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Greetings Everyone-- As we are currently in an environment where math and science seem to be getting the most attention at all levels of government, Minnesota recently updated their Social Studies standards for grades K-12.

Cudos to the state of Maryland for reversing the trend away from social studies education.

The following is a link of the Administration's fact sheet on the education proposals included in the budget request. The Administration touts that it will continue to consolidate narrow programs, which unfortunately doesn't sound like funds will be dedicated to civic education and/or social studies.

Here's a link to an interesting article in the NY Times today concerning the widening achievement gap due to income. While there is nothing new in the fact that students from more affluent homes do better, the research on this shows that the gap is even wider than originally thought.

Have you? I would tell my students that if they didn't participate in the political process, they forfeited the right to complain about the outcome. The same could be said for NCSS - your opportunity to affect the future of the organization sits in your email, just waiting for you to have your say.

Infinite History: Historical Learning that Extends Infinitely /* */

For NCSS Members whose Congressional representatives are members of the House Education & the Workforce Committee: For the past several months, House Education Committee Chairman Kline (R-MN) and Ranking Member Miller (D-CA) have been meeting to try to develop a bipartisan ESEA reauthorization bill.

Opening Windows to the World 92nd NCSS Annual Conference Seattle, Washington · November 16 – 18, 2012 With its spectacular setting on Puget Sound, vibrant historical legacy, ever-changing cultural diversity and high tech aura, Seattle opens windows to a myriad of worlds. We invite you to think about how you can open one of these windows as you craft your proposal.

Over the next few weeks, states around our nation can join Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Tennessee in submitting waivers to the requirements of the federal education law No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

One of the great silences in the mainstream school curriculum is the role that social movements have played in making this a more fair, more peaceful, more democratic world.