Item response theory has improved the area of educational and psychological measurement significantly. However, the effectiveness of the applications of item response theory is dependent on the adequacy of techniques of parameter estimation. When item parameters are precalibrated and treated as known, the ability estimation is relatively straightforward. Currently, several competing estimators of the ability parameters in item response models are available. These are: Maximum Likelihood estimator (ML), the Bayesian Modal estimator (BM), the Expected A Posterior estimator (EAP), and the Mean of the likelihood function (abbreviated as "MM" to differentiate from ML, above). The primary purpose of the study was to examine and compare the properties of the above ability estimators when item parameters were precalibrated and treated as known. In particular, the properties of the ability estimators, such as distribution, bias, and accuracy were investigated. The secondary purpose of this study was to investigate the asymptotic properties of the ML ability estimator with respect to accuracy, bias, and the asymptotic normal distribution. In addition, the effects of test lengths and ability levels were studied in the three-parameter item response model. Simulated data were generated under various test lengths and ability levels in the three-parameter models. In order to accomplish the purpose of this study analyses such as: (1) accuracy of the ability estimators; (2) bias of the ability estimators; (3) distributional property of the ability estimators; and (4) the asymptotic properties of the ML ability estimators were carried out. The results of this study indicate that the ML ability estimator tends to be better than the MM, BM, and EAP ability estimators in the three-parameter item response model. This is particularly true in the proficiency test data set based on the three-parameter item response model. In general, the ML, BM, MM, and EAP ability estimators are normally distributed except when the true ability levels are at both of the extremes and tests are short (n $\le$ 40). The ML ability estimator is asymptotically normally distributed with tests longer than 20 items and when true ability is in the range ($-$1, 1).

This study describes upper secondary school students' perception of the One-To-One digitization with a focus on the subject of social studies. The work also reports on whether there is any socioeconomic difference between students' perception of the OTO digitalization. The purpose is to create an understanding among the Swedish teaching staff about what students consider to be positive and negative about digitization. This is so that teachers can use this knowledge in their didactic and methodical planning to improve today's school results. The study was carried out with a mixed mode survey that was sent out to 210 students. The didactic triangle, the American didactic triangle, the extended didactic triangle and the “opportunity model” have been used as theory to analyze the results. The result shows that high school students in the subject of social studies think that digital aids are good and here to stay. However, the results also show that the students believe that the digital aids are negative for their school results due to the various disruptions digitization gives access to. The study does not show any notable differences from a socioeconomic perspective. The students appreciate the digitization but also emphasize the problems with the various disturbances as a negative aspect.

This study was conducted to examine whether a disparity exists between teacher expectations of honors and non-honors U. S. History students and if students who read more for U. S. History perform better on the U. S. History End-of-Course (EOC) examination. To generate answers to the research questions, both teachers and students in U. S. History courses were surveyed as to how much time was spent reading for U. S. History content both during class and for homework. The student surveys were matched to the U. S. History EOC Developmental Scale Scores to determine if students who responded as reading more for the course had higher achievement on the EOC examination. Five teacher surveys were completed, and 144 student surveys were analyzed, and comparisons were made using U. S. History EOC Developmental Scale Scores. Teachers surveyed did not appear to vary their expectations of student whether the students were in an honors or non-honors course. Approximately 71% of non-honors and 73% of honors students in this study were reading U. S. History homework content on a regular basis. Though not statistically significant, results did indicate a positive trend between students who read more for U. S. History content and achievement on the EOC examination. This study revealed the implementation of a standardized EOC examination may account for equally rigorous teacher expectations of both honors and non-honors students. All students have the same final evaluation and expectation of passing the EOC; therefore, all students are expected to learn the content.

For many educators in intermediate grades, the challenge is to find ways to introduce material in an engaging and meaningful way prior to students reading the textbook. Rather than having students read solely from a textbook, some educators have begun incorporating literature in the classroom in order to introduce material, to help students connect to prior knowledge. As time has passed social studies curriculum has been Teachers have an important role and responsibility to connect students to the curriculum that they are required to learn. One of the best ways to do this is by capturing their interests and tapping their prior knowledge through the use of quality children's literature. After observing intermediate social studies instruction in local classrooms, what is being done in the classroom and what they might need to enhance this process, I developed a guide for educators that may want additional resources and ideas for using quality literature in social studies instruction. This guide included instructional strategies, sample lessons, suggested quality literature and classroom activities to assist educators in helping students make connections and understand the content of social studies curriculum.

There is a new generation of students entering our school systems called "Digital Natives"; students who are more technologically inclined than their teachers. With the new cohort of students, it is becoming problematic for teachers to implement engaging lessons. Because social studies is not a state tested subject, teachers and administrators find it very difficult to retrieve the time and the passion for the subject in the everyday classroom. One new Google application called Google Lit Trips is an appealing way to teach social studies for the new generation of students. Prior research on Google Lit Trips showed that this application is well suited for creating lessons that can satisfy standards for a multitude of subjects, and in a way that catches the students' attentions. After I completed research on the 21st century learner, how teachers can integrate social studies into their classroom, and Google Literature Trips; I studied many virtual field trips of various books or novels. These Google Literature Trips allows teachers to utilize Google Earth to pin locations of importance for students in order to gain a visual, while simultaneously exploring educational activities. Then, I created my own Google Lit Trip. Before teachers participated in exploring the Google Lit Trip I created, a survey was conducted on the five teachers; getting their perceptions of technology, social studies education, and Google Lit Trips. They were then asked to read the picture book The Story of Ruby Bridges (Coles, 1995). The computer application was then shown to teachers to get their opinions on its perceived effectiveness. A post-survey was then conducted on the teachers' perceptions of the Google Literature Trip. The results of the teachers' discernments of the teaching tool proved it to be an effective application to use in the classroom to enhance cross-curricular education from technology, art, reading, and most importantly for this thesis, social studies. Future research should be conducted on students' perceptions, and whether or not it sustains engagement, and whether or not their knowledge of the subject matter improves.

“Music is the biggest tool of revolution – the best way to reach out [to] the youth and involve them…” (Kher, n.d.). Music has the ability to impact so many areas of life. Music is universal, and regardless of language, meaning and emotions can be conveyed. Imagine if this was harnessed and utilized as an effective teaching tool for students? Music has played a significant role in history, but is often overlooked when history is taught. Utilization of music in the social studies classroom can take the form of time period pieces, cultural music, mnemonics for memorization, films, and much more. While it can be an effective tool for educating students, are teachers actually integrating it into their lesson plans? Using a stratified random sampling procedure, a survey was sent to teachers in the Central Florida region to gain insight into the topic. It was seen, that while over half (60%) of the educators indicated music could be an effective teaching tool, almost all (95%) used it very often, often, or sometimes in some way, shape, or form. Several teachers indicated that they did not have the time, resources, or the training to integrate music into their social studies classrooms. This research is only a starting point for additional regional studies, as well as more focused studies through which resources may be developed.

This study argued that the purpose of social studies education is intimately connected with civic engagement. The function of civic engagement shifts in accordance with the political roles a teacher plays in the classroom (Westhaimer & Kahne, 2004). The literature review defined the possible parameters of these political roles. The research then explored how secondary social science and elementary teacher candidates, if at all, planned to address the political issue of civic engagement in education and their self-awareness as political actors. This research study aimed to expand the available body of research on this topic by exploring the perceptions of social studies teacher candidates concerning their roles in promoting civic engagement. This study conducted a survey of social science and elementary teacher candidates to qualitatively measure these perceptions. The study found that teacher candidates possessed entrenched conceptions of good citizenry but fail to connect social studies’ primary purpose of civic engagement with the promotion of good citizenry. The study also indicated teacher candidates lack sufficient civic engagement conceptual understanding and corresponding pedagogy to adequately perform their political roles as democratic gatekeepers. Consequently, the study’s educational implications were that social studies teachers’ and teacher candidates’ awareness of civic engagement in the social studies classroom is necessary to facilitate an effective, ethical, and objective education. Additionally, more attention must be given in teacher candidate education to address the political reality of the social science education profession.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how curriculum-related songs provide an engaging atmosphere for elementary students learning social studies concepts. The investigation done for this thesis examines the resources available to teachers in terms of songs to be used for pedagogical engagement of social studies lessons. Through research and video analyzations it can be concluded that students are overall intrigued by the usage of songs in their social studies lessons. During the social studies lessons observed in the video analyzations, the elementary students are focused, exhibit positive body language, participate, and have fun. Since engagement is documented within the analyzed videos and supported through others' research to be beneficial for students, this thesis researched and found a place for songs in elementary social studies lessons. Since there are a lack of current social studies resources that contain a musical element, eight social studies lesson plans were produced specifically for this thesis to demonstrate how songs can be implemented into the elementary curriculum to engage students.

Syftet med studien är att jämföra tidigare forskning med praktiska erfarenheter som verksamma lärare i årskurs 4-6 har av att anpassa sin undervisning inom SO-ämnena för elever med autism, för att tillföra kunskap till studenter, verksamma lärare och andra pedagoger. Studien är en kvalitativ intervjustudie med semistrukturerade intervjuer. I studien intervjuas fyra lärare, varav tre arbetar på samma skola. Studiens resultat visar att lärarna utgår från relationen med eleverna när de väljer undervisningsmetod eftersom alla elever är olika, och man behöver utgå från varje individs behov och intressen. Metoder som används av lärarna är bland annat bildstöd, kooperativt lärande, teknologibaserad undervisning genom ipad eller dator, repetitioner och rutiner. Dessutom diskuteras läroplanen och kunskapskraven i relation till elever med autism, och resultatet visar att deltagarna i studien anser att kraven är alldeles för höga och att elever med autism inte kan nå upp till dem.

During the fall 2017 and spring 2018 semesters, I investigated what 3 6th grade social studies teachers knew and believed about disciplinary literacy and how that knowledge and belief shaped their instructional practice. Descriptive case study design allowed me to investigate the 3 participants in order to develop a descriptive understanding and interpretation of the group. I collected the following data sources from each participant: a concept map illustrating ideas of literacy and social studies, 3 interviews, 4 observations, and teacher lesson plans and texts. I chose descriptive coding for the within-case analysis and pattern coding for the cross-case analysis. Through cross-case analysis, five interconnecting themes arose. All 3 teachers 1) believed social studies teachers should be well-versed in the content of social studies and should be passionate about teaching social studies content, 2) believed the role of civics was the main reason for social studies instruction, 3) believed social studies instruction should require students to engage, read, and comprehend varying types of text, 4) believed social studies teachers should be teachers of reading because literacy and social studies were strongly connected within an intertwined relationship, and 5) believed vocabulary development in social studies was necessary. 3 differences emerged among the participants. All 3 teachers 1) gained varying educational experiences which influenced their pedagogical choices in the social studies classroom, 2) demonstrated varying instructional routines when structuring the instruction of social studies, and 3) demonstrated varying levels of efficacy in teaching writing in social studies. Recommendations for teacher education are 1) preservice teachers need exposure to the term disciplinary literacy and practice in using disciplinary literacy; 2) leaders, curriculum specialists, and reading coaches should receive professional development on the incorporation of both content-area literacy pedagogy and disciplinary literacy pedagogy; 3) teachers need to refine disciplinary literacy pedagogy through supportive work in a professional learning community. Recommendations for future research are to 1) describe how teachers implicitly and explicitly teach literacy strategies within the different disciplines, 2) describe how teachers instruct using literacy skills and what specific literacy strategies are used, and 3) explore how teachers teach students to transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.”