the second year of the class, Cone focused on small groups and pairs of students “talking and working out meaning together” (p. 716). Students also took ownership from Cone to reflect on and shape the “class dynamics,” content / curriculum and test preparation (p. 717).
In 2006, Jennifer Pust described her experience in opening an Advanced
Placement English Literature classes to English Language Learners (ELLs). Pust realized incorporating strategies for students performing below grade level in reading and writing supported the ELLs in the AP course. She used “think aloud, ” or modeling her thinking while reading, to scaffolding major assignments. She provided sentence starters for writing assignments and fishbowl discussions on literary works. In the fishbowl discussions, students received credit for comments on the content of the works but also for responding to peers and using academic language. Pust also posted teacher and student created charts on the classroom walls with academic vocabulary and class notes. Lastly, Pust expanded the literary canon to include an English literary work with Spanish vocabulary that reflected the culture of her ELLs. This move increased collaboration and confidence. Pust (2006) prepared her students for the AP test but, “more importantly, we prepared for the world after the test… to be successful in college and beyond.”
Oberjuerge’s (1999) and Walker’s (2007) research focused on improving outcomes on the AP test. In a study on Advanced Placement U.S. Government,
analytical writing; the skills may be developed through “student-centered activities” such as oral and visual individual and small group presentations (pp. 265 – 266). A more comprehensive study by Walker (2007) on Advanced Placement U.S. History identified 12 teaching methods designed for low-income students to improve their pass rate on the Advanced Placement U.S. History exam. Walker compared methods recommend in research literature to support low-income students with the practices of two teachers. Both the teachers’ practice and literature included the importance of thesis based essay writing, group work, encouragement of student engagement, and utilization of practice tests. Although not found in the research literature, the teachers’ practice also included heavy reliance on the textbook, and out of class independent reading by the students. Two critical findings in the research literature, incorporating both students’ prior knowledge and their culture, were not evident in the teachers’ practice. Walker (2007) concluded that the research literature on low-income students conflicted with these teachers’ classroom practice because the research literature was not focused on students in rigorous or advanced classes. The two teachers in Walker’s study emphasized student independence while teaching reading and writing skills but did not see the relevance of infusing the students’ cultures. Similarly, Pucci and Cramer’s (2012) raise concerns with the disconnect between Advanced Placement history courses and a “culturally relevant and engaging curriculum;” such academic tracking, they suggest, can be harmful to the culture of a small school (pp. 166 – 167, 173).
In another study of six gifted English Language Learners in an Advanced Placement programs, Torres (2010) noted that the students’ language, Spanish, and