The Time Crunch for Social Studies

Before adopting Inquiry Journeys (K–5 social studies curriculum), the Iowa City Community School District faced a challenge familiar to many. Teachers and administrators knew social studies was important, but instructional minutes were filled to the brim by reading and math. 

As Patrick Snyder, Elementary Curriculum Coordinator, explained, “Social studies is one of the under-taught things in our schools.” In a landscape where what gets tested gets taught, subjects that had clear standards linked to grades in a report card would take precedence. Snyder and district leaders saw the pattern clearly and worked to create the structures that would set teachers up for strong inquiry-based social studies instruction. 

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Priority Standards Protect Instructional Minutes

The district began by identifying priority standards in social studies. The goal was simple and ambitious: ensure every student received consistent, high-quality learning experiences across 20 elementary schools.

Eliza Proctor, Executive Director of Elementary Schools, explained how that work looked in practice: “As we prioritize those standards and find the ones that we think students must have mastery of…we've really tried to embed those into learning experiences.”

Priority standards helped Iowa City:

• Protect time for social studies
• Justify that time to families through report cards
• Ensure students across classrooms had consistent, rigorous learning opportunities
• Build accountability structures that made social studies visible and essential

Iowa City developed its priority standards through a district-wide effort to create consistent, high-quality learning expectations across all schools. As Snyder explained, this work ensured that “all kids in every single one of our classes are having similar experiences” and helped protect social studies time in a schedule dominated by tested subjects. 

By reporting these standards to families, the district created accountability to actually teach them, making social studies both visible and essential. With those clear goals in place, teachers could use Inquiry Journeys as a guide, allowing students to “drive the bus” while ensuring they were still moving toward the standards that mattered most.

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Letting Students Lead Within Goals

When Iowa City implemented Inquiry Journeys, many teachers were transitioning from textbook-driven, teacher-directed instruction. The move to inquiry-based teaching required a mindset shift. Teachers were asked to see themselves not just as content deliverers, but as facilitators of learning. This change came with understandable anxiety. What if students went off track? What if inquiry didn’t lead to mastery of the standards?

Inquiry Journeys eased those fears by showing that inquiry and standards don’t compete with one another. Rather, they support each other. The compelling questions, supporting questions, and multimodal sources built into each module provided a clear roadmap. Students could drive the bus, but they did so within a standards-aligned framework.

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The Power of Both Process and Product

Iowa City leaders saw that the inquiry process matters just as much as the final product. Each day, students write and revise responses to essential questions, analyze new sources, discuss texts, interpret maps and artifacts, and make connections to their communities.

Snyder sees this process in classrooms across the district: “I see kids writing responses to supporting questions. I see them writing responses to compelling questions, and those answers might change from one day to the next because they have learned a little bit more.”

That process culminates in informed action, where students apply their learning in authentic and purposeful ways. As Snyder explained, “The informed action project has really been powerful for a lot of teachers.” It became a turning point because teachers saw how sustained inquiry built the knowledge and skills students needed to take meaningful action. 

Each class will complete an informed action project that looks different, as teachers adapt it to student interests and community needs. This demonstrates how inquiry is as much about the thinking and questioning along the way as it is about the final product.

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Making Social Studies Visible, Valued, and Protected

Once Iowa City teachers saw students deeply engaged in inquiry, asking questions, forming opinions, and teaching one another, buy-in grew quickly. Snyder reflected on what he witnessed: “When you see kids feel excited and engaged and empowered with what they are learning, I think teachers then find that enthusiasm, and it’s hard to move back.” 

Seeing students lead their own learning helped teachers rediscover the energy and joy that come from authentic classroom experiences. The impact was visible all throughout school buildings. Informed action projects and other artifacts of learning filled hallways, classrooms, and community spaces. Families shared in the excitement, and school leaders recognized the deep thinking happening in social studies. 

By combining priority standards with Inquiry Journeys, Iowa City created that structure. Teachers felt trusted and supported. Students saw their work matter. Leaders saw social studies connected to the district’s larger vision for meaningful learning. As Proctor shared, “Teachers hold the knowledge, they hold the skills. They just need to be given permission and the ability to say yes to some things.” 

“Teachers hold the knowledge, they hold the skills. They just need to be given permission and the ability to say yes to some things.” 

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A Districtwide Culture of Innovation and Inquiry

The combination of clear structures and inquiry-based social studies instruction created the conditions for teacher innovation to thrive. Teachers no longer waited for direction from a textbook. Instead, they planned, adapted, and led with confidence and creativity.

“Over the course of the last year or so, we’ve really challenged ourselves as leaders and as district educators to find opportunities where we can really make our learning come to life,” Proctor reflected. The district’s investment in this goal has produced both academic and human results. Students feel ownership of their learning, and teachers feel trusted as professionals. Families and community members see meaningful learning happening in classrooms. 

Snyder summed it up best: “Teachers are not looking back. They love that they have the time to teach social studies.” And in Iowa City, that time has become the foundation for innovation.

Curious how an inquiry-based approach could support your district’s goals? Inquiry Journeys, our K–5 social studies curriculum, could be the right fit for your district.