One of the major contemporary topics in education is teaching issues of race in K-12 social studies classrooms. Over the last several years, at least 35 states have passed or proposed legislation to prohibit or restrict conversations about race in K-12 schools. Most supporters of this legislation argue that teachers are indoctrinating students and…

In this manuscript, the authors discuss a seven-day research project that occurred within the Birmingham metropolitan area where fourth graders researched the role that public issues played in the creation of two suburban school systems in their city. We coded student work samples to look for themes. Emergent themes from student work samples are…