Sometimes literature appears that a social studies teacher can use to create lesson plans for concepts that are difficult for students to master. This article is about such literature and how using it has resulted in students understanding and incorporating one of the most difficult lessons to absorb--leadership. In this article, the authors…

In this article, the author relates how his school beats up the post-national examination blues by staging a "May Madness" competition. The competition is like a "tournament of historical figures" wherein students are asked to debate which historical figures were more significant until they have a "Final Four" and, eventually, a winner. The author…

How is historical knowledge transmitted across generations? What is the role of schooling in that transmission? The authors address these questions by reporting on a thirty-month longitudinal study into how home, school, and larger society served as contexts for the development of historical consciousness among adolescents. Fifteen families drawn…

This student sampler has been compiled to assist North Carolina students (4th and 8th grade) in their study of North Carolina. It is designed to introduce them to the people, places and events that have shaped North Carolina history. Topics include state symbols, descriptions of the state flag, and seal, the lyrics to the state song, and the…

Many educators are committed to multicultural education and are constantly seeking an inclusive curriculum voicing the diversity of the many cultural groups in the United States. The influential work of James Banks (1981, 1997, 2001) has encouraged a generation of educators to design a multicultural curriculum. Yet while this task remains an…

To raise the literacy achievement of secondary school students, some schools train their whole faculties in general reading and writing strategies to implement across the curriculum. Content-area teachers often resist this approach, however, fearing that setting aside time for literacy instruction will dilute the academic rigor of mathematics,…

In this study, I argue that American history textbooks present discrete, heroic, one-dimensional, and neatly packaged master narratives that deny students a complex, realistic, and rich understanding of people and events in American history. In making this argument, I examine the master narratives of Martin Luther King, Jr., in high school history…

Examining the vital relation between immigrants' race or ethnicity, language, documented or undocumented legal status, and multicultural citizenship education is essential in the reconceptualization of current curricula and practice. The analysis provides relevant critiques of the traditional American History and citizenship curricula that are…

Anniversaries of major historical events, such as the 50th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, "Brown v. Board of Education," provide social studies teachers with the opportunity to connect their classroom study to broader public conversations about the event and its significance. This article reports on one such…

This paper traces the historical development of the American research and technology enterprise from its origins in the post-Civil War period to its current international dominance in the discovery and dissemination of scientific knowledge. U.S. research universities have become the vital center of this enterprise over the past 60 years. But…

Students from the University of Montevallo, Alabama's public liberal arts university, re-created the Battle of Shiloh (April 6-7, 1862) approximately twenty miles north of Corinth, Mississippi. For ten weeks in a classroom environment, nineteen students studied strategy, operations, and tactics that affected events nearly 143 years prior. Then,…

This book offers a groundbreaking examination of citizenship education programs that serve contemporary youth in schools and communities across the United States. These programs include social studies classes and curricula, school governance, and community-based education efforts. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach to exploring the…

This report continues the California Postsecondary Education Commission's ongoing examination of the nexus between postsecondary education and workforce development, focusing on the projected needs for skills and knowledge in a 21st century global economy. This is the second in a series of policy briefs developed for that project. The first brief…

The research for this study was undertaken to analyze the New York State 11th grade United States History Regents exams through conducting a content analysis of the types of multiple-choice questions asked in Part I of the tests with a particular emphasis on the variety of questions asked regarding women and race. Because these tests stand at the…

This article presents a portrait of practice of one social studies methods professor engaged in teaching his course and analyzes the choices the professor makes during the semester. These choices are linked to his philosophy of social studies education with particular attention paid to his passionate belief in the American story as the core of…