The AP Achievement Institute I (APAI I) is a four-day professional development program offered to teachers and administrators by EXCELerator™, a district reform program operated by the College Board. The APAI I program is designed to help teachers develop effective AP instructional strategies for a diverse student body and to help district,…

"Kids' Share 2012: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2011," a sixth annual report, looks comprehensively at trends over the past 50 years in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. Key findings suggest that the size and composition of expenditures on children have changed considerably, but children have not…

"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." Change can be scary. Quite often people find themselves venturing down an unknown path, unsure of what twists and turns will come their way. This uncertainty brings about questions, anxiety, and for some, a sense of panic. Similar emotions…

This article discusses basic writing pedagogy at a two-year tribal college, an institution type that has not been visible in the basic writing literature to date. In many tribal college contexts, socioeconomic challenges, under-resourced K-12 schools, and linguistic diversity all contribute to high student placement rates into…

This study focused upon the infamous "Wall of Separation" between church and state--its cornerstones, apparently eternal construction process, and current structural integrity. Within the context of providing truly caring learning environments for all students, a critical analysis was completed in order to help determine whether or not…

In this design-based study, an eleven-week curricular module in recent American history was developed that departed from both the epistemology and ideology of traditional textbooks. The curriculum instantiated a constructivist epistemology by having students assess multiple historical narratives and sources of evidence. It instantiated a…

Using an interpretive analysis, American history standards from nine states that incorporate high-stakes assessments in social studies are analyzed for their representation of American Indians. Research on high-stakes assessments shows that teachers are more likely to align their instruction with state standards due to mounting pressure to achieve…

August 21, 2009, marks the 50th anniversary of the entry of the 50th state into the United States of America. All the states have their stories, but as a string of islands in the vast Pacific Ocean, more than 2,000 miles from any other land mass, Hawai'i has a story that is unique in many ways. Consider, for example, that Hawai'i has two official…

The authors examine the ecological foundations of the thesis of a "code of honor" as an explanation for southern homicide. Specifically, they consider the effects of indicators of ethnic groups that migrated from herding economies (the Scotch-Irish), cattle and pig herding, and the relative importance of agricultural production across…

A report from Common Core finds that many of America's high school students do not possess the basic knowledge they need to succeed in the world. The report shows that, twenty-five years after the publication of the landmark study, "A Nation at Risk," America's children continue to demonstrate a stunning ignorance about basic facts of America's…

The term "first contact" usually conjures up an image of a group of European soldiers landing on a beach in the New World, their ship anchored just offshore, while a large group of Natives approaches the soldiers. On both sides there is caution but also curiosity. Beyond the physical collision of two different peoples there is also a…

Legal gaming on Indian reservations has increased dramatically since the 1987 landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court in "California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians." In this case the Supreme Court upheld by a 6-3 vote the right under federal law for Indians to run gambling operations without state regulation in states…

As a result of living in remote rural areas, American Indians living on reservations have limited access to higher education. One-third of American Indians live on reservations, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the most recent U.S. government statistics, the overall poverty rate for American Indians/Alaska Natives, including…

Academic standards for history in all states require students to learn about deeply troubling events, such as war, genocide, and slavery. Drawing on research and theories related to trauma studies and history education, this ethnographic study aims to better understand what happens when teachers and students examine the pain and suffering of…

The main purpose of the study was to investigate how individuals with a stated interest in American history described their interest. Understanding interest and the factors influencing interest development in a particular content is important as personal interest has been described as "having a critical role in the learning and development of…