Discusses the difficulties of establishing national educational standards in a content area such as social studies. Describes how national standards are being studied and might be instituted. (HB)

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,…

This book provides a tool for educators, specifying what K-12 grade students should learn about basic economics as they go through school. The standards are written for teachers and classroom use, offering benchmarks, guides, teaching suggestions, and teaching strategies. The essential principles of economics are identified in the 20 content…

History instruction must serve, above all else, to develop critically important citizenship knowledge, skills, and values. This book aims to blend recent scholarship on teaching U.S. history for citizenship with ideas on how to achieve this mission in grades K-5. Chapters in the book are: (1) "Teaching History for Citizenship in the Elementary…

Geography, long the neglected step-child of the field of social studies education, evinces signs of emerging as one of it key integrating elements. Its prominent inclusion and embellishment in both national and state standards and state assessments bodes well for its future. Higher education's role in this endeavor is paramount. The successful…

This paper suggests that a well-composed scheme of civic education does not merely predispose the citizen to political engagement, but more fundamentally, the considered systematic design of civic education parallels the essentials of both the constitutionalism and the democracy to which it gives access and control. This paper aims to draw out…

In the last decade there has been a whirlwind of change in policies affecting social studies education. Among the most noteworthy changes have been a national commission on social studies, subject-centered national standards, statewide high-stakes testing, school restructuring, and performance assessment. All of these changes have ramifications…

This curriculum guide for a PBS 2-part, 180-minute video, "In Search of the Oregon Trail" (narrated by Stacy Keach), provides information to help teachers develop lesson plans. The guide is comprised of 12 lessons incorporating 31 video chapters. Curriculum areas include history, geography, economics, sociology, ethnic studies, civics…

This lesson plan involves the calculation of a price index using a fictitious market basket for holiday celebrations. The lesson plan provides a content objective; cites an economic standard; gives background information; lists materials needed; details the lesson agenda; and suggests closure. Attached are a "12 Days of Christmas Gifts' Price…

This curriculum unit on civil rights questions in the United States was developed as a history-social science project at San Jose State University. The unit is intended for high school students and needs one or two class periods to complete. It provides the teacher with a rationale, a framework, history-social science standards, student outcomes,…

This book contains a set of 12 lessons for middle school students that demonstrate how mathematical processes and concepts may be applied to the study of economics and personal finance. Mathematics educators can find lessons connecting mathematics instruction to practical problems and issues that students encounter throughout their life. The…

This unit of study walks early elementary students through the basics of counting and using the smallest U.S. coin denominations (penny, nickel, and dime). The unit provides keywords; recommends subject areas and approximate length of time; poses an essential question or problem; provides a unit introduction; outlines five individual lessons ((1)…

This booklet describes and explains the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) national standards for social studies teachers; which were approved by the NCSS Board of Directors on April 27, 1997. The booklet consists of two general sections: (1) an introduction, which contains, in addition to an overview, information about the background…

The preparation of teachers in any discipline is a complex enterprise with an array of stakeholders serving as gatekeepers. In the May "Kappan", Sam Wineburg focused his analysis of the preparation of social studies teachers on the curriculum standards of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and on the teacher preparation…

Whatever has happened to using teacher observation as an approach to assess student achievement? Presently, the emphasis is upon state mandated testing to ascertain student progress. Much is written in educational journals about having students achieve No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal and state standards, signed into law in 2002. Much drill is…