UW-Madison’s Jeremy Stoddard and Diana Hess are co-authors of a report that received the Outstanding Paper Award from the American Educational Research Association’s Social Studies Research special interest group (SIG).
Stoddard, the lead author, is an associate professor with the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, while Hess is dean of the School and the Karen A. Falk Distinguished Chair of Education. Paul Fitchett, with the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, is also a co-author.
Their paper being recognized is titled, “Teaching about the 2018 mid-term elections: A national survey of social studies teachers.”
The paper’s abstract notes: “For this paper we present results from a national survey of secondary social studies teachers to identify teacher-reported practices related to teaching the 2018 U.S. midterm elections and contemporary social and policy issues. We were interested in factors that helped to explain why teachers were or were not engaging students in the midterm elections and related controversial issues and what contextual factors may impact their teaching of these contemporary events.”
The abstract adds: “In particular, we examined the teachers’ political views and those of the school community, personal political engagement, and engagement with current events associated with teaching the midterms. These findings are important given the rise in partisanship and social stratification in the U.S.”
The Social Studies Research SIG exists to initiate, exchange, and advance research relevant to social studies education found in P-12 schools and classrooms with students, teachers, and administrators; in teacher education programs with teacher candidates, practicing teachers, school administrators, and teacher educators; and in relationship to active citizenship in families, communities, society, and policymakers.