A study of the implementation of the national geography standards and their alignment with classroom instruction in United States PK–12 schools

In the 1980s, media reports of the state of geography in United States schools and national assessments documenting the failing grades of American students resulted in a campaign to eradicate geographic illiteracy. As a result, there have been many reforms made in geography education, including the development of national geography standards. The National Geographic Society developed a Geography Education Foundation to introduce a grassroots movement for curricula change through teacher inservice institutes. Furthermore, geography was recognized as a core subject in the curriculum designated by President George Bush and the governors of the United States of America as part of the competency requirements of Goals 2000. The purpose of this study was to conduct a survey to determine the relationship between various independent variables and the implementation of national geography standards in the curriculum of PK–12 classrooms. The population consisted of Teacher Consultants (TCs) who were trained through Alliance Summer Geography Institutes (ASGIs) and PK–12 teachers in two northeast Louisiana school districts. Findings indicated a relationship between the implementation of geography standards and (a) teachers who have had pre-service training for geography, (b) attendance at ASGIs, (c) attendance at geography workshops, and (d) the number of minutes per week geography was taught