Students often approach history survey classes with a significant degree of dread. Nevertheless, at least one history class is required for graduation from most, if not all, universities, and most students elect to take survey courses to fulfill that requirement. Students rarely enroll in an American history class eagerly, because they anticipate…

This paper discusses challenges initiated by first and second generation Latino and Chinese American fourth graders in an urban elementary school, toward the perspective of California history in the mandated Social Studies curriculum. The required text highlighted significant moments in California and United States history with limited, if any,…

This chapter attempts to begin a conversation about how so many of people in the educational and academic communities have come to believe that educational equity could be mediated by legal measures and federal and local reforms without transformation of the historical practices and ideologies that preserve supremacy and "White…

In a study investigating the effects of student engagement in inquiry learning through the development of Web sites, nearly every student reported having enjoyed the project, and the majority scored an A or B for their project grade. However, neither enjoyment nor high achievement on this performance task necessarily translated into high scores on…

The "achievement gap" is one of the most talked-about issues in U.S. education. The term refers to the disparities in standardized test scores between Black and White, Latina/o and White, and recent immigrant and White students. This article argues that a focus on the gap is misplaced. Instead, we need to look at the "education…

If, as James Anderson stated, a nation committed to democracy and equality has every reason to be ashamed on "Brown v. Board of Education's" 50th anniversary, why the commemoration and celebration? By revising Anderson's challenge to examine the complex role of "Brown" in the nation's memory and history, this chapter…

There is a general knowledge about the United States governments' deliberate attempts to destroy American Indian cultures. History books tell of American Indian students being locked in week long routines to keep them out of mischief, underfed to break down resistance and being given deadening rounds of simple, repetitious chores bereft of…

This research anthology is the fourth volume in a series sponsored by the Special Interest Group Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans (SIG-REAPA) of the American Educational Research Association and National Association for Asian and Pacific American Education. This series explores and explains the lived experiences of Asian…

Although this author knew very little about the details of "Brown v. Board of Education" as a legal matter when he read about it as a young second-year student at the University of Cape Town in 1954, the Court's verdict had a direct influence on his political perspectives and on his aspirations as a would-be teacher for the rest of his…

The last few years (2004-05) have been filled with commemoration, reflection, and scholarship around the landmark Supreme Court decision, "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954). It was right and proper to take a 50-year retrospective at one of the more significant court rulings of the 20th century. It was also important to look at the…

Designed for undergraduate and graduate courses in education, this book covers education developments and trends beginning with the Colonial experience through the present day, placing an emphasis on post-World War II issues such as the role of technology, the standards movement, affirmative action, bilingual education, undocumented immigrants,…

The paper offers ideas for assessing and teaching English language learners (ELL)--English as Second Language (ESL, 2L, CLD) learners--through dynamic evaluation using children's literature. Given the increased demands within the general education classroom, the teacher needs ways to combine assessment procedures with effective instructional…

On March 10, 2006, the National Education Association (NEA) and the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) joined forces and convened an Education Summit in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the Summit was to have participants (mainly community activists) discuss and provide information and strategies as to how educators and policy makers…

This document provides a guide for the development of the 2006 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) U.S. History Assessment. NAEP measures the U.S. history knowledge and skills of students in grades 4, 8, and 12. According to the NAEP U.S. history framework, the assessment should be organized around three dimensions: historical themes,…

Young American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children are four times as likely to live in rural communities as in nonrural communities. The challenge of providing developmentally and culturally appropriate early childhood education to Native children living in rural areas is exacerbated by poverty. The author reviews the historic evolution of…