Date Approved

2013

Date Posted

5-1-2013

Degree Type

Open Access Senior Honors Thesis

Department or School

Political Science

First Advisor

Jeffrey L. Bernstein

Second Advisor

Edward Sidlow

Abstract

Societal importance of the social studies fields is the key to what makes the development of social studies curriculum political. State standardized curricula adopted in the 1990s gave freedom to individual states to create their own standards on what information they were requiring their students to learn. The standards we require students to know inherently molds their political philosophy throughout schooling. By focusing attention on two separate cases, Texas and Michigan, inherent differences in the creation process of these standards are highlighted to show how the differences in the creation process have an effect on the standards document. This thesis explores factors such as how the choice of board members, effect of interest groups and the type of revision process all effect how politicized state social studies standards can be.

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