ABSTRACT
The social studies community has experienced the impacts of school policies that have marginalized or eliminated social studies education in elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools across the nation. Social studies educators have long understood the importance of, and worked tirelessly to provide, high-quality instruction throughout students' K-12 educational experiences. Attention to high-quality social studies education is desperately needed to preserve and protect the democratic way of life. In this chapter, the author proposes a seven-step social studies policy advocacy plan. The first four advocacy plan includes identifying specific advocacy challenges and opportunities; determining the key audiences; finding out what audiences know and how they come to know it; and defining specific message points relevant to each audience. The next three includes establishing measurable objectives and strategies for attaining them; planning their resources, timeline, and responsibilities for each activity accordingly; and evaluating the extent to which they have reached their objectives.
