ABSTRACT

 The study evaluated the implementation of social studies curriculum at the upper Basic Education level in Abia State. The design of the study was Evaluative research design. The population of the study consisted of all the social studies teachers and students at the upper Basic level in Abia State. The samples of the study were ninety two (92) social studies teachers and three hundred and eighty four (384) students. The students' sample was drawn using simple random sampling techniques while all the social studies teachers in sampled schools were selected for the study. The instrument used for data collection was the social studies curriculum implementation questionnaire (SSIQ) developed by the researcher. The instrument was validated by three experts, two in Curriculum Studies and one in Measurement And Evaluation all in the college of Education, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. The reliability of the instrument was estimated through test-retest method and a reliability coefficient of 0.76 was obtained. The instrument was administered on the respondents by the researcher and three research assistants. All the copies of the instrument administered were retrieved and data therein were analyzed using mean and standard deviation scores to answer the research questions while students't-test statistic was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Among the results obtained were that: the objectives of the teaching of social studies at Basic Education level in Abia State have been achieved to a low extent; there was no significant difference between the mean ratings of teachers and students on the extent of achievement of the objectives; the instructional materials were available at low extent; the available instructional materials were utilized at low extent; the recommended instructional methods were utilized at very low extent and that the recommended evaluation techniques were utilized at high extent. Based on these findings, it was recommended among others that adequate instructional materials for social studies curriculum implementation should be provided by the Ministry of Education; and that Social Studies teachers should be retrained on the skills for utilization of instructional materials.