Taxonomy

—Sherry L. Field and Linda D. Labbo
Read a biography. Then examine “pocket contents.” In Lincoln’s vest pocket? A draft for a speech, theater tickets, and a photograph of his family, among other items. “Artifacts” are suggested for the pockets of Benito Juarez (president of Mexico), Grandma Moses (artist), Mary McLeod Bethune (black educator), and others.   read more »

By Robert Cohen
Many have questioned whether the document on which our nation is based sanctioned slavery. But renowned abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who originally condemned the Constitution, came to view it in a much different light.

• http://publications.socialstudies.org/se/7205/7205246.pdf

The pre-registration deadline for the Northeast Regional Conference on the Social Studies to be held at the Sturbridge Host Hotel in Sturbridge, Massachusetts from March 22nd-March 25th has been extended to March 12. This is a great opportunity for participants to get the reduced rate of $100 for members of sponsoring organizations or $120 for non-members.   read more »

A Position Statement of National Council for the Social Studies

“A primary object…should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing…than…communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country.”
—George Washington   read more »

Now available for everyone: back issues of the “Notables List.” This year’s list is a members-only benefit, but several past issues can be downloaded free as PDFs.   read more »

In response to the need to support adolescents as they acquire and use literacy in and out of school, many districts in the United States are hiring “literacy coaches” to lead school-based professional development of subject area teachers in middle and high schools. In a project supported by the Carnegie Corporation, the International Reading Association has joined with the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Council for the Social Studies, and the National Science Teachers Association to delineate standards for what effective literacy coaches must know and be able to do.   read more »

Education Brief, Education Week
March 13, 2010

By Alyson Klein
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has released broad principles for renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that seek to address perennial complaints that the law’s current version—the No Child Left Behind Act—is inflexible and doesn’t set a high enough bar for academic achievement.   read more »

Education Brief, USA Today
March 13, 2010

By Greg Toppo   read more »

Education Brief, New York Times
March 13, 2010

By SAM DILLON
The Obama administration on Saturday called for a broad overhaul of President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind law, proposing to reshape divisive provisions that encouraged instructors to teach to tests, narrowed the curriculum, and labeled one in three American schools as failing.   read more »