In a Maryland Matters commentary, Principal Faculty Specialist Alison Jovanovic, Associate Professor Sarah McGrew and Director of the Civic Engagement and Education Initiative Lena Morreale Scott argue that strengthening literacy instruction requires investing in social studies, not decreasing time devoted to it. Drawing on research and their own experiences as classroom teachers, they explain that building students' background knowledge through history, civics and geography is essential for reading comprehension and long-term academic success.
Social studies classrooms are filled with rich opportunities to read and learn to communicate through speaking and writing. They also help students build knowledge about the world that is fundamental to reading comprehension.
A longitudinal study of first through fifth graders’ reading performance by researchers at the Fordham Institute found that social studies was the only subject “with a clear, positive, and statistically significant effect on reading improvement.”
Elementary students who spent more time in social studies made substantially more reading progress compared with peers with less instructional time in social studies—and students from low-income families and those who speak English as a second language benefited the most.
