with a Concentration in Curriculum Studies

! iii This critical and philosophical study explores the relationship between globalization, the evolution of structural education reform policy (i.e., the standards and accountability movement), and the purpose of secondary history/social studies education in American society. From A Nation at Risk to Obama’s A Blueprint for Reform, federal education policy has narrowed the vision of public education in the United States for the past 30 years. The purpose of this study is three-fold: 1. question the purpose of history/social studies education in light of the effects of globalization on American public education reform; 2. propose a new rationale for world history curriculum in secondary education; and 3. reconceptualize a curriculum that is responsive to students living in a 21st century global society. I conducted critical discourse analysis (CDA) on the five federal policies since 1983 to explore the evolution of structural education reform and its effects on public education. The findings highlighted a shift in policy that now focuses on th