This year marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. The fight was a protracted one, lasting over 70 years, and it did not result in equity for diverse women. Voting and citizenship came to women of color differently depending on region, class, race, and ethnicity. For example,…

A classroom examination of the featured historical article announcing North Carolina's ratification of the Constitution can springboard into a lesson on federalism, the Bill of Rights, and the ratification process.

This 2020 issue of "Social Education," marking the centennial anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment, seeks to broaden understanding of the suffrage story in several ways: by considering the strategies and tactics used by the suffragists to foment their agitation; by acknowledging the ways in which further work was needed to secure…

After a 72-year struggle, the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote in 1920. Coupled with the Fifteenth Amendment, which extended voting rights to African American men, the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment transformed the power and potency of the American electorate. This article invites the…

Students are taught about the foundations of inquiry--questions, tasks, and sources--and how to build inquiry-based curriculum and instructional strategies for social studies. They begin their student teaching experiences knowing the difference between a compelling and supporting question, the role of a formative and summative performance task,…

The reality is that digital archives are fragile. Many people appreciate how information technology has revolutionized their lives but have spent little time reflecting on the historical significance of the migration from a print-based to a digital society. In the 100th year of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), it seems timely to…

In this article, the author shares the results of a case study that explored how using student-produced video essays supported historical thinking. The goal of this study was to explore the intersection of historical literacies in relationship with digital practices and see how digital literacies might be used to engage students' historical…

Difficult histories expose learners to historical suffering and victimization that constitute a collective trauma. The difficulty stems from the strong emotional reactions or ethical responses learners may evince, undermining their trust in security and morality of this world. However, difficult histories may also expose learners to instances in…

With concerns over student motivation, it helps to look inward at how teachers' instructional methods and professional practices impact students. Keeping this context in mind, teachers should also recognize that they are teaching and learning in a new era--one where "read-the-chapter-and-answer-the-questionsin-the-back" pedagogies are no…

Data on age and sex composition are some of the most basic statistics a nation can collect about its people. They are determined by births, deaths, and migration and, in turn, affect other demographic characteristics such as fertility rates and regional changes in population (increases or decreases). In fact, both of these are the two constants…

This article, which was completed in January 2020, expands the author's presidential address, which was delivered at the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Annual Conference in Austin, Texas, on November 22, 2019. In her address, Heafner discusses the new ecology of social studies and focuses on concerns over the civic health of our…

In the United States, people have long had a tendency to see the immediate, personal benefits of new technologies as contributing to human progress well before understanding their long-term social consequences. Facebook offers an instructive (and destructive) example. Facebook has failed to build infrastructural safeguards or accept the ethical…

The Federal Reserve (the Fed) is the central bank of the United States. It has a congressional mandate to promote maximum sustainable employment and price stability. In normal times, the Fed seeks to achieve this mandate by setting the position or "stance" of monetary policy, primarily by managing the level of short-term interest rates.…

Teachers introduced to the Inquiry Design Model (IDM) are often relieved to learn that inquiry isn't a fuzzy ideal, but rather is a curricular approach with a defined vernacular--questions, tasks, and sources. The inquiry blueprint is a one-page visual representation of the questions, tasks, and sources that define an inquiry. In the blueprint,…

The use of social media saturates the everyday lives of young people, offering complex, rich challenges and opportunities for cultivating their skills with and disposition toward online participatory politics in "a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world" (National Council for the Social Studies). While attempts…