Marcie Taylor-Thoma coordinated social studies instruction, curriculum, assessment, policy, and professional development programs for over twenty years at the Maryland State Department of Education in Baltimore. Thoma taught secondary social studies in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland for ten years before her tenure in state education. She recently retired to the Maryland Council for Civic and History Education where she coordinates history and civic programs such as the History Teacher of the Year, We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution, the James Madison Legacy Program in Maryland, and international democracy programs in Russia and Armenia.

She completed her doctoral studies at the College of Notre Dame in Maryland in 2008 in leadership and policy. Her research interests include studying the relationship between effective civic education policy and student learning in the United States and abroad. Thoma considers herself a strong advocate for social justice and serves as the Past-President of the Middle States Council for Social Studies. Her most recent project has been the editing and interpreting of the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards.