The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 15, 2024

What do you think of when you hear the word “civics”? For most adults, civics likely conjures distant memories of a high school course in which they memorized the three branches of government and other constitutional trivia. Unfortunately, that experience of civics hasn’t changed much. What is the result?

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Zinn Education Project

OCTOBER 20, 2024

Donate Today Right wing politicians and media outlets are attacking the very heart of the Zinn Education Project — teaching people’s history in classrooms across the country. Officials in at least 44 states have sought — and in many cases succeeded — to enact restrictions on what teachers can say about history and current events.

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ED Surge

MARCH 26, 2024

He still has that concern, but as he stepped back to think about it, he also saw a way to “leverage” the tool for a goal he had long fought for — to help bring social studies education, and especially the teaching of civics, to broader prominence in the nation’s schools. He has long argued that U.S.

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ED Surge

OCTOBER 11, 2023

Fortunately, in light of democracy’s fragility, there has been a steady increase in initiatives from federal and state governments to incorporate civics education in K-12 classrooms. In 2020, California adopted a State Seal of Civic Engagement that high school students can earn upon graduation. To reach every student in the U.S.,

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The Hechinger Report

MARCH 12, 2024

Yancy Sanes teaches a unit on the climate crisis at Fannie Lou Hamer High School in the Bronx – not climate change, but the climatecrisis. I teach from a mindset and lens that I want to make sure my students are becoming activists, and it’s not enough just talking about it,” the science and math teacher said. “

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The Hechinger Report

JUNE 7, 2022

history and civics curriculum to be more inclusive and equitable? As an Asian American, my lived experience and this research make me firmly believe that we must do a better job of teaching Asian American history and culture in the U.S. — We must do a better job of teaching Asian American history and culture in the U.S.

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The Hechinger Report

DECEMBER 10, 2022

New Jersey is set to become the first state in the nation to mandate teaching media literacy to students of all ages as a bill with the requirement heads to Gov. A 2019 report from the Stanford History Education Group found that high school students had “difficulty discerning fact from fiction online.”. Subscribe today!

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ED Surge

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Brown loves — and has long loved — learning about history, civics, geography and government, in part because he had teachers who brought infectious energy and enthusiasm to those lessons. But nothing felt quite right, until he considered teaching. But I did enjoy teaching. I was always interested in history.

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Teaching American History

OCTOBER 22, 2024

This summer we asked five teachers attending the residential program of the Master of Arts in American History and Government (MAHG) how they convey to students what self-government requires. Robertson teaches her government courses entirely from primary documents. How Fragile is This System? Right answers are across the hall.”

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Teaching American History

OCTOBER 22, 2024

This summer we asked five teachers attending the residential program of the Master of Arts in American History and Government (MAHG) how they convey to students what self-government requires. Casey Enright Casey Enright , who teaches at Mesa High School in Arizona, recalled a lesson he’d taught on the separation of powers.

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ED Surge

JANUARY 17, 2023

And she’s been exploring innovative teaching strategies to help best reach her diverse students. Lander teaches history and civics at this large public school in Massachusetts, and she says one of the most important strategies is to find ways to bring out her students’ stories in the classroom.

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ED Surge

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

In 2020, California’s State Board of Education adopted criteria and guidance to award a State Seal of Civic Engagement to students who demonstrate excellence in civics education. There is no better way to integrate SEL and civic engagement for the next generation of learners. SEL programs are not reported either.

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Dangerously Irrelevant

MAY 31, 2017

For instance, if I was teaching Social Studies today… My students and I definitely would be tapping into an incredible diversity of online resources. It also offers a YouTube channel on which historians discuss their work , making history come alive for contemporary youth. government as well.

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The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 5, 2020

Fordham Institute found that elementary school students who studied more social studies, including geography, history and civics, scored higher on fifth grade reading tests. Education journalist Emily Hanford has argued that the failure to teach phonics in the early elementary years may be the problem.

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The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 6, 2022

To fix this, we need to deepen our investments in civics and history instruction, bolstered by an emphasis on critical thinking skills. Only one-third of native-born Americans can correctly answer the basic civics questions required of naturalized individuals to achieve U.S. We are not setting our children up for success.

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Let's Cultivate Greatness

MAY 31, 2024

Teaching civics and government is different from teaching history—it really requires a different set of go-to lesson ideas and projects. So, if you are brand new to the subject and need to know everything about how to teach civics, or you’re struggling to find ways to go beyond the textbook, welcome!

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The Hechinger Report

OCTOBER 12, 2023

I really did not expect to make it home,” she said during a recent conference on teaching difficult topics in the current partisan political environment, particularly in Florida. Before she left her house that evening, she printed out her will and put it on the table, along with a letter to her family. “I Florida Gov.

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The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Politicians around the country have been aiming to demolish progressive policies by targeting teaching about race and ethnicity, the LGBTQIA+ community and women’s reproductive rights. I taught my students to respect the power of civic engagement and social activism. Teaching is inherently activist. It must be resisted.

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TCI

MARCH 25, 2025

When students engage with history, geography, and civics, they develop the ability to analyze texts, draw connections between concepts, and retain new information more effectively. Adopt Knowledge-Building Curricula: Utilize high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) that embed social studies content within reading programs.

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Students of History

NOVEMBER 21, 2022

They took a long while to create, but I now have packets for every unit in Civics/Government , World History , and US History. There's always an eye-catching image as well as a set of standards-based Essential Questions to guide your teaching of the unit. If I'm ever out sick, students can just work on their packets.

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The Hechinger Report

MARCH 26, 2018

In the fall of 2016, increasingly frustrated by his inability to motivate his students despite his energetic teaching style and popularity inside the classroom, he was drawn to the idea that addressing emotional barriers might help them. His students chop off the “Mr.” when talking to him, and affectionately call him simply “Gallin.”.

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The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 28, 2020

No matter whether elementary teachers return to physical or virtual classrooms, this will be a year for the history books. While I share their nostalgia for a time in the history of public education when that might have been true, the damning performance by the nation’s 12th graders in U.S.

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Let's Cultivate Greatness

OCTOBER 13, 2023

I can’t imagine teaching civics and government without political cartoons—they are essential to the subject. Head over to my blog post, How to Teach Political Cartoons , where I detail the POPES process I’ve used for years. Certain topics, I’ve found over the years, are perfect for using cartoons to teach.

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The Hechinger Report

SEPTEMBER 11, 2016

I think one of the hardest parts of teaching something like that is, because you were there and you saw it happen, you know what it felt like and you know what it was like to see it,” said Neil Thompson, also a social studies teacher at North Plainfield High School. Related: How can states better support and keep new teachers?

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Teaching American History

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

A Conversation with Sonja Czarnecki Sonja Czarnecki, 2022 MAHG Graduate “In order to understand history, you have to do history,” Sonja Czarnecki insists. To give students insight into the work of historians, Czarnecki assigns research projects in all of the courses she teaches at Bishop Seabury Academy in Lawrence, Kansas.

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The Hechinger Report

AUGUST 21, 2017

On Twitter, users add lessons and resources to the #CharlottesvilleSyllabus and #CharlottesvilleCurriculum pages; everything from identity charts to readings on the history of white supremacy to conflict resolution activities. What was troubling enough as 20 th century history is happening in present time. history standards ?

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ED Surge

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

Along with a rise in Holocaust denialism — fueled by misinformation, along with poor knowledge of the history — researchers have noted that disagreements over curriculum, book bans and politically contentious issues have ratcheted up the pressure on educators. A former history teacher from Florida, Long left the classroom in 2019.

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ED Surge

APRIL 15, 2024

Additionally, social studies encompasses a wide range of disciplines, including history, geography, civics and economics, each with its own set of disciplinary practices. Swan worked as a bank examiner for the FDIC before transitioning to teaching, which she pursued both domestically and internationally for about 10 years.

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The Hechinger Report

AUGUST 27, 2018

studied civics in the fall of 2016, they began by exploring a nearby park in Pontiac. The curriculum was recently the subject of an experiment involving 684 students to see if this approach actually teaches kids the reading and writing skills and the content they need to succeed in school. Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report.

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Political Science Now

JULY 16, 2024

Engaging Citizenship introduces foundational concepts in political science through the lens of citizenship, democracy, and civic engagement, highlighting the relevance of the discipline to students’ lives and encouraging them to become engaged and empowered citizens.

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The Hechinger Report

JULY 11, 2018

Experts say that requires regular and high-quality social studies lessons, starting in kindergarten, to teach kids to be critical thinkers and communicators who know how to take meaningful action. Related: It’s time our educational institutions instilled some civic-minded values in students.

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Teaching American History

SEPTEMBER 10, 2024

Katherine Thrailkill considered careers in drama, law, and hi-tech sales before realizing all her interests and experiences pointed her toward teaching social studies. Lindblom based it on a summer seminar she attended in the early 2000s: the Presidential Academy, a forerunner of Teaching American History’s current programs.

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The Hechinger Report

MARCH 18, 2018

From Greensboro lunch counters to Tiananmen Square, youth have led significant campaigns for social and political change throughout history. Related: COLUMN: Making America whole again via civics education. And students should engage with real-life examples of citizens actively employing such skills in political and civic life.

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The Hechinger Report

NOVEMBER 29, 2016

The study, Evaluating Information: The Cornerstone of Civic Online Reasoning , was produced by researchers at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. At present, we worry that democracy is threatened by the ease at which disinformation about civic issues is allowed to spread and flourish.”.

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The Hechinger Report

JUNE 20, 2017

The answer starts in the classroom, where civics education often fails to inspire and engage students. In a system that all too often doesn’t solicit our input on anything beyond planning social events and fundraisers, too many of us become either oblivious or callous about the very concept of civic engagement. Where did we go wrong?

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4QM Teaching

MAY 23, 2023

Is the Four Question Method applicable to civics education? As history / social studies people we’re often in contact with civic education advocates and organizations, and as a small organization interested in growing we’re sometimes advised to make a pitch for ourselves as civics educators.

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ED Surge

JANUARY 10, 2023

Through my work as director of MIT’s Teaching Systems Lab , I’ve asked the question to teachers, school leaders, coaches, researchers and experts of all stripes (think: learning science, instruction, teacher education, culturally responsive teaching and so on), and it typically elicits more pauses and wonderings than answers.

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