In April 2011, Congress slashed funding for a majority of programs tied to education. Several programs related to professional development for teachers did not survive. While cut severely--from $119 million in Fiscal Year 2010 to $46 million (a loss of $73 million or 61% of its funding)--Teaching American History (TAH) grants lived, albeit by…

Effective history teaching includes ample opportunities for students to develop historical thinking skills and habits of mind which encourage them to learn content beyond simple acquisition of facts. Covering the profound topic of segregation by employing multiple perspectives and encouraging investigation beyond the traditional narrative provides…

The Integrative Model of instruction engages students in critical thinking while providing history teachers with an instructional strategy other than a traditional lecture format. The Integrative Model was used to develop an interactive lesson titled "The Formation of American Political Parties: Federalist versus Anti-federalist." This article…

Lesson planning is a critical task in the education of pre-service teachers, but the author has often questioned the extent to which traditional lesson plan formats truly contribute to the teaching and learning of history. Since current research in history education calls for an emphasis on building "historical thinking" skills and content…

Slavery in the pre-Civil War United States is a hard topic to teach, not only because it raises issues of racism and injustice, but also because students assume so much. Often, they think all northerners were abolitionists or "good guys" and southerners were "bad guys" who enslaved African Americans because they viewed them as inferior. England,…

Reported in this article are the results of research that explored which feature films teachers are using to teach high school United States history and how and why they are using these films. The terms "feature film" and "Hollywood film" are used throughout to refer to movies commercially created for a mass audience, often for…

During the last twenty years, history educators have noted a sea change in the concern expressed by scholars, policymakers, and the general public about the teaching and learning of history in schools. The 1983 report, "A Nation at Risk", was a catalyst for this movement with its focused attention and support for a core curriculum based…

Advanced Placement brings into sharp focus the dilemma faced by middle, secondary and university teachers of American history. The search for an introductory synthesis stumbles more frequently these days because texts and curriculum frameworks all too often depend upon what Mary Fredrickson refers to as the tyranny of chronology. With extremely…

Many, even most, teachers have probably read or heard about the potential of the Internet and feel an obligation to use it in their classrooms. But, despite vast improvements in the quality of educational materials on the Internet, they are left with frustrating questions. How do teachers wade through the overwhelming amount of "information" on…