“…At least three dimensions of teacher qualifications have been identified as important to students' academic achievement: teachers' preservice and in-service professional development programs, teachers' beliefs and practices, and teachers' experience (Greenwald, Hedges, & Laine, 1996;Rice, 2003). These are thought to be important factors in enhancing teachers' pedagogical content knowledge as well as their skills in managing aspects of classroom instruction in social studies, which in turn is thought to have a positive effect on students' learning (Darling-Hammond, 2000;van Hover, 2008). Torney-Purta, Richardson, and Barber (2005), after reviewing relevant literature, suggested that three characteristics of teachers were essential to effective preparation to teach social studies: content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and beliefs.…”