This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in "Shelby County v. Holder" that Congress had exceeded its Fifteenth Amendment enforcement authority when it reauthorized a part of the Voting Rights Act (a coverage formula) that forced places with a history of discrimination to get federal approval before making changes to their election laws.…

Tracy A. Sugarman served in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant, junior grade, in the European theater during World War II. During his years of service from 1942-45, in addition to writing letters home, he recorded his experiences through original artwork. His sketches and watercolor paintings, completed before, during, and after D-Day, with titles such…

While AP (Advanced Placement) Art History may be taught within the art department in many schools, social studies teachers are equally capable of teaching the course well. They have the historical background to discuss the reasons for changes in art styles. A teacher's preparation is similar to teaching a course stressing political history,…

In the winter of 2011, this author was working late in her classroom at Central Bucks High School West in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, when she opened an email offering a summer institute where 15 teachers would walk the D-Day beaches in Normandy, France. The catch--each teacher had to bring one high school student. The Albert Small Student/Teacher…

At one high school outside of Boston, most students look forward to their daily American history class. They love their teacher's regular pop culture references and arrive ready to participate in the lively and contentious debates. Yet, despite Almira's fondness for the teacher and deep commitment to academic success, this class causes…

The sequenced levels of thinking articulated in Bloom's original taxonomy (or in the multitude of subsequent variations) is the most widely known list in education. In addition to enduring popularity, it is arguably one of the most destructive theories in education. In this article, the author explains what makes it so damaging and how…

The conversation starts quickly as two students come together in a 10th grade social studies classroom, half-way through a role play activity a symposium begins. Both students are sporting "Hello, my name is…" stickers on their shirts, and each attempts to speak in character. One represents an anti-whaling activist. Helen stands holding…

Each week, U.S. government classes at the authors' school eagerly organize and participate in moot courts. When they began a search for a Supreme Court case study on substantive due process, they found that the only appropriate brief on the StreetLaw website--a treasure trove of student-accessible court case summaries--"Lawrence v.…

Classroom projects that explore culture and globalization enhance the curriculum and help students see how geography directly connects to their lives. These authors contend that a project-based approach can supplement the teaching of an AP Human Geography course, and visualize this course as an essential tool for students to truly understand how…

The first step in teaching-to-understand economics is not teaching "the rules," but working with fundamental economic models from the outset. Many of the concepts in economics are illustrated through models. Students must: (1) be able to draw these models; (2) understand the assumptions of the models; and (3) use the models for analysis.…

The Advanced Placement Psychology exam is one of the fastest growing exams offered by the College Board. The average percent of change in the number of students taking this exam over the past five years is 12.4%. With 238,962 students taking the exam in 2013, the AP Psychology exam is the sixth largest exam, surpassing AP Biology and AP World…

Equal access to education, that is to a high quality education, has increasingly come to mean access to an Advanced Placement program. In recent years, there has been steady attention paid to opening access to AP programs. The 9th annual College Board report (2013) stated "students who succeed on an AP Exam during high school typically…

Public protests. Sensational headlines. Scathing editorial cartoons. Sloganeering posters. Are these signs of upheaval and disorder? Or are they evidence of a healthy public debate--one that could lead to legislation dramatically changing American life? In this article, the authors incorporate historical photographs taken by Lewis Hine between…

In this article, the authors explore the timely and sometimes controversial topic of gay civil rights and how the attendant issues might be taught in the social studies classroom. Many teachers shy away from teaching students about gay rights issues for a variety of reasons including personal beliefs, a lack of instructional time as a result of…

It is not often that Supreme Court watchers agree; however, right now, it seems that most agree on one thing: the Supreme Court term that started in October 2013 is going to be a blockbuster. The docket over the last couple of years has had more than its fair share of headline-grabbing cases, from gay marriage to Obamacare to the Voting Rights…