It is difficult to overstate the power of visual images, particularly historical primary source photos, to provide a window into the past. Here, the authors outline how educators can utilize historic photos to provide students with a deeper understanding of the past. When students do not see their heritage and culture represented in images, the…

Background/Context: How students develop a capacity to examine and imagine the past impacts how they think about the present and imagine the future. This study contributes to research about teachers' beliefs and practices about teaching United States history through cultural encounters and nontraditional historical narratives. Although there is a…

This case study examines the perspectives of a teacher and a set of students in a U.S. history classroom in a "last chance" public New York City high school--with "last chance" being a common term used to describe schools designed for struggling students, those who have a history of truancy, or those who have dropped out. The…

Over the last 30 years, biracial individuals have become one of the fastest growing populations in the United States. Despite this rapid growth, these citizens are only slowly beginning to be acknowledged among monoracial groups and in academia. Because biracial identities "potentially disrupt the white/"of color" dichotomy, and…

A study of how middle and high school American history teachers adopted and maintained the use of research-based instructional practices is described as a model of professional development for social studies teachers. The teachers participated in a three-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Teaching American History grant…

May 17, 2004 marked the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in the historic school desegregation case, "Oliver L. Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka (KS) et al." After concluding a survey of elementary school teachers about the struggle for school desegregation in the 1950s and 60s, this author found that, in most…

Mary Woolley decided to make four revision sheets for her lower-band Year 11 set. Each was to help them view their American West study through a different lens. She was rather uncertain, however (and so were the pupils) about her fourth sheet on places. Her reflections on the revision sheet and subsequent reading led not only to a totally new…

Discusses responses related to the nature and purpose of history from a survey of historians. Contends that it is the appeal of history, rather than teaching methods, that captures the interest of high-school and college students. Applies Ernest Boyer's four principles of scholarship to the survey results. (CFR)

Discusses the controversy surrounding the National Standards for World History and the National Standards for United States History. Maintains that people are finding out how unjust the criticism of the History Standards is. Includes supportive quotes about the standards from teachers and historians. (CFR)

Despite a long-standing commitment to citizenship education throughout the United States, relatively few researchers have examined what civic learnings are acquired from particular topics in the curriculum such as the Revolutionary era. Researchers have largely neglected the substance of classroom life, the specific curricular context and subject…

Contends that the development of professional historians in the late 1800s resulted in a conflict with teacher educators in teacher training institutions. Concludes that involving historians in precollegiate history issues in recent years has led to an improved image for secondary history teachers. (CFR)

Describes the structure and content of a four-week minicourse on the Vietnam War at the University of Mississippi. Explains how the course raises questions about the equal distribution of the burden of war. Provides tables and charts comparing military draft and casualty statistics for African-American and white soldiers during the war. (CFR)

An important objective of the History Academy for Ohio Teachers was to shift the participating teachers' beliefs and orientation to history. Through the examination of the portfolios and interviews, the study looked at the changes from the participants' perspective. A subset of 12 teachers were selected from the Academy's participants and were…

The History Academy for Ohio Teachers provided 40 Ohio teachers with an intense 4-week summer immersion in world and U.S. history and in historical theory and methods that was followed by a year-long follow up program on teaching units. Working together with college based historians, a new model was developed to help educators improve the teaching…

Asserts that a survey of historians indicates a divided profession in the United States and South Africa. Contends that history designed to instill national consciousness and identity risks becoming didactic and teleological. (CFR)