NCSS Executive Director Susan Griffin was chair of the Task Force of Professional Organizations that worked with the Social Studies Assessment, Curriculum, and Instruction Collaborative (SSACI) of the Council of Chief State School Officers to initiate and guide the development of the "College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social…

On September 17, 2013 (Constitution Day), the C3 Framework was released under the title "The College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History." The C3 Project Director and lead writer was NCSS member Kathy Swan, who is…

Susan Griffin, executive director of NCSS, was chair of the Task Force of Professional Organizations that initiated and guided the development of "The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards", which will soon be released. In this interview with "Social Education", Susan explains how the…

"The C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards will soon be released under the title "The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: State Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History." The C3 Project Director and Lead Writer was NCSS member Kathy…

Many countries around the world have compulsory voting laws. In the United States, where voter turnout tends to be lower than in other developed democracies, experts wonder whether voting laws would have a positive impact. In two distinct essays, voting and elections experts Norman Ornstein and Vassia Stoilov debate the implementation of…

This article presents four stories of personal experiences of China. In "A Journey Between China's Past and Present," Peter Hessler, a former Peace Corps volunteer and author, highlights misconceptions between Chinese and Americans and the desire both peoples share for knowledge about one another. In "Life on Liberation Avenue," Ryan Bradeen…

The U.S. economy took a historic nosedive in 2007-2010. It was the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. However, evidence is emerging which suggests the country is in the midst of an economic recovery. In February 2010, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that GDP rose at a 5.9 percent annual rate in October through December…

In Texas, the members of the State Board of Education (SBOE) are elected in a partisan election. One of the duties of the State Board of Education is overseeing the writing of curriculum standards for the various content areas. A call went out to educators across the state, asking for volunteers to write the standards. Committees were formed for…

Maritime piracy has increasingly been in the news, and in the courtroom, in recent years. This article presents an interview with international legal and overseas piracy expert Douglas Guilfoyle. In this interview, Guilfoyle discusses why piracy is a growing problem and some of the challenges it creates for the international community. He also…

This article presents an open letter to President Barack Obama written by the author to express his concerns about the increasing emphasis on mathematics and science education along with the continued emphasis on reading/language arts while a fourth major curriculum area--social studies--is being marginalized by lack of funding and reduced…

Every year, Americans spend billions of dollars on bottled water. They purchase a bottle from the vending machine or buy a case at the grocery, no longer considering the water that's freely available from their taps. As consumers and as citizens, however, Americans should pause to study the personal and public consequences of this choice. In this…

If American young learners are to become effective participants in a democratic society, then social studies must be an essential part of the curriculum in each of the elementary years. The purpose of elementary school social studies is to enable students to understand, participate in, and make informed decisions about their world. Social studies…

Lecturing can be done well or it can be done badly. It is wrong to assume that certain methods of teaching are inherently poor pedagogy, or, for that matter, to go through the motions of carrying out best practices without considering the ways in which practices (even those supposedly the best) can be executed poorly. One problem from which…

What is "Creole"? The textbook answer is that the word derives from the Portuguese "crioulo" or Spanish "criollo," from the verb "to create." The term developed out of the colonial experience, and was used as a way to identify those people and things born in the New World from Old World stock. Hence, second generation French or Spanish colonial…

The Holocaust is now a regular part of high school history curricula throughout the United States and, as a result, coverage of the Holocaust has become a standard feature of high school textbooks. As with any major event, it is important for textbooks to provide a rigorously accurate and valid historical account. In dealing with the Holocaust,…