It is often difficult for Americans to find the secrets for addressing issues relevant to the contemporary United States. However, in every generation, individual citizens in their communities, states, and national institutions have debated values that are central to the nation. By studying American history as a sequence of case studies, students…

The future of the American experiment, and the life of the democratic republic that is the United States, is at risk. American citizens have endangered the republic by failing to educate new generations of citizens about civic responsibility. As early as the nineteenth century, the tension between individualism and American republican principles…

American democratic society is sustained through debate among its citizens. Four sets of value tensions--(1) law versus ethics, (2) private wealth versus common wealth, (3) freedom versus equality, and (4) unity versus diversity--are central in allowing citizens to address matters of public interest through debate. These value pairs are the…

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the nation's largest living history museum, in partnership with the Social Science Education Consortium, scholars, educators, and teachers, has developed engaging learning materials for social studies classrooms. One such program is the Colonial Williamsburg History and Civics Project, which is based on…

Our first public policy goal is to ensure our survival as a free nation through the development of enlightened citizens. If social studies teachers are to develop the goals of citizenship education, an articulated K-12 social studies program is necessary. The objectives and themes of such a program are discussed. (RM)

Discusses the kind of citizens a democratic society needs to preserve freedom and examines how a society can educate these citizens. Citizens must be literate beyond the 3Rs. For this to happen, the nation and the education establishment must regain an understanding of the concepts of adulthood, community, and meaning. (SR)

Explores ways to organize skills which aid in developing the reasoning process. Suggests a social studies curriculum which focuses on a skill network composed of facilitating skills (observation, classification, spatial relationships), processes (inferring, predicting, hypothesizing), and operations (communications, interpretation, social…

Discusses "Project 2061," a reform initiative for science literacy. Explains that reform is needed in science education because developments in science and technology continually transform daily life. Suggests that taking an interdisciplinary approach to science will make the subject understandable to more people. Argues that curriculum…

Maintains that the traditional role of standards in elementary curriculum development is that of asking important questions regarding quality curriculum design and instruction. Presents seven questions to guide teachers as they utilize the standards. (CFR)