This study investigates how 19 third-grade students developed their understandings of enslavement during a six-week social studies inquiry. Using Teaching Tolerance's key concepts as my analytic framework, I analyzed the students' pre- and post-concept maps and classwork to understand their learning. The findings show that students conceptualized…

Research indicates that history-based curricula--specifically textbooks and trade books--about Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) are problematic and limited. If race relations are arguably America's long, unsettled tension, then Dr. King was one of its most impactful figures. Using the relevant historical research as a framework and the…

Scholars often define historical reasoning as constructing defensible interpretations of past events. Drawing on critical theory, this article suggests that it also entails consciously framing one's topic of inquiry. The article examines an instructional unit that aimed to foster this expanded view of historiography. Forty students, ages 14-15,…

In this qualitative research project, I investigated curricular decision making and the relationship among teacher philosophies, textbook materials, and classroom practice. Participants included 5 experienced 5th-grade teachers who used a comprehensive social studies textbook package, "History Alive! America's Past". Information was…

This practitioner research study examined students at an ethnically and economically diverse high school and the impact of replacing the corporate-produced textbook with teacher-created reading packets and questions that asked students to take a critical stance on historical events in United States history. Using critical theories of education as…

This study examined 15 secondary American history textbooks to evaluate their accuracy in depicting Native Americans as a follow-up to studies by Costo and Henry (1970) and Loewen (1995). The criteria embodied an authenticity guideline based upon the Five Great Values with a rating scale between 1 (lowest) and 5 (highest). The results indicate…

In order to improve the treatment of minorities in United States history textbooks, the National Education Association has developed guidelines for evaluating multiethnic materials. According to the guidelines, textbooks should portray cultural pluralism as a value to respect; present sexual, racial, religious, and ethnic groups in such a way as…