We are inundated with reports, headlines, and assessment data that suggest that we must focus our attention on the state of geographic literacy in our county. A 2016 article from National Geographic revealed that young college-educated Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six years old with some college education averaged a score of 55 percent on a geographic literacy test. Similarly, the National Geographic Society (2023) finds that adult Americans exhibit gaps in their knowledge about geography and world affairs. In 2018 the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) administered the geography assessment to a nationally representative sample of eighth-grade students. This is the most recent report provided, as it was the last time that geography was assessed. The geography measurement assessed students’ knowledge and skills in both content and cognitive areas.
This 2018 report revealed that only 25 percent of American students in the eighth grade performed at or above NAEP proficiency in geography. The 2018 assessment revealed that the average geography score for eighth-grade students was three points lower compared to 2014. The 2018 average score was not significantly different compared to 1994, the first assessment year. While not the complete story regarding the state of geographic literacy, the NAEP report provides educators, families, and policymakers with much-needed data regarding teacher practices and student knowledge and skills.
There are a number of reasons for the above-mentioned reports, headlines, and concerning assessment data, the most obvious being the marginalization of social studies as a result of the No Child Left Behind legislation. This includes reduced instructional time for social studies and the allocation of resources both human and economic to subjects such as reading / English language arts and math.
Still another reason is a lack of appropriate materials and resources and the intentionality given to teacher training. A focus on the latter might move us toward a solution to addressing the geographic illiteracy of the United States.
What is geographic literacy?
As defined by the National Geographic Society (2023), geographic literacy is the ability to use geographic understanding and reasoning to make decisions. It describes the ways in which a person views, understands, and interacts with the world. This goes beyond knowing the states and capitals in the United States or the directions on a compass. There are three components of geographic literacy:
- Interactions: Understanding the world in terms of systems
- Interactions: Understanding how one place in the world is connected to another place
- Implications: Understanding how to make well-reasoned decisions
Beyond the fact that all social studies content has a geography strand and at least one process standard that calls for the reading and interpreting of maps, charts, and graphs, being geo-literate is also important for the following reasons:
- It equips a person to understand geopolitical realities to make informed decisions about local, national, and world affairs.
- It empowers people to compete successfully in a global marketplace.
- It gives individuals a critically needed understanding of the relationships between human activity and the condition of the world.
Leveraging Webb’s Depth of Knowledge Framework
There is more for educators to do than just teach students to “read” maps, graphs, and charts. Educators must also encompass all the critical thinking skills (such as interpretation and analysis) as we teach students these geographic tools. One way to make sure that we don’t simply stay at lower-level thinking is to leverage Webb’s Depth of Knowledge (DOK) framework. In the 1990s, Norman Webb developed the Depth of Knowledge framework to help categorize expectations and tasks according to the complexity of engagement required. Here is an overview of each level of the DOK framework for social studies instruction:
What does this look like in the classroom?
Incorporating an instructional framework has numerous benefits for both teachers and students, including the following:
- Uniting school leaders, teachers, and students with shared goals, a shared understanding of how to reach the goals, and a shared vocabulary for discussing progress
- Empowering teachers to plan and teach at their best and all students to reach their highest potential in every lesson
Social Studies School Service developed an instructional framework that supports teachers in moving instruction beyond level 1 of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge framework for social studies instruction. It introduced this framework to teachers in a school district in the Midwest whose goal is to build teacher capacity in geography instruction. The school district secured a number of Nystrom resources to support this goal. The district’s efforts are noteworthy because helping students to effectively use the tools of the geographer will increase geographic literacy: “Teaching with maps means using maps to help students learn key social studies concepts and relationships. Teaching with maps enables students to learn through maps—that is, to think spatially—in various reasoning and problem-solving contexts in the classroom and real world” (Bednarz, Acheson, and Bednarz 2006).
As the research suggests, a middle school social studies teacher in that Midwest school district, indicated that a framework ensures that he is intentional about how he uses geographic tools such as atlases, maps, graphs, visuals, etc. to provide instruction.
The following outlines an explanation of the framework:
During another teacher training where this framework was used, teachers were asked the following question: What skills would this instructional framework help your students develop? One seventh-grade social studies teacher, responded that this framework helps her students take risks. She went on to say that they are able to confidently make assertions and support those assertions with evidence from the maps, graphs, images, and other assets included in the atlas. Another teacher pointed out that her students will sharpen their synthesis skills, as the application part of the framework challenges students to use the multiple sources presented in the atlas to think flexibly, determine alternatives, and create something new.
Future Implications
Five years later, we are still inundated with reports, headlines, and assessment data that suggest that we must focus our attention on teaching and learning in social studies. This time the focus is on history and civics. As in the conversations surrounding the 2018 NAEP geography assessment, stakeholders have cited a number of reasons for the decline in history and civics. Of course, the marginalization of social studies is still ranked as a leading cause for the dip in NAEP scores.
In addition, many point to the loss of instructional time during the pandemic and the current political climate. We are working hard to find solutions to these problems, but are we focused on the right work? A focus on aligned resources, exemplary instructional models, and purposeful teacher training is where we might leverage our resources to address concerns regarding social studies education in the United States.
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Using district priorities, narratives, talent, and potential, Dr. Montra Rogers works closely with stakeholders to plan and program for the implementation of Social Studies School Service resources as the company’s Director of Partnership and Instruction. She understands firsthand the power of viable partnerships. Montra appreciates new opportunities and experiences to include traveling, dining, and attending social/cultural events; this also includes volunteering in her local community. She is the eldest of five girls and mother to one son. Montra has an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, an MLA in Liberal Arts, and a BA in History.