In addition to a summary of American Studies in the Chelmsford, Massachusetts, High School, a state of the art review is provided to assist existing or proposed American Studies curricula in other high schools. The Chelmsford program has been successful/effective because of (1) the support, both moral and material, of the administrators; (2) the school's services and facilities, for example, the modular scheduling; (3) the strong academic backgrounds of the American Studies teams; and (4) adventurous students who elect the course. The future of American Studies is briefly discussed. Other American Studies programs brought to attention by an ERIC search are abstracted and two that appear effective are evaluated. Included are reading lists of unit plans, published course information not available through ERIC, and historical overviews of "core curriculum" and the "new social studies." (Author/ND)