Abstract:
Despite the importance of engaging parental and community support in social studies education as outlined in the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) (2001) and National Council for the Social Studies Task Force on Standards for Teaching and Learning in the Social Studies (2008), there is little research reported on the teaching practices used by early elementary (NBPTS) teachers in social studies education. Hence, the problem of this study is, theoretically, there is the assumption that National Board Certified Teachers are acknowledged as experts when it comes to engaging families and communities in their social studies teaching, however, there seems to be a disconnect between family and community involvement practices and social studies teaching. Survey and interview data were collected from a sample of early elementary National Board Certified Teachers to determine philosophies and perceptions towards family and community involvement in social studies as well as teaching practices used to teach social studies in the early grades.
