The Social Studies Squeeze: How It Hurts Civic Engagement and Reading Skills
If you’ve stepped into an elementary school classroom lately, you might have noticed something missing. No? Look closer.
In between the shelves full of books and bins of art supplies there sits an empty shelf. Collecting dust. What used to be there? Social studies curriculum.
The Social Studies Squeeze
The truth is that social studies has been effectively squeezed out of most elementary school classrooms. Math and English gobble up instructional minutes. Social studies can only beg for scraps.
Roughly half of elementary schools have no adopted social studies curriculum. The average lower elementary teacher spends 16 minutes a day on social studies. By comparison, recess is usually 25 minutes a day, at least.
So why don’t teachers carve out more time for social studies? They want to. But the debates about how history gets taught and standardized tests that focus only on reading and math force hard questions that doom the subject: Why teach it when it isn’t being tested? Why teach it if it might make you a political target? Why indeed.
This squeezing out of social studies has created a crisis in our schools. Unfortunately, it’s not the only one.
Twin Crises
It’s no secret that education in the United States is facing two serious crises. The first is literacy. Reading scores remain stubbornly disappointing. Kids from kindergarten to college aren’t reading as much or as well as they should.
The second crisis–civics–gets far less attention but is no less critical. In many places, citizenship skills go untaught and undeveloped. Our democracy desperately needs bolstering. Yet, we are failing to foster the skills that our kids need in order to become productive citizens.
For decades, I’ve had a front row seat to the social studies squeeze-out. Indeed, social studies has been my life’s work. I’ve spent 34 years teaching students and fellow educators about it. I’ve had a robust dual career in teaching and educational publishing: working for innovative social studies curriculum companies to create lessons designed to make history come alive for students across the country.
My whole adult life has been dedicated to getting kids to care about social studies. However, it wasn’t always the tough job it is today.
An Easier Time for Social Studies Teachers and Publishers
When I started teaching and working in publishing in the nineties and early 2000s, there was a consensus about history pedagogy. Publishers broadened the American story to include more women and people of color. State and national standards pushed us to engage students in discussion, debate, and argumentation.
We celebrated the idea that history is not math, a subject with one right answer. We asked students to consider multiple perspectives, to question, to wonder. I wore a t-shirt to school back then with one word on it: Think. It’s what active, involved citizens do. And social studies provides practice.
But somewhere along the way, we forgot that. We panicked. “Kids need to read,” we said. “They need to be able to write. They need to add, subtract, and divide.” And they do. But they also need to understand the world around them.
That’s where social studies comes in. And maybe with that insight, we would have found our way back. Maybe social studies would have slowly been able to snatch back some of those instructional minutes.
Except somehow, the very subject that helps foster discourse and debate became the subject of its own very heated debate. History wars were revived. And many teachers and publishers are now frightened of the subject. The social studies squeeze got worse.
What Should We Do?
Is there a realistic way to get teachers to set aside more instructional minutes for social studies?
Yes. Teachers can improve reading scores and bring back social studies. They can foster literacy and create better citizens. The solution requires unboxing and combining disciplines in new ways. But it can be done.
How? Teach reading and social studies at the same time.
Social studies disciplines like history, geography, economics, and civics help build the background knowledge that gives students a better chance at reading success.
The science of reading tells us that background knowledge is the key to improving reading comprehension. A struggling reader who knows a lot about baseball comprehends an article about baseball better than a proficient reader who doesn’t know much about the sport. It turns out, the more you know, the better you read. The better you read, the more you know.
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Teach reading and social studies at the same time. The best news is that you can try out 241’s ready-to-run lessons for free right now. Just visit 241books.com.
Teach literacy and social science background knowledge together in the same prime-time reading block. Teach vocabulary, word parts, and social studies analysis skills simultaneously. Teach discussion and citizenship skills together. Engage students in rich, inspiring social studies stories, and encourage them to write their own.
Reading and social studies are natural partners, like chocolate and sea salt. The wall between the two serves no one. That’s why I co-founded 241 Books with celebrated children’s author Erin Fry and creative design genius Amy Hauck-Wilson. 
Every day, our 241 team creates two-for-ones that make teaching reading and social studies fun, easy, and impactful. We build engaging, student-centered, lesson bundles that include high interest books, videos, and ready-to-use lesson materials. Every bundle is packed with powerful two-for-ones: reading and social studies, fiction and nonfiction, literacy and civics.
Our materials will make your students better readers and better humans.
Please visit 241books.com to try our curriculum, including a digital book and ready-to-use lesson plans. It’s free! You’ll see how easy it is to teach reading and social studies at the same time. And you’ll squeeze social studies back into your day.
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Steve Seely is an award winning teacher and a veteran curriculum designer. In 2024, he co-founded 241 Books, where he creates books and materials to teach reading and social studies at the same time. Please send comments or questions to sseely@241books.com.