Reports on the results of an experiment testing 58 elementary school students tasked with chronologically ordering a set of nine historical pictures and thinking aloud about their efforts. Provides increased evidence regarding the kind and sources of children's historical knowledge and how they deploy that knowledge. (MJP)

Maintains that Albert Bushnell Hart was a leading figure in history education. Discusses his contributions to history's emergence as a modern school subject and to its inclusion as a core component of the school curriculum. (CFR)

Uses data obtained from a national survey of middle school teachers, conducted in the 1989-90 academic year, to examine questions on the topics covered in the American history curriculum in public middle schools, the academic background and experience of middle school history teachers and teachers' views on what should be changed for a more…

Discusses the concept of knowledge design and its implementation with hypermedia composition tools; explains the instructional model used in research conducted on hypermedia presentations created by a ninth-grade history class; summarizes students' comments about their projects; and examines implications for the restructuring of schools. (JKP)

Ten eighth grade U.S. history textbooks were evaluated with respect to factors such as readability level, global coherence, local coherence, questioning techniques, and vocabulary development. Findings indicated that texts had a mean readability level of 10.9; only 30 percent provided review of previous chapters; few offered introductory…

Presents results of a survey of high school history teachers which shows that advanced placement teachers are more likely to have a master's degree. Reports that such teachers are more academically demanding than general enrollment history teachers. Emphasizes the importance of adequate history preparation in teacher accreditation programs. (DK)

Reports on a study of the free response essays in the Advance Placement U.S. history test from 1963-92. Asserts that there were four significant transition years: 1964, 1965, 1973, and 1976 and predicts another in 1994. Presents data indicating trends toward social history, cultural pluralism, and economic/business topics. (CFR)

When James Conant, former president of Harvard University, took on the topic of teacher preparation in his 1963 report "The Education of American Teachers," he demanded sweeping change. Conant's reform agenda, which focused on reshaping the educational establishment in America, took on the National Education Association and National…

This article draws on Lefebvre's rhythmanalysis to interrogate and extend Bernstein's theory of pedagogic framing. It develops a typology of modes of pedagogic practice differentiated in terms of the dominance of one of three potential organising referents. These are (a) the grammar of the instructional discourse configured by a regulative…

This book describes results from the 1994 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment in U.S. history, conducted at grades 4, 8, and 12. Included in this report card are the results of students' achievement at each grade and within various subgroups of the general population. The report discusses the relationships between student…

This document surveys the changes in the content of history textbooks in Romania from the end of World War II to 1991. Post war Romanian education is examined through the education laws of 1948, 1958, and 1975, and at the syllabi and textbooks used. The textbooks are relevant for such an analysis because they represent the main material support of…

Offering insights into the effective use of writing to teach students to think like professionals in various fields, this book is the result of a 7-year naturalistic study. The book documents how a writing specialist paired with an experienced professor in another discipline (business, history, psychology, and biology) to study: (1) teachers'…

The circular presents a list of textbooks officially adopted for use in Oregon public schools for the period 1973-9 in homemaking, music, and social studies. Section I provides suggestions to school administrators on textbook selection. Topics discussed include selecting a variety of partial sets of texts, negotiating with publishers, utilizing…

A study was undertaken to evaluate how a mastery approach to teaching history on the high school level influenced student achievement and attitudes. Mastery learning is interpreted to include assumptions regarding student learning capability as well as specified curricular/instructional/evaluative procedures. Essential to mastery learning strategy…

This report is the result of three years of continuous inquiry by the Committee on Social Studies of the National Education Association's Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education. The committee as a whole met at various times in each of these years, subcommittees met on other occasions, and individual members designated by the…