Discover all that the 90th NCSS Annual Conference has to offer and how you can benefit by attending the nation’s largest and most comprehensive social studies professional development event.
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The revision of the Texas social studies standards is generating hot debate and strong opinions, and this is no surprise. Because the subjects that compose social studies touch upon cultural, societal and political topics, social studies generates the most controversy when decisions are made regarding what is taught to students.   read more »

On July 29 at a policy briefing on Capitol Hill, National Council for the Social Studies joined ASCD and other education organizations in presenting “Consensus Recommendations for a Well-Rounded Education.” The recommendations are a response to the continuing prioritization of reading and math over other subjects in the No Child Left Behind Act and in the Obama administration’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) blueprint and FY11 budget request.   read more »

The Maryland Social Studies Task Force has released a report on social studies education in Maryland. Acknowledging the challenges faced by social studies over the past decade, including the unintended marginalization of social studies disciplines caused by NCLB, the social studies task force made nine recommendations in its report that are “intended to reverse social studies’ decline.” Key recommendations include establishing standards governing instructional time; administering a statewide social studies assessment in elementary and middle school; increasing social studies course requirements for prospective teachers; and launching a campaign to gain public support for more and better social studies instruction.

• The Task Force Report on Social Studies Education in Maryland: The Challenge and the Imperative (pdf download)
• Related: NCSS Position Statement Social Studies in the Era of No Child Left Behind

Powerful and Authentic Social Studies (PASS) is a professional development program that trains social studies teachers in curriculum design, assessment, and instruction in a standards-based environment. NCSS is offering two opportunities to prepare social studies professionals to implement professional development based on PASS.   read more »

John Moore, Associate Professor in the School of Teacher Education at Western Kentucky University has been elected vice president of National Council for the Social Studies. Dr. Moore will begin his term July 1, 2010 and is in line to serve as president of NCSS in 2012.   read more »

It has been a memorable week in the schools for Hispanic Americans. On March 30th the inspirational teacher Jaime Escalante died, and March 31st was Cesar Chavez’s birthday. Both of them are enduring role models for all of us, but especially for Hispanic students, who comprise the largest minority in our classrooms.   read more »

National Council for the Social Studies proudly announces the Carter G. Woodson Book Award and Honor Books for 2010. These works have been chosen as the most distinguished social science books depicting ethnicity in the United States for young readers.   read more »

We know that teachers, schools and school districts have had to slash their budgets for buying books. NCSS is here to help with a special offer for teachers, schools and school districts.   read more »

The current issue of Middle Level Learning is available online, free to the public. Teachers and librarians who wish to have a 16-page, color publication can print one from the online pdf file. MLL articles about U.S. history are also part of the searchable online NCSS Teachers Library.
The complete MLL online archive, reaching back more than 35 issues to the very first one, is available to members only through the online Archive of Publications.   read more »