This article communicates results of data analysis from an online survey of teachers in the state of Illinois. The data were collected as part of the National Profile of Social Studies Teachers Project (NPSS), which concerned the status of social studies teaching. This article spotlights social studies education and the relationship of teaching…

While AP (Advanced Placement) Art History may be taught within the art department in many schools, social studies teachers are equally capable of teaching the course well. They have the historical background to discuss the reasons for changes in art styles. A teacher's preparation is similar to teaching a course stressing political history,…

Over her 23 years of teaching elementary school, Vera, a third grade teacher (and co-author of this article), had often fallen into the familiar rhythm of the fall social studies curriculum, with its predictable narrative of discovery, bravery, heroism, and thanksgiving. Her journey to becoming a more reflective, thoughtful, and equitable teacher…

Although not often recognized, social justice education in the U.S. is historically and philosophically tied to the twentieth century's human rights initiatives. The efforts of human rights pioneers, such as those who authored the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, have indelibly shaped social justice efforts, including within education, in…

Testing has become a part of the educational routine, and accountability has become linked with testing programs. In the wake of state-designed standards, and state-mandated high stakes tests that are used to assess individual student performance, as well as overall performance by a teacher, school, or district, educational professionals are…

Since the inception of NCLB Laws and "Race to the Top," researchers have documented the continued decline and disappearance of social studies curriculum and instruction in elementary classrooms as schools focus on language arts and math, the subjects that are the focus of standardized testing. This qualitative study's goal is to examine…

In this paper I discuss three issues relevant to the ideas introduced by Colucci-Gray, Perazzone, Dodman and Camino (2012) in their three-part paper on epistemological reflections and educational practice for science education for sustainability: (1) social studies of science for science education, (2) education for sustainability or sustainable…

Practice-based teacher education is poised to improve teacher education by focusing on interns' enactment of complex teaching practices and helping them develop these professional skills. However, much of this work has yet to study the trajectory of learning between university training and field experiences. This article explores seven history and…

This white paper describes instructional approaches that apply to successful teaching with the Smithsonian "Learning Lab." After defining its use of terms such as "deeper learning" and "authentic resources" the authors review the research basis of three broad approaches that support integrating digital resources into…

The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) was created to support teachers in implementing college and career readiness standards in order to teach literacy skills throughout the content areas.Teachers work collaboratively with coaches to further develop their expertise and design standards-driven, literacy-rich writing assignments within their…

A study of human rights prepares students for their role as global citizens and their study of practices in the world's countries that relate to the rights of human beings. Today, when one talks of human rights it is usually with reference to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It is the task of teachers to give students the…

Using literature in the social studies classroom is a useful pedagogy that is particularly well-suited in human rights education. Literature can give voice to people who cannot speak for themselves and gives students an opportunity to consider perspectives that are often foreign to them. When used with delicacy and care, these literary…

In this article, I examine how 6th-grade students used pop culture texts to inform their understandings about social studies texts and shape their discussions of it. Discussions showed that students used pop culture texts in three ways when talking about social studies texts. First, students applied comprehension strategies to pop culture texts to…

Early childhood classrooms in the US continue to become increasingly diverse as we journey through the twenty first century. Yet and still, many early childhood educators have been slow to respond to these shifts in diversity on the basis of both developmental and political concerns. In this guess editorial, I argue for the integration of…

Elementary teacher Ms. Huff realized that her third grade students were limited in their knowledge and experiences related to gardening. Most of today's young learners in the United States do not live on farms, and few families maintain gardens. Only a few of Ms. Huff's students could say they had a family garden. In schools, students learn about…