Social Studies Content Knowledge Interventions for Students With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

The importance of social studies and civics education is increasing, as evidenced by the growing number of states requiring coursework in this area for graduation and its growing presence in school accountability frameworks. Social studies instruction is critical for all students so that they may understand their roles, rights, and responsibilities as citizens and how their actions can influence their communities. Students who exhibit antisocial behaviors, such as those with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), may especially benefit from social studies and civics education as it promotes college and career readiness and provides opportunities to engage in social problem solving and perspective taking. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the social studies and civics intervention research for students with EBD. We sought to describe and evaluate the extant literature, identify promising practices, and suggest areas for future research. A total of 17 intervention studies were identified. Overall, 10 out of the 17 studies met What Works Clearinghouse Design Standards with or without reservations. Eight of the 10 studies were eligible for effect size calculation, resulting in an overall large effect ( g = 0.83). Study limitations, implications for school practice, and directions for research are discussed.

Science Mapping Research on Citizenship Education: A Bibliometric Review

“…Moreover, it is noteworthy that many reviews found evaluating dissertations on social studies (Canbulat et al, 2016;Chapin, 1974;Hepburn & Dahler, 1983;Oğuz Hacat & Demir, 2018;Öner & Öner, 2017;Şahin et al, 2011;Wrubel & Ratliff, 1978;Tarman et al, 2010). Furthermore, among the research related to social studies education, studies associated with various topics are available such as meta-analysis (Fitzpatrick, 2018;Garwood et al, 2019;Graham et al, 2020;Gürdogan Bayır & Bozkurt, 2018;Swanson et al, 2014;Yasar et al, 2015;Yukhymenko, 2011), meta-synthesis (Uygun, 2020;Yoder et al, 2016), and metaethnography (Tannebaum, 2015). In addition to these, evaluative studies were also conducted that examining studies on social studies and technology subjects (Beck & Eno, 2012;Berson, 2014;Whitworth & Berson, 2002).…”

A systematic review of intervention studies for young children with emotional and behavioral disorders: identifying the research base

“…Systematic reviews of the literature are commonly performed to report existing research, identify effective practices and make recommendations for future investigations to inform school practice (Cook et al, 2016b; Cook et al, 2016a; Maggin et al, 2013). Systematic reviews are common in the field of EBD, as evidenced by studies investigating topics such as social studies content (Garwood et al, 2019) and cross‐age peer tutoring (Watts et al, 2019) interventions. Furthermore, systematic reviews may apply expert panel recommendations to evaluate extant research and identify investigations with sufficient rigor to make some degree of causal inference between the use of interventions and changes in dependent variables.…”

Civics Education for Students With Learning Disabilities and Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

“…In an era of high-stakes testing in reading and mathematics, as well as an increased legislative focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, social studies has been pushed to the margins of the school curriculum (Fitchett et al, 2014; Hartshorne et al, 2019). In the documented instances when social studies interventions are evaluated by researchers in schools for students with EBD or LD, the focus is most often on geography, history, and text-based content acquisition and comprehension (Garwood, McKenna, et al, 2019; Wissinger & Ciullo, 2018). However, the information learned during civics instruction most directly prepares students for active participation in their communities (Hamot et al, 2005).…”

“…It is not enough merely to include social studies content in reading passages as a part of literacy instruction (Fitchett & Heafner, 2010). Rather, there must be attention to domain-specific content (e.g., citizenship skills) within social studies (Garwood, McKenna, et al, 2019). Public education has an important role in preparing students to be active citizens and for participation in democracy.…”