This report describes findings from an efficacy study examining the effects of professional development focused on integrating academic literacy instruction with content area coursework on teacher instructional practices and student achievement in reading and high school biology and US history. The research builds on a well-tested approach to…

This case study examines a U.S. History class where a veteran teacher uses challenging primary source documents and a debate to encourage his students to think critically about history. The teacher is knowledgeable about the subject matter and articulates a clear purpose for teaching. Surprisingly, the author finds that the teacher's methods,…

This paper presents a case for reading and writing social justice poetry in the childhood educational curriculum. Social justice poetry uses verse to protest unfair and unjust living conditions in society. An historical case study shows how social justice poetry was used to combat social injustice in the United States. Specifically, it shows how…

The 1960s was a tumultuous decade in American public education. It was a time of transition and change. To many Americans in the early 1960s, Max Rafferty appeared to be a reactionary conservative harking back to an educational past. The longer perspective of history may instead see Rafferty as a harbinger of the educational policies of the 1990s.…

As physical evidence of institutional aspiration and achievement, ambition and accomplishment, campus heritage (broadly defined) has emerged as a major component in comprehensive campus planning and in devising a site-specific sense of place. Physical actions related to campus heritage include the renewal and/or repurposing of landmark…

The California history and social science standards-based reform has been touted as the "gold standard" for state history curricula. But the standards, framework, and tests that constitute this reform provide inconsistent and contradictory criteria for teaching and assessing history and social science. An examination of the political…

This study seeks to understand the ways nine states represent African Americans within their standards for U.S. History. Previous research on the effects of high-stakes assessment on social studies educators suggests teachers align their instruction with information found in state standards. Therefore, an understanding of the way African Americans…

This study explored how multi-generational, middle-class, fifth-graders from Latino families responded to classroom discussions of social issues--particularly discrimination--and draws upon sociocultural views of culture, educational theory, and sociological perspectives of immigration to provide insight into the learning experiences of one group…

Summer camps provide opportunities for children to experience play, pleasurable activities, and social interaction with other children of similar ages and interests and are an integral part of the modern-day American cultural landscape. The authors discuss the emergence of summer camps for children with special needs, the types of play activities…

As I began my career as a teacher, I assumed leadership education would naturally be integrated into the elementary classroom curriculum because I was intrigued by this topic. However, as I spent more time in the classroom I quickly realized leadership skills were not part of regular classroom learning or practice for elementary age students. I…

This article presents an interview with Ronald Takaki, a prolific and respected author and a successful teacher who wrote a number of important histories that explore the cultural diversity of the United States of America, including "From Different Shores: Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity in America" (1994), "Strangers from a…

Since slavery, attempted enclosures upon Black spaces of cultural production and autonomy (i.e. music, language, art) have manifested in various forms. In the context of the post-industrial terrain of urban southern California, the formation of the prison is the dominant model of forced enclosure in the lives of Black people. Moving beyond the…

On an earlier column titled "What I learned at the NCSS Annual Meeting," the author wrote about the Internet-oriented materials and resources featured at the 2006 NCSS convention in Washington, D.C. Having received many e-mails from readers telling him that they appreciated having the opportunity to see which companies, not-for-profit,…

The purpose of the U.S. Department of Education's online newsletter "The Education Innovator" is to promote innovative practices in education; to offer features on promising programs and practices; to provide information on innovative research, schools, policies, and trends; and to keep readers informed of key Department priorities and…

This is an analysis of California history of the shifting of language policies from Spanish to English, as an Official Language The focus is English as an imposed language that from the beginning of schooling policies stifle a process of language acquisition for the majority of Spanish speakers. In 1849 the California Constitution stipulated that…