A troubling observation is that—outside of Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March, during which students are acquiring some knowledge about noteworthy women and minorities—teachers in every grade level often teach about the same figures rather than expanding their lessons to include less-conventional or less-well-known individuals. To address these gender equity gaps related to social studies instruction, the authors established “Little Leaders,” a group consisting of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten girls.

Toxic civic dialogue? Insurrection? Decline of democracy? America needs quality civic and history education more than ever. NCSS has been a lead supporter and partner in the development of Educating for American Democracy, an initiative that promises a greater emphasis on civic and history education that is powerful, interdisciplinary, and inquiry-based. This virtual Town Hall to hear directly from a distinguished panel that will present the initiative and discuss actions needed to make the promise of Educating for American Democracy a reality for all learners. The Town Hall is moderated by…

We live in a world that is becoming increasingly divided, particularly in the United States. In fact, people tend to interact almost exclusively with individuals who hold their shared world views and beliefs. Because of these trends, teaching students from a young age how to engage with others on issues that they may disagree about is of the utmost importance. Unfortunately, this type of social studies learning rarely happens in public schools, particularly in lower elementary school classrooms. To address this challenge, we formed a collaboration to develop a curricular intervention with…

In this webinar, Dr. DiCuirci will share from her own innovative pedagogy for working with primary sources. Participants will learn strategies for working with digital archives and for encouraging students to interpret, contextualize, and creatively engage with primary sources in new ways. This session is relevant for any middle and high school educator interested in working with primary source texts to enhance student learning in the civics classroom. Guest Speaker: Lindsay DiCuirci is an associate professor of English at the University of Maryland,…

In this webinar, Leah will explore the current landscape of civic education with a focus on the inequitable distribution of high-quality civic learning opportunities for students with disabilities. This webinar is relevant for K-12 educators, researchers, and policymakers. Participants will learn about a framework for introducing civic action projects in the classroom as well as strategies to make these projects more inclusive and accessible to students with disabilities. Guest Speaker: Leah Bueso is a postdoctoral scholar with the Civic Engagement Research Group based out…

Students will acquire a deeper understanding of freedom of the press when they consider the context for its inclusion in the First Amendment and examine its implications in the Internet age.

As social studies teachers, we play an essential role in preparing the next generation with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to become informed and engaged citizens.

A “Dinner with Democracy” event encourages civil discourse, promotes deliberation, and exposes students to different perspectives. 

By confronting our inaccurate beliefs about youth apathy, we can engage and expand youth voter participation.

In this elementary level inquiry, students explore diverse political systems and consider the implications of how government leaders are chosen.