The purpose of this monograph is to provide an overview of the research literature on remedial education in general and social studies teaching and learning in particular. The questions guiding this review included: (a) What is known about effective methods of providing remedial instruction to students from the general school population? (b) How do we account for student success and/or failure in social studies classrooms? and (c) What instructional strategies are most effective in increasing student achievement in social studies? The (...) monograph is organized into four major sections, beginning with a discussion of the nature and aims of remedial education. Two subsequent sections examine the assumptions underlying the determinants of academic success and failure; and cognitive conceptions of learning and their implications for instructional decision making. The final section of the monograph examines findings from ethnographic research literature and presents a critique of psychological conceptions of student success and failure. (shrink)