The rapidly changing landscape of instructional materials in elementary education has involved both a wider range of available materials, particularly online, as well as increasing use of materials provided to teachers by other teachers on sites such as Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers. In this commentary, I outline three key shifts in…

This article reflects on my 28-year tenure editing "The Elementary School Journal" ("ESJ"). During my tenure as editor, the educational system was in constant reform, from a Nation at Risk to No Child Left Behind. Considerable evidence suggests that these various reforms, which consumed vast resources, were not successful in…

Students are sometimes proactive and engaged in classroom learning activities, but they are also sometimes only reactive and passive. Recognizing this, in this article I argue that students' classroom engagement depends, in part, on the supportive quality of the classroom climate in which they learn. According to the dialectical framework within…

Introduces the articles in this special issue on social studies. Articles concern political socialization, economics, geography, a global perspective on social studies, ethnic studies, social change, thinking skills for citizenship training, and the integration of writing skills and social studies. (RH)

Argues that (1) understanding of the ways in which children think about the political aspects of their lives has been limited by functionalist views of schooling and positivist research paradigms; and (2) research should focus on ways children appropriate information from their experiences and use it to construct personal political realities.…

Summarizes research on how children think about economic ideas and values and the development of such thinking. Explores the influence of instruction on children's thinking about economics and points out implications for curriculum and instruction. (RH)

Highlights historical materials considered valuable for guiding the American elementary curriculum on geography and instruction in it. References discussed are grouped in periods beginning with 1880-99, and progressing through 1900-19, 1920-39, 1940-59, 1960-79, and 1980 to the present. Advocates integration of geography into social studies.(RH)

Describes goals to reform the school curriculum advocated by recent ethnic revival movements of Western societies and the factors that have prevented significant reform. A strategy is proposed that conceptualizes a teacher as a cultural mediator and an agent of change, and a social studies curriculum that promotes social criticism and civic…

Argues for broadening the perspective of formal curriculum in U.S. schools, so that schools can prepare students to function in a global community. In developing the rationale for global education, efforts by teachers to promote a broader perspective are reviewed, and steps necessary for promoting a global perspective are considered. Resources for…

Identifies kinds of thinking that fit naturally into elementary social studies curricula, using models of thinking that are not complex. Models include general problem solving skills and skills pertaining to specific types of intellectual tasks, such as comprehending information, solving specific problems, researching topics, and making decisions.…

Overviews attempts to integrate language arts and social studies and reviews research on language processes. Discusses types of writing designed to produce active and responsible learners. Describes writing exercises designed to enable students to inventory knowledge; to initiate, consolidate, and personalize learning; and to clarify thinking. (RH)

Focuses on how state policies affect the teacher-learner relationship in classrooms. Particular attention is given to standard setting as implemented through testing mechanisms. With respect to students, test-based standards as well as test-based instructional processes are examined. With respect to teachers, test-based standards for professional…

Describes the governance and support systems that typically surround school districts. Discusses how school systems and external systems mirror each other's characteristics. Local strategies for using resources provided by outside systems and for coping with the constraints they present are discussed. (RH)

Considers change processes at the school-building level in order to formulate a number of locally based strategies (at the school and district levels) to improve schools and classrooms. Suggests change strategy implications arising from the effective schools research. (RH)

Explores the link between the management of fiscal retrenchment and the need for more effective schools. Describes school improvement strategies based on the school effectiveness research and on past experience with educational change programs. A final section discusses the potential role of these strategies in the larger context of educational…