In "Proposed National Standards for Financial Literacy: What's In? What's Out?", Maier, Figart, and Nelson pose the question: "How should educators use the standards?" In answering that question, they suggest a number of issues and topics that they believe should be taught along with the "National Standards for…

What kinds of knowledge, skills, and dispositions are needed in order to prepare social studies teachers for twenty-first century learners? Answering this question is the core pursuit of the latest revision of the "National Standards for the Preparation of Social Studies Teachers." For several decades, the National Council for the Social…

The "College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: State Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History" will soon be released. The C3 Framework was developed to serve two audiences: for states to upgrade their state social studies standards, and for…

A notable feature of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts is the attention given to the teaching of reading and writing in history/social studies, science and technical subjects. The Standards for Reading Informational Text that are included in the Common Core State Standards require students to read texts in depth, understand…

The national common educational standards and the role of citizenship education is an important issue for all social studies educators--preK through college. This article presents websites that examine the Common Core Standards Initiative's work and plans for the future and some that focus more specifically on the social studies/citizenship…

In the fall of 2008, the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and St. Louis began a systematic evaluation of their economic and personal finance educational outreach programs. Both banks were interested in developing tools to assess the success of their existing economic and financial education programs. However, before any assessment could begin, a…

November 9, 2009, marked the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall. The Wall, a symbol of the Cold War, separated the German people for 28 years (1961-1989), keeping those on the East side isolated. Although the construction and dismantling of the Berlin Wall is a significant part of history, the topic is little covered in the…

According to "A Report on the State of U.S. History Education, State Policies and National Programs as of September 2008," "Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia have established academic standards to address academic achievement in history, the social sciences, or social studies. The sole exceptions are Iowa and Rhode…

Technological change has proven one of the few constants of the early 21st century, providing social studies educators with the challenge and opportunity of preparing digital citizens in a global setting. This requires rethinking the type of social studies learning necessary in the 21st century. As the National Academies concluded in the…

The Goals 2000 Educate America Act of 1994 included economics among the nine core subject areas that were targeted for the development of content standards. A new set of voluntary national content standards in economics, published in 1997, helped to guide administrators, teachers, and policy makers as they considered various educational objectives…

This article presents an open letter to President Barack Obama written by the author to express his concerns about the increasing emphasis on mathematics and science education along with the continued emphasis on reading/language arts while a fourth major curriculum area--social studies--is being marginalized by lack of funding and reduced…

In the pre-Internet world of 1992, a new organization called Project Vote Smart used the highest technology available--a toll-free Voter's Research Hotline--to help voters get the facts about candidates and elected officials. Designed to give voters the tools they needed to "Vote Smart," the Hotline connected voters with questions to 50…

This paper discusses the technology position statement and guidelines drawn from the National Educational Technology Standards. This position paper and guidelines are grounded in the theory that content must come before technology. In other words, technology should be thought of in terms of its effect on the teaching and learning of social…

This article discusses the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen's Bureau), which was established by the Congress on March 3, 1865, to assist former slaves in acquiring land, securing employment, legalizing marriages, and pursuing education. After the bureau's abolition through an act of Congress approved on June 10, 1872,…

Describes a simulation called, "Classroom City," used by elementary students to learn about communities. Focuses on the students' own simulated city named Bat Town, U.S.A. Discusses the project in detail. Describes the activities children participated in and the roles they assumed during the simulation. (CMK)