Historical studies have tended to take a simplistic view of minority groups as passive victims of an oppressive and racist public school system. This book looks at Mexican Americans as active agents in history and documents their quest for educational equality in Texas--a state notorious for its record of inferior and separate schooling for…

In 1994, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessed the reading, U.S. history, and geography knowledge and skills of a nationally representative sample of students in grades 4, 8, and 12. The NAEP also assessed representative samples of students from 44 states and jurisdictions in reading at grade four. This Almanac Viewer is…

Recommendations to increase knowledge of American history and of the rights and responsibilities of citizens among public school students in Massachusetts are outlined and discussed. The recommendations made by the special study committee were based on two state-wide surveys (one of secondary teachers and social studies directors or chairpeople…

A resource/curriculum guide developed for teachers of grades 4-6 is intended to help Iowa students learn about agriculture in Iowa: its importance as the state's major industry, its role as a source of employment and careers, and its role in meeting basic human needs for nutrition, clothing, and shelter. The guide recommends that, wherever…

Presented are ideas for promoting learning both within and beyond the walls of the schools. The first essay, "The Meaning of Commmunity Education: An Historical Perspective" by Ralph W. Tyler, examines community education in primitive societies, in the colonial period, and in 19th and 20th century America. The challenge of the present is also…

The Computer-Assisted Bilingual/Bicultural Multiskills Project completed its first year of an extension grant. The program used computerized and non-computerized instruction to help 109 native speakers of Haitian Creole/French and Spanish, most of whom were recent immigrants, develop English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) native language, and content…

Dialogue and research on racism since the mid-1970s have yielded increased controversy over the theories, foundation, and continued existence of racism. The chapters presented in this book provide various divergent views of what constitutes racism and frameworks for reducing it. The following chapters (and their authors) are included: (1)…

A catalog of semi-annotated topical listings of curriculum resources, published between 1960 and 1980, for use by educators in small Alaska high schools, contains sections on communication arts (108 items), cultural ecology (269 items), and environmental studies (363 items). Listings are presented on pages ruled into grids; for each item the…

This handbook outlines the grade 5 course entitled "People of a Nation: The United States." A statement of the California philosophy of history-social studies education precedes the handbook's three sections. The first two sections present major goals of the overall program, an overview of social studies content for grades K-6, and a…

A compilation of 13 social studies activities suitable for immediate application in the classroom includes teaching ideas for both elementary and secondary teachers. Activities comprise a simulated mapping expedition to Jamestown colony; a folktale illustration of moral dilemmas; taped interviews with Soviet citizens; simulated employment…

This book examines the effects of immigration in New York City (New York) today, with particular attention to those "new immigrants" who arrived after 1965. Immigrant interaction with the city's public and private social services is emphasized. Data were drawn from interviews and from the 1980 U.S. Census. Part I: "The…

This student booklet is part of a curriculum designed for infusion into secondary U.S. history courses to help students explore the purposes of American law. The booklet contains student readings and discussion questions and suggests learning activities. There are five units. Unit 1, "Law in a New World," examines processes used to make…

Elementary school pupils are introduced to a genealogical approach to state and local history. Although the examples in the booklet pertain to Wisconsin, the format can be easily adapted for classroom use by teachers in other locations. A teacher's supplement accompanies the booklet and offers a bibliography, background information, additional…

The role of the rural school on the plains of eastern Nebraska from the early days of the frontier to 1980 is examined in this portion of an eight-state research effort, the Country School Legacy Project, sponsored by the Mountain Plains Library Association to locate and preserve information related to country schools. Data and anecdotes obtained…

In an attempt to ascertain the validity of the assumption that Norwegians supported education much more than did German-Russians in North Dakota in the early part of the twentieth century, select counties made up predominantly of the ethnic groups in question were examined, using data taken from the years 1910-12, 1922-23, and 1930. The two groups…