Ohio Department of Education Teaching

This page contains valuable links to professional associations, instructional resources and research resources. The professional associations provide educators with opportunities to stay informed within their fields. The instructional resources include organizations and institutions that provide information for educators seeking practical and creative ways to implement standards-based instruction. The research resources provide theory, skills and strategies to build knowledge and understanding of standards and other related topics.

For a Word document containing the links below, click here. For a PDF version, click here.

Professional Associations

• National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)
• National Council for History Education (NCHE)
• Ohio Council for the Social Studies (OCSS)
• Buckeye Council for History Education (BCHE)
• American Historical Association
• American Political Science Association
• American Psychological Association
• National Council for Geographic Education
• Ohio Geographic Alliance
• National Association of Economic Educators
• Organization of American Historians
• Organization of History Teachers
• World History Association

Instructional Resources

• Center for Civic Education
• Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
• The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
• Library of Congress
• National Center for History in the Schools
• Council for Economic Education (CEE)
• Ohio Council on Economic Education (OCEE)
• Ohio Center for Law-Related Education (OCLRE)
• Ohio Historical Society
• Ohio Social Studies Resource Center (OSSRC)
• Smithsonian Institution

Research Resources

• National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
• Education Resources Information Center (ERIC)

Assessment in Social Studies

Recent constraints on Ohio’s state budget have caused suspension of the Ohio Achievement Assessments (OAA) for social studies at grades five and eight. School districts interested in monitoring student progress in social studies at these grade levels can use released items from the ODE or Success website to construct formative and summative assessments. Released items and tools necessary to create assessments related to OAA can be found on Ohio’s Statewide Testing website at http://portal.success-ode-state-oh-us.info/. Additional tools and resources for teams of teachers to use when planning for OAA instruction and assessment can be found in the Social Studies OAT Toolkit.

The Ohio Graduation Test for social studies remains operational as a graduation requirement for all of Ohio’s students. Released items and tools necessary to create assessments related to OGT also can be found on Ohio’s Statewide Testing website at http://portal.success-ode-state-oh-us.info/.

Contact Information
Thomas Rutan
Associate Director
(614) 728-1997
tom.rutan@education.ohio.gov

Dwight Groce
Social Studies Consultant
(614) 387-3200
Dwight.Groce@education.ohio.gov

Linda McKean 
Social Studies Consultant
(614) 387-0957
linda.mckean@education.ohio.gov

William Muthig
Social Studies Consultant
(614) 644-7305
william.muthig@education.ohio.gov