ABSTRACT
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers new directions for social studies researchers, educators, and related scholars advocating for the field. Historically, however, success in advocating for social studies has been mixed, perhaps suggesting that it is time to look outside the narrow confines of social studies research. In this chapter, the author highlights two lessons that social studies educators can learn from policy research and reform outside of the field. The California mathematics reform movement offers an important policy parable for social studies educators. Social studies are highly politicized, partially due to the aims and purpose of social studies instruction. One of the central tenets of social studies education and its associated disciplines generally is agreed to be the nurturing of democratic citizens. The author argues that consensus and compromise is needed to move policymaking forward in social studies. The concept of balanced literacy has created a unique opportunity for the development of policymaking and policy tools in reading education.
