Produced by cartographers of many nations over the course of six centuries, maps detailing Florida and the North American continent tell tales of exploration, conflict, and change. Before 1492, Europeans were unaware of what existed on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. That reality is illustrated quite well on two maps that show the "known…

Conventional pundits, pollsters, and forecasters are focused on whether the economy will improve sufficiently in 2012 for President Barack Obama to gain reelection. The Keys to the White House, a prediction system that the author developed in collaboration with Vladimir Keilis-Borok, founder of the International Institute of Earthquake Prediction…

History has placed the stamp of approval on the publication of the Pentagon Papers, the top-secret history of the Vietnam War. If WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange is another Daniel Ellsberg, then it is possible the website's disclosures will be viewed over time as similarly in the public interest. A classroom discussion on the release of…

Professor Bryant Simon is the author of "Everything But the Coffee: Learning About America From Starbucks" (University of California Press, 2009). He presented his key findings to the class and summarizes them here. Studying Starbucks reveals essential truths about what its customers, who represented a large cross-section of the American…

In recent years, there has been much talk in the media and the academic world about the "rise of China," as if China were a young country. Because the People's Republic of China (PRC) celebrated its sixtieth birthday only last October--and because the PRC was not admitted into the United Nations until 1971 and did not become a member of the World…

The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), in conjunction with the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the nation's leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education, is committed to bringing an expanded focus to social studies teachers. The two organizations have collaborated on some exciting…

Most teachers will endorse "standards" of authentic instruction, including deep knowledge, higher order thinking, substantive conversation, and connections to the world beyond the classroom. When it comes to putting such endorsements into practice, however, they too often accept a standardized view of content that is dull and doctrinaire and…

This article describes the "The Presidential Timeline of the 20th Century," a newly unveiled website jointly created by the Learning Technology Center of The University of Texas at Austin and The National Archives' 12 presidential libraries. This web-based resource provides access to the continually growing store of digitized assets from the…

The National Council on Economic Education's (NCEE) EconEdLink site provides lessons and classroom learning activities based on economics topics in the news, as well as access to real-time economic data. EconEdLink's content is designed to help integrate economic concepts across the curriculum as outlined in the Voluntary National Content…

In social work field education, mentoring is underused and lacks research data. There is a paucity of research that examines the effect mentoring has on social work field directors who administer field programs at the undergraduate and/or graduate level. This exploratory study fills this void by examining the mentoring opportunities and…

Researchers surveyed licensed social workers from 5 Mid-Atlantic states to explore their perspectives on the current state of mental health and service delivery for military service workers, families, and contractors. Social workers identified needs in the following areas: mental health, physical health and wellness, social and environmental,…

Social workers and paraprofessionals serve psychiatric populations at high risk for suicide, but may receive little training related to suicidality. This study evaluated a suicide awareness and prevention training workshop for providers working with mentally ill homeless and previously homeless adults. Trainees attended a half day of training, and…

Barbara Wootton, a prominent British social scientist and educator of social workers, examined the status of social work in the 1950s. Wootton argued iconoclastically that the social work literature presented a profession that was arrogant and far removed from the common concerns of the populations served. In addition, Wootton felt that the social…

The Council on the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education (WC), a volunteer committee of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), has a 37-year history. This article presents an overview of the WC from the late 1960s to September 2006 and acknowledges the needs, status, and contributions of women in social work education. Drawing on…

Assessment is a critical step in determining appropriate support services. This article discusses "caregiver assessment," a systematic process of gathering information to describe a caregiving situation. Caregiver assessment identifies the particular problems, needs, resources, and strengths of the family caregiver and approaches issues from the…