Political participation is seriously unequal. For example, young adults who finish college vote at almost three times the rate of contemporaries who have dropped out of high school. That gap translates into disparities by race and class. Effective civic education can reduce such inequality and make our democracy more representative. Teaching…

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.…

An innovative program for schools that promotes respect and understanding between major religions enables students to engage with peers around the world via videoconferencing. Using videoconferencing and online community, "Face to Faith" enabled students from across the globe to learn from, with, and about one another. In the 2013-2014…

When the author was growing up in East Los Angeles his mother told him about the "classy" gangsters of East L.A. who wore Zoot Suits. Through research, he learned that the Zoot Suiters were much more than well-dressed Latinos: they had a sense of honor and pride and exhibited class under adverse circumstances. In August of 1942, Jose Diaz, a…

The release of Apple's iPad was met with great enthusiasm by educators and schools. Yet, if this new technology is retrofitted to traditional teaching activities its full potential will go unrealized. The presence of iPads alone will not generate transformative educational experiences in the social studies; however, the appropriation of the device…

Social studies teachers assess their students in a number of ways. Among these are formative assessments, authentic assessments, and summative low-level multiple-choice tests. Working with two classrooms of low-achieving U.S. history students, the authors compared student experiences in traditional units to those in units that integrated an…

Is the anticipated move of a school to a new location a source of curious excitement and optimism or an occasion for trepidation, recrimination, and anxiety? As plans to relocate the Walworth Barbour American International School in Israel from Kfar Shmaryahu (its location for over 40 years) to Even Yehuda became more immediate, teachers and…

This article explores the ways that alternative digital media production by elementary students can support education for critical democracy. The article centers on a collaborative, qualitative study in which students in a 3rd-grade class at a Title One school created and disseminated podcasts about issues of historical injustice rooted in the key…

The ability to make connections is an important aspect of teaching history and a vital skill in our increasingly globalized world. This study examines how preservice and practicing teachers organize and connect world historical events and concepts for themselves and for instructional purposes. Findings are based on interviews with 2 card-sorting…

This article reports on a study that repositioned elementary students in new roles as active, critical participants in historical inquiry--roles that required a more mature epistemic stance. It reports 5th-grade students' responses to instructional methods intended to help them understand the nature of historical knowledge, appreciate the…

Historical empathy scholarship has evolved to the point where further progress necessitates empirical examinations from a variety of perspectives. Prior studies on historical empathy have largely focused on teachers' pedagogical approach and student outcomes. This qualitative study focuses on students as they engage in the process of…

The history and heritage of slavery and the trans-Atlantic slave trade are sensitive topics in The Netherlands. Little is known about the ways in which students attribute significance to what is presented as heritage, particularly sensitive heritage. Using theories on historical significance, we explored how students attributed significance to the…

This article considers the design process for new formative history assessments. Over the course of 3 years, my colleagues from the Stanford History Education Group and I designed, piloted, and revised dozens of "History Assessments of Thinking" (HATs). As we created HATs, we sought to gather information about their cognitive validity,…

In this article, the author discusses an online youth magazine that his Palestinian students developed. In April of 2006, they launched the inaugural edition of their teen e-zine, "Behind the Wall." With the help of his brother-in-law, students, along with a computer programmer, the "Behind the Wall" website was constructed. The intent of "Behind…

The author explores significant points of intersection between foundational tenets of the social studies and the lessons learned by students in the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) at one Midwestern high school. He suggests new ways social studies researchers and teachers might conceptualize the ideas and themes promoted in GSAs and apply them directly…