The author reflects upon how her field of African American history is in the crosshairs of this most recent battle of the nation's culture war. Once maybe regarded as a niche or narrow area of history (although it is not), African American history has become one of many targets of legislative and activist efforts to end the teaching of honest,…

Educators constantly hear the mantras "develop relationships with students" or "add a personal touch"? They know they will be better teachers if they connect with their students, but how can they if their students come from very different backgrounds than they do? How do educators find common ground? The common ground is the…

This article describes how "Courageous Conversations" workshops have assisted teachers charged with training colleagues in how to talk about racism with students and with each other, and how to do something about it. Such professional development around equity issues often includes personal reflection and discussion with colleagues about…

Author Richard Milner IV is a Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair of Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. The author of numerous articles and seven books, his research focuses on urban education, teacher education, and African American literature. Throughout his career studying the…

There are now powerful standards that make visible the connections among language, analytical practices, and content-area knowledge. Yet not all educators have access to adequate training, resources, or models to help them reconfigure the role of language in content-area learning, appropriately change instructional practices, and ensure all…

For English language learners (ELLs) to productively engage in classroom discussions that foster language development, content knowledge, and analytical practices, teachers must create a trusting classroom culture. How do we ensure that all ELLs have opportunities to productively use oral language in academic settings? And how do we ensure that…

For educators, the content of the curriculum really is like oxygen: it is the necessary precondition for improving schools, closing the achievement gap, engaging parents, and preparing teachers. However, when educators take the content of the curriculum for granted, they lose opportunities to coordinate and collaborate. Good curriculum instruction…

Although the level of controversy varies from one community to the next, biology teachers across the United States struggle to teach evolution. Some face pressure to teach both religious and scientific theories of human origins; others did not have adequate coursework on evolution during teacher preparation. As a result, many biology teachers are…

Until recently, schools in Poland have done little to discourage anti-Semitism and have not taught about the Holocaust nor explained why there are virtually no Jews in Poland. Curriculum modifications in the next school year will introduce the subject at the elementary-school level. (SLD)