INCREASING SIGNIFICANCE OF SOCIAL STUDIES: A MUTLI-DIMENSIONAL CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF SOCIAL STUDIES ENGAGEMENT AND ACHIEVEMENT DURING HIGH SCHOOL

Abstract

Increasing significance of social studies: A multi-dimensional contextual analysis of social studies engagement and achievement during high school The social studies data of the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) highlighted some alarming results. These results highlight a trend in the learning of social studies related content within today’s secondary schools. Students are mastering and retaining less social studies knowledge while other content areas are slowly improving. Prior research within the field of school engagement postulates that low levels of student academic engagement negatively influence academic student achievement. This study explored the relationship between social studies engagement and social studies academic achievement throughout the semester within the context of a social studies classroom. In particular, measures of students’ levels of engagement included behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects. The study utilized quantitative data from a 27-question longitudinal semester survey of 75 students from a central Pennsylvania high school. The study included demographic information ranging from prior social studies achievement, overall school academic achievement, to gender and age. The assumptions were that the distinct components of engagement are bi-directionally related and share reciprocal relationships. Additionally, the type of class and the students’ year of schooling were investigated to amplify these relationships. The results indicated that engagement has only a weak relationship to academic achievement in the social studies classrooms used for the research. As might be expected, the strongest predictor of grades was the student’s cumulative GPA, including past grades in social studies. The implications for this finding in terms of engagement theory and educational practices were discussed. Once researchers can ascertain the intensity and directional relationship between social studies engagement and social studies achievement, teachers will be able to focus on the component(s) of engagement that fosters social studies academic achievement.