Improving Literacy through Social Studies

Literacy is fundamental for the acquisition of knowledge and expansion of communication, critical thinking, and other skills essential for academic success, but only 30% of eighth graders and 31% of fourth graders scored at or above the proficient level in reading on the 2024 NAEP reading test considered the nation’s report card. The U.S. Department of Education recently identified evidence-based literacy as a priority in addressing the urgent needs of students, families, and states. While some educators have argued for the need for increased literacy instruction, studies have shown that increased time in social studies—not additional time in ELA—is associated with improved reading ability (Tyner and Kabourek 2020).

Education specialist and author Natalie Wexler has long advocated for the importance of social studies, and in particular, to build student content knowledge. In a recent post, Wexler described how social studies has been marginalized in favor of the tested subjects, math and reading, and how effective social studies curricula are lacking. “Teachers are often left to come up with their own materials for social studies instruction, and they get little support in how to deliver them,” she wrote. Wexler highlighted Literacy for We the People’s potential to improve literacy and civic education in Delaware.

Literacy for the We the People (LWTP) is an innovative project partnership between the Delaware State Department of Education, the Center for Civic Education (Center), the Delaware Center for Civics Education, and the Civic Education Research Lab (CERL) at Georgetown University. LWTP integrates literacy into the Center’s We the People lessons by providing teachers with literacy resources and professional learning to improve students’ reading, writing, and speaking abilities. The We the People curriculum examines the philosophical and historical foundations of the U.S. Constitution, our founding documents, and how founding principles have been applied over time. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Education Innovation and Research program, the 2026-2027 pilot program is focused on Delaware 4th, 7th, and 8th grade teachers, but will, in subsequent years, expand to other states. CERL’s formative and summative evaluation will inform continuous program improvement as partners engage in an iterative innovation and implementation process.

From August 3 to 6, 21 Delaware teachers participated in a summer professional learning institute at the University of Delaware. They experienced hands-on lessons, learned more about the science of reading and how it connects to social studies, and built a network they can lean on as they implement the program. CERL shared research on the We the People curriculum and our initial findings that support the integration of literacy and civics. CERL also conducted focus groups with the teachers to discuss how they currently integrate the subjects as well as the barriers they have encountered.

Leveraging a Literacy Toolkit

Literacy for We the People is designed to enhance the existing We the People and Delaware model lessons by intentionally incorporating literacy strategies into instruction. Delaware Social Studies Director Michael Feldman emphasized that “this project is not asking you to become a different teacher. Our goal is to help you become a more intentional one.” To prepare them for this task, the institute provided teachers with a toolkit of literacy strategies and hands-on experience with many of the lessons they will be teaching.

In one lesson, “What is Republican Government?” teachers worked through a section of text about the Founders creating a republican government. Throughout civics texts, students will come across new vocabulary, so the lesson prepared teachers to break down the vocabulary in a way that does not reduce the rigor. Participants then returned to the text to help them complete a graphic organizer about the benefits of a republican government. With this evidence, they practiced making claims in response to the question: Why did the Founders’ create a republican government? Each step provided scaffolding that helped students access the text and develop the content knowledge needed to make claims, using evidence, about what they just read.

Other activities and strategies included acting out vocabulary words, participating in a Paideia seminar using oral communication skills, and writing a persuasive letter to convince a loyalist to become a patriot. Lessons, strategies, and resources have been made available to the teachers online, and the repository will continue to grow. In addition, the teachers will continue with professional learning sessions throughout the year.

A hallmark of the We the People curriculum is the simulated congressional hearing, where students research, present, and defend a constitutional argument before a panel of judges. At the Delaware institute, teachers did more than just learn about this assessment approach, they completed it themselves. Subscribe to the CERL Substack for an upcoming post about teachers’ hands-on experience during professional learning.

Social studies is one of the richest contexts in which reading fluency and comprehension, writing, vocabulary, oral language, and critical thinking can be taught while students acquire substantive content knowledge, and with this program, essential knowledge of our nation’s founding history and the principles of the U.S. Constitution. The summer institute was a first big step to better prepare teachers to systematically support students, which will increase student attainment of literacy and civics standards. Literacy is fundamental not only for academic success, but also for citizenship.