Civic Education in Early Elementary Grades: Challenges and Potential of Inquiry-Based Learning 

Authors: Allie Maltzman, Sarah Burnham 
Contributors: Alberto Medina, Riya Rahman

Civic learning is a necessary precursor to civic engagement, and K-12 civic education is a critical part of young people’s civic learning and development. In recent years, CIRCLE was contracted by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to examine the implementation of the 2018 Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework and the development and implementation of a new social studies curriculum: Investigating History (IH). As part of that work, our most recent research provides insights into the unique challenges and opportunities associated with social studies instruction and civic learning for 3rd and 4th grade students. 

This research has highlighted both the difficulties and strengths of implementing the state’s 2018 History and Social Science Framework. Specifically, our State of Civic Education in Massachusetts (2020) report highlighted the need for curricular materials and professional development to support teachers in developing confidence and efficacy teaching civics. Informed, in part, by those findings, DESE worked to develop the Investigating History curriculum. One of the four key instructional principles in designing the curriculum focused on civic engagement and current world relevance. 

The goal of the IH curriculum is to provide open-access, high-quality materials to support both teachers and students in engaging in inquiry-based, culturally sustaining social studies learning. Additionally, Investigating History seeks to promote the inclusion of meaningful social studies instruction in elementary and middle grades, where there has typically been less emphasis on social studies compared to subject areas that are typically assessed for competency, such as STEM and ELA. 

Laying the foundation for civic education in early elementary grades is important:  students build upon these skills and develop more advanced and nuanced understanding of civics as they progress through their K-12 education. To that end, the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework includes civic education milestones for early elementary grades, calling for social studies and civics skills to be taught early and often. That framework has been influential in informing state standards, including the revised 2018 History and Social Science Framework for Massachusetts. The 2018 framework has a strong civics through line, which in turn also informed development of social studies curricula like Investigating History.

CIRCLE was previously contracted by DESE to evaluate Investigating History materials for grades 5, 6, and 7. Our findings and recommendations from that evaluation helped to inform ongoing curriculum development and implementation efforts. This new evaluation of piloting IH in 3rd and 4th grade draws on teacher survey and interview data from the Investigating History pilot and is intended to document implementation experiences and perceived challenges, not to assess the effectiveness of the curriculum on student outcomes. This evaluation may suggestive the types of supports that are helpful to classroom teachers making a transition to an inquiry-based curriculum in early elementary grades. 

Supporting Teachers with a New Type of Curriculum

The Investigating History curriculum incorporates a variety of resources and materials to support inquiry and discussion-based classrooms. This meets a need: based on our survey data, about 60% of 3rd grade teachers, and only 30% of 4th grade teachers who participated in the Investigating History curriculum pilot, reported that they had prior access to social studies materials before Investigating History. Additionally, 47% of teachers (across both grades) said they were previously using curricular materials developed by their school district, while 31% said they had been using materials from an outside provider. The shift to IH meant that participating teachers had access to a single, standards-aligned curriculum, rather than drawing from multiple sources that varied within and across districts. 

Across both grades, 72% of teachers reported that using the curriculum was going well. Teachers also said that many of the routines and strategies outlined in Investigating History were effective in supporting student learning. At the same time, teachers reported observing more limited growth in students’ inquiry-related skills. A smaller proportion of teachers across both grades reported observing a high level of growth in skills related to generating inquiry questions (26%), analyzing sources (28%), and gathering evidence to answer inquiries (36%), all of which are central to the instructional routines in IH. Teachers also said they experienced pacing challenges, particularly as they adjusted to using a structured, inquiry-based curriculum for the first time. Teachers reported struggling with allotted instructional time, finding it difficult to adapt resources for their classrooms, and the lessons being generally too long. 

Because there are challenges that come with implementing any new curriculum, it is important to have structures in place to support all teachers. Past CIRCLE research has highlighted the importance of not only investing in developing strong curricular resources but also providing professional learning and development opportunities for teachers. The evaluation of the IH curriculum found that teachers reported enjoying and feeling supported by the professional development offered by DESE. Teachers reported it was well-planned, efficient, helped contextualize certain elements of the curriculum, and felt worthwhile. 

A majority of educators (91% of 3rd grade teachers and 88% of 4th grade teachers) reported that the IH professional development was effective in helping them implement the Investigating History curriculum. These findings suggest that professional development played an important role in helping teachers navigate the curriculum, particularly in early elementary grades where inquiry-based social studies instruction may be new for both teachers and students (Heafner, 2018; Thacker et al., 2018). 

Shifting to Inquiry 

The IH curriculum includes three different routines to support the inquiry cycle that occur in every cluster of lessons. Through the Launching the Question routine, students unpack the supporting question of each lesson cluster and generate their own questions. Investigating Sources has students dive deep into a variety of sources and gather evidence. Putting it Together involves the students working with their classmates to answer their original inquiry questions and ensure understanding of lesson cluster. The curriculum also includes instructional strategies as part of those routines, like inquiry charts, think-pair-share, discussion diamonds, know and wonder chart, and vocabulary routines. In response to our survey data, teachers reported being especially confident in implementing think-pair-share (94%), vocabulary routines (92%), notice and wonder (92%), Investigating Sources (88%), and Putting it Together (83%). 

Inquiry-based curricula like Investigating History emphasize the development of civic and historical skills, such as asking questions, analyzing evidence, considering multiple perspectives, and engaging in discussion, while also supporting students’ understanding of social studies content. In early elementary grades, students may have limited prior experience with inquiry-based learning and uneven exposure to social studies content (Heafner, 2018). As a result, teachers are often supporting students in developing inquiry skills and building background knowledge simultaneously. These two instructional goals are closely connected and may reinforce one another, but they can also present implementation challenges, particularly when time is limited. 

As stated above, some teachers reported observing growth in several civic and inquiry-related skills, including students’ ability to consider different perspectives and identify key information from sources. Additionally, teachers identified building background knowledge as an ongoing challenge. In surveys and interviews, teachers explained that limited background knowledge sometimes affected student engagement; on average, teachers estimated that about half of their students entered lessons with sufficient foundational understanding to fully access the material. These findings highlight the importance of ensuring that inquiry-based curricula include supports for building background knowledge while also supporting teachers in facilitating inquiry processes and recognizing productive struggle as part of skill development. 

Conclusion 

Overall, findings suggest that social studies instruction in the early elementary grades may require targeted supports and instructional strategies that reflect students’ developmental needs and prior learning experiences. Because implementing a new curriculum that emphasizes inquiry represents a meaningful instructional shift for many teachers, it is important to have structures in place to support them. These findings suggest that professional development played an important role in helping teachers navigate the curriculum, especially given that inquiry-based social studies instruction was new for many participating teachers and students. 

This highlights an important dynamic in early civic education: both skill development and content knowledge are necessary and mutually reinforcing, and students may need support in developing both simultaneously. Overall, CIRCLE’s evaluation of Investigating History in 3rd and 4th grades suggests that implementing inquiry-based social studies in the early elementary grades presents distinct challenges and requires intentional supports aligned with students’ developmental needs and teachers’ instructional contexts. The findings highlight the importance of supporting inquiry-based civic education through aligned curricular materials and professional learning, as well as the need to adapt implementation supports to students’ developmental contexts and classroom experiences. 

References

• Heafner, T. L. (2018). More social studies?: Examining instructional policies of time and testing in elementary school. The Journal of Social Studies Research, 42(3), 229-237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2017.08.004
• Thacker, E. S., Friedman, A. M., Fitchett, P. G., Journell, W., & Lee, J. K. (2018). Exploring how an elementary teacher plans and implements social studies inquiry. The Social Studies, 109(2), 85–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/00377996.2018.1451983