The purpose of this action research study was to explore possibilities for scaffolding academic language and historical thinking for non-native English speaking students in two middle school classrooms. The teaching approach focused on six dimensions of historical thinking: background knowledge, cause, effect, bias, empathy, and application. The…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Are They Ready? National Study Reveals Civics…

The purpose of this curriculum unit is to give students a better understanding of the history of the relationship between women and constitutional issues. The study of women and the United States Constitution is an important reminder of the complexity of a democracy. In the United States, even today, the ideology of freedom and justice is often…

This unit is part of a continuing series on current foreign policy issues. This unit draws students into a debate on Russia's identity. Unlike previous units of this series, this one is not written from the U.S. perspective. Rather, students are asked to see the world through Russian eyes and to contemplate Russian choices in the areas of economic…

This booklet is part of a series designed to help students take and defend a position on public issues. This booklet addresses the issues faced by society and individuals due to advances in scientific knowledge. It presents questions, stories, and scenarios for student discussion. Students are instructed to identify three kinds of questions in a…

This unit is one of a series that represents specific moments in history from which students focus on the meanings of landmark events. This unit focuses on the black experience in the critical years after Reconstruction. Using the landmark decision in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, the unit opens with an examination of conditions in black America…

This unit is one of a series that represents specific moments in history from which students focus on the meanings of landmark events. By studying a crucial turning point in history students become aware that choices had to be made by real human beings, that those decisions were the result of specific factors, and that they set in motion a series…

Dedicated to Seth Kreisberg, this document is the first journal issue of the Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR). It begins with "The Real Ropes Course: The Development of Social Consciousness" (Shelley Berman). The other articles are presented in five sections. The first section, "Our Relationship to Society," contains:…

This project was developed as an alternative learning system for Advanced Placement history students. The project is accompanied by interactive text instructions and items of material culture from a culture box. Chapters include: (1) Introduction; (2) "A Rationale for Alternate Learning"; (3) "A Brief History of Experiential Education"; (4)…

This ERIC Digest reports on the outcomes of a conference of teachers, college history professors, teacher educators, and state and local school board members. The theme of the meeting was that if, according to the standards-based strategy for democratic school reform, all students in every school are to be offered an equally solid and engaging…

This unit focuses on the school integration case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (Kansas), and its immediate aftermath. The Supreme Court's 1954 decision was a catalyst for civil rights activism along a broad front over the ensuing decades. The decision and its implementation have stood as a model for similar social and political action…

This report argues for renewed attention to the teaching of history in the schools and provides suggestions for improving the state of history in our educational system. Much of history's trouble in the schools derives from a misunderstanding about what the subject is and what it is not. History is not social studies; it is essentially narrative.…

This field test report was completed for a producer of an educational computer software program. The program, designed to help students learn about Canadian history, is outlined. The program simulates the events and atmosphere of the years 1864-1873, formative years in Canada's history; the student user is cast in the role of a journalist on the…

In considering the historical contributions of women in a high school history course, a series of projects were developed that were activity oriented, created student involvement in historial research, and organized to feature the roles women have played in the development of the United States. Classroom procedures are introduced based on early…

A workshop supported by the Council of Europe's Project No. 7 for representatives of supervisory staff for the teaching of languages and culture of origin from Algeria, Italy, and Portugal focused on cultural diversity as contributed by migrants' children in day-to-day classroom work and in the curricula and subject-matter of primary teaching as a…