Eastern
College of Arts and
Sciences
NCSS/Social Studies
Education
XI. Matrix
Matrix Item 1.5 Theme
Five: Individuals, Groups and Institutions
Social Studies
teachers should possess the knowledge, capabilities, and dispositions to organize
and provide instruction at the appropriate school level for the study of
Individuals, Groups, and Institutions.
Indicators of
Capabilities for Teaching Social Studies
Teachers of Social Studies at all school levels should provide
developmentally appropriate experiences as they guide learners in the study of
interactions among Individuals, Groups, and Institutions. They should:
* help
learners understand the concepts of role, status, and social class and use them
in describing the connections and interactions of individuals, groups, and
institutions in society;
* help learners
analyze group and institutional influences on people, events, and elements of
culture in both historical and contemporary settings;
* explain to learners
the various forms institutions take, and explain how they develop and change
over time;
* assist learners in
identifying and analyzing examples of tensions between expressions of
individuality and efforts used to promote social conformity by groups and
institutions;
* ask learners to
describe and examine belief systems basic to specific traditions and laws in
contemporary and historical movements;
* challenge learners
to evaluate the role of institutions in furthering both community and change;
guide learner analysis of the extent to which groups and institutions
meet individual needs and promote the common good in contemporary and
historical settings;
* assist learners as
they explain and apply ideas and modes of inquiry drawn from behavioral science
and social theory in the examination of persistent issues and social problems.
1.5 Theme Five:
Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
The program prepares
Social Studies teachers who possess the knowledge, capabilities, and
dispositions to organize and provide instruction at the appropriate school
level for the study of interactions among Individuals, Groups, and
Institutions.
1.5.1 Programmatic
Evidence
Social Studies, history, economics, political
science, psychology, and geography majors address this theme in the following ways:
1). All students must take at least one class in a social science
as part of their basic studies requirement. Choices are as follows:
2). All students must take PSY 101/2 as a prerequisite to their
teaching program. This course includes elements of social and group psychology,
including the topics: Demonstrate knowledge of the following concepts and
topics in psychology: Personality: Social-Cognitive Theory, Personality: Social
Psychology, Social Influence of Behavior, and Social cognition. These include
theories of obedience, conformity, role and status.
3). All students must take EDPS 322, Human Development and
Learning, which includes instruction in the social development of identity, the
effects of group behavior on individuals, and the relationship of culture to
cognition. This course includes the following topics in social psychology:
1. reflective
understanding and evaluation of key psychological theoretical explanations of
child/adolescent development and human behavior related to learning
2. identifying
cognitive and psychosocial characteristics for each developmental stage from
pre-school through adolescence as well as developmentally appropriate
expectations for each stage
3. analyzing the
relationship between psychological theoretical perspectives, multicultural
contexts, and the processes involved in teaching and learning
4. recognizing and
applying appropriate theoretical perspectives to simulated classroom practice
and field observations
5. reflective understanding of critical issues
facing students, families and educators in the 2000s, and the implications of
these issues on the processes involved in teaching and learning and
6. developing a
knowledge, resource and theoretical base which integrates developmentally and
multiculturally appropriate practices in educational settings.
4). All students must take SOFD 328 as part of their professional
education program. This class has the following objectives and topics:
-The sociocultural
dynamics of childhood and youth socialization
-School's relation
to processes of social control and maintenance of status quo
-School's relation
to processes of social and cultural change
-School's relation
to prevailing belief systems
-School's relation
to the economic system and other structures of distributed power and status
-Diversity as a condition of social life
-The foundation of racism and other prejudices
(deficit theories of social inequality and related school policies)
-The social organization and practice of
schooling as it relates to the lives of children from diverse linguistic,
religious, socio-economic, and ethnic backgrounds
-Relationship of social class, race and
ethnicity to patterns of educational achievement and school experience
-Relationship of gender and sexual orientation
to patterns of educational achievement and school experience
The course is assed
by tests, exams and an analytical paper that is assigned in all sections of the
course.
5). All students must take PLSC 112/3 which describes and analyzes
the institutions of American government and its polity.
1.5.2 Test Evidence
Class evidence for Social Studies Students
|
Grade range |
Psy 101 |
EDPS 322 |
SOFD 328 |
|
A to A- |
4 |
18 |
15 |
|
B- to B+ |
2 |
5 |
9 |
|
C- to C+ |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
D- to D+ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
E |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Transfer credit granted (not below C) |
18 |
0 |
1 |
Class evidence for history majors:
|
Class |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
EDPS 322 |
a- |
a |
a |
a- |
a |
c+ |
a- |
B+ |
a- |
b- |
a |
|
SOFD 328 |
a |
b |
a- |
a- |
a |
b- |
b- |
a- |
a |
b+ |
b |
|
PSY 101 |
cr |
cr |
a |
cr |
a |
d |
c |
cr |
cr |
cr |
c+ |
Class evidence for political science majors:
|
Class |
Student |
|
|
EDPS 322 |
B+ |
A- |
|
SOFD 328 |
B+ |
CR |
|
PSY 101 |
CR |
A |
Class evidence for Geography majors:
|
Course |
|
Student |
|
|
|
EDPS 322 |
|
B+ |
a- |
A |
|
SOFD 328 |
|
A- |
CR |
A |
|
PSY 101 |
|
b- |
CR |
A |
Class evidence for psychology majors:
|
Class |
Student 1 |
|
EDPS 322 |
A |
|
SOFD 328 |
A- |
|
PSY 101 |
B |
State test data for Social Studies
Of the twenty two 2002-3 graduates with a major in History for
Secondary Education, seventeen student took the Social Studies MTTC, and
received a scores of 217, 220, 228, 228, 236, 241, 247, 255, 257, 263, 267,
268, 271, 271, 276, 276, 276. The passing score for the MTTC is 220. This
equals a pass rate of 94% for the exam, as compared to a state rate of 78%.
1.5.3 Performance Evidence
Students scored as follows on the supplemental evaluation form on
this strand:
|
Score |
Social Studies |
History |
Political Science |
Geography |
|
5- Excellent |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
4 – Very Good |
7 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
3 Average |
4 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|
2 Minimally acceptable |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
1 Inadequate |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
N Not applicable to this student |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
Note: Neither psychology nor economics had any students complete
student teaching in Winter 2003 when the supplemental
form was instituted.