Greetings to All! We are back from Houston where we had another tremendous conference and back from Thanksgiving where we enjoyed family, friends, and food.

Just wanted you to know that Mike Yell and I sent the following letter to the Obama Transition Team to introduce them to National Council for the Social Studies and a few of our priorities.  read more »

Washington Partners has provided us with another extremely useful resource for looking ahead to advocacy in the next Congress. Be sure to take a minute to scan through the brief bios of newly elected members of Congress in the attached report.

These background summaries place particular emphasis on:

See attached reports from Washington Partners on the results of the elections as they pertain to the prospects for education in the next congress and administration:  read more »

1. A summary that outlines changes Congress, provides a quick overview of Obama's plans for education and includes a chart of important races in the House and Senate.

Attached below is a Review of the Legislative Achievements and Efforts of the 110th Congress as they relate to the interests and concerns of NCSS courtesy of Washington Partners. The report is divided into two parts:

I. Education Legislation enacted by the 110th Congress, including:  read more »

Please see the attached Education Report for October 17, courtesy of Washington Partners.

Highlights to examine include:  read more »

1. Appropriations-- the economic crisis continues to be Congress' main focus

Please see below letters sent to each presidential candidate expressing NCSS' views, priorities and concerns on issues that will be considered by the next administration.

We look forward to working with the new administration and will continue to advocate for the interests and concerns of NCSS members after the election.

Please see the Education Report for October 10, courtesy of Washington Partners below. Highlightsinclude:  read more »

1. Appropriations--Looking ahead to negotiations over education funding for Fiscal Year 2009
   -Next stage: conference committee meetings to come up with a comprehensive spending plan
   -When can we expect this to be announced?

Of potential interest in this week's Education Watch List from Washington Partners:

I. Emphasis on after school programs and expanded learning opportunities  read more »

1. S.CON.RES. 104-- A joint resolution supporting "Lights on After School"
2. H.R. 7127-- A bill authorizing the ED secretary to create grants to put the Total Learning Curriculum into use.

Please see the attached letter below sent to the Department of Ed. that expresses NCSS' perspective on plans for the the implementation of the Higher Education Opportunity Act. The letter places a particular emphasis on programs in Title II that focus on enhancing teacher preparation.  read more »

See the Education Report for October 3, 2008, courtesy of Washington Parters.

Highlights include:  read more »

1. Appropriations--Congress consumed with the bail out crisis.
   -President signs continuing resolution (CR) to extend current funding through March

Officers and members of the California CSS convened, in the company of State Assemblyman Gene Mullin, to voice their concerns about the narrowing of the curriculum and to advocate for the inclusion of the social studies during the annual CACSS conference in the spring.  read more »

See the attached Education Report for September 26, 2008, courtesy of Washington Parters.

Highlights to examine include:  read more »

1. Appropriations Crisis--Congress scrambles to pass a continuing resolution (CR) so that federal funding can be extended
   -What will funding of education in CR be?

The Legislative Watch List courtesy of Washington Partners gives an overview of current legislation in the Congress relating to education.

The laundry list is particularly long this week. The continuing resolution (CR) that would extend government appropriations into the spring is, of course, at the top of the list.  read more »

Please see the Education Report for September 19, 2008, below courtesy of Washington Parters for insight into the current public policy debate surrounding education and an update on the current situation in Congress.  read more »

See the attached Education Report for September 12, 2008, courtesy of Washington Parters for insight into the current public policy debate relating to education and into what the Congress has been up to since returning from their six week recess.  read more »

Below is a report from Washington Partners on an event held by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to discuss the role of Assessments in American education, an issue of great interest to the social studies agenda. Speakers who attended and shared their views included U.S.  read more »

NCSS was recently contacted by the National Geographic Society regarding the Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act, HR 1228.  This is a bill that NCSS has promoted on Capitol Hill and for which NCSS has helped secure many co-sponsors. The act would ensure federal support for geography comparable to the eight other core academic subjects identified by the No Child Left Behind Act.  read more »

NCSS was recently contacted by the National Geographic Society regarding the Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act, HR 1228.  This is a bill that NCSS has promoted on Capitol Hill and for which NCSS has helped secure many co-sponsors. The act would ensure federal support for geography comparable to the eight other core academic subjects identified by the No Child Left Behind Act.  read more »

As noted in recent Education Reports, the 110th Congress passed what will probably end up being one of the only major pieces of education legislation in its tenure when it approved the Higher Education Opportunity Act in late July. The 1,200 page Bill has a long list of implications on many different aspects of Higher Education.  read more »

This Week in Washington, a weekly publication of WPLLC, provides an overview of upcoming events in Washington D.C. affecting American Education. Be sure to direct your attention to the following "Bills to Watch" of particular interest to NCSS in the attached report:  read more »

1. The Strengthening Communities Through Education and Integration Act (S. 3334):

The Education Report, a weekly publication of WPLLC, provides an executive summary
of public policy issues affecting American education. After selecting the attachment, you may navigate the report based on the areas of interest below:  read more »

1. Budget and Appropriations
2. In Brief
3. New Publications
4. In the News
5. About WPLLC

The Association of Educational Publishers (also known as EdPress) has named "From Banished to Brother Outsider, Miss Navajo to An Inconvenient Truth: Documentary Films as Perspective-Laden Narratives" best article in the learned category published in an educational periodical.  read more »

Thanks to the generosity of ABC-CLIO and the University of South Florida College of Education, NCSS is pleased to announce that podcasts of selected keynote and featured sessions from the 2007 NCSS Annual Conference are available for download from iTunes U.  read more »

The NCSS Standards Revision Task Force is continuing it's work on updating the NCSS Curriculum Standards for Social Studies and needs your input. Please see http://communities.ncss.org/standardsrevision for an update on the work of the task force, drafts of updates, and to provide feedback and comments to the task force.

NCSS President Gayle Thieman and Past President Peggy Altoff articulate the devastating impact of NCLB on social studies teaching in an article published in the District Administration March 2008 issue.  read more »

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p>Contact your Congressional Representatives to request that funding for NAEP assessments assures that those related to NCLB-designated core social studies content areas are administered according to  read more »

Today’s Social Studies…Creating Effective Citizens.

That’s what we do, and our task is essential to maintaining an effective democracy. However, not everyone understands this. When this message is understood, students will benefit, schools will have greater support, and social studies teachers and other educators will find their job more rewarding.  read more »