This article presents an interview with Richard Luther of Tenafly High School in Tenafly, New Jersey. A 40-year veteran teacher who is retiring this year, Luther always assigns his Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. History students an extensive research paper and integrates their research into their coursework and preparation for the AP exam. In this…

A typical U.S. high school student today might be able to recite some milestones of civil rights history--the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-56; the Freedom Rides of 1961; and (some would add) the election of the first African American president in 2008. But how many students understand that these events, which historians call out as milestones,…

Basic reading comprehension and summary tend to be the focus in social studies and history classrooms, if reading and writing are included at all. But such a focus inhibits a conception of history as an interpretive discipline grounded in evidence that is analyzed, not simply accepted. Understanding the past is impossible without such historical…

Due to political agreements between Micronesian nations and the US government, greater numbers of people are migrating from these "small islands" in the western Pacific to the United States. I interviewed 26 Micronesian adults to explore their childhood experiences in island schools and their perceptions about education for immigrant…

The main purpose of the study was to investigate how individuals with a stated interest in American history described their interest. Understanding interest and the factors influencing interest development in a particular content is important as personal interest has been described as "having a critical role in the learning and development of…

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…

"A People's History for the Classroom" helps teachers introduce students to a more accurate, complex, and engaging understanding of U.S. history than is found in traditional textbooks and curricula. It includes a new introductory essay by veteran teacher Bill Bigelow on teaching strategies that align with Howard Zinn's "A People's…

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…

In this questions and answer interview with Rachel Dickinson, author of "Great Pioneer Projects You Can Build Yourself", the writer discusses her interest in the American pioneer movement, her research, and her goals in introducing readers to the day-to-day life of an American pioneer. Dickinson's book offers a hands-on look at what life…

This paper presents an interview with Douglas Brinkley, an award-winning author and historian and director of Tulane University's Theodore Roosevelt Center for American Civilization. His wide-ranging portfolio includes books on John Kerry and the Vietnam War, Ronald Reagan and D-Day, Rosa Parks, Henry Ford, Dean Acheson and Jimmy Carter. He is…

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…

Presents an interview with the Youth For Understanding (YFU) President Sally Grooms Cowal focusing on such issues as how Elian Gonzalez and his family came to stay at the YFU's Rosedale estate in Washington, D.C., how Elian spent his time there, and the effects of the Elian case on U.S.-Cuban relations. (CMK)