1. The History of American Social Studies Education

2. Progressive Era Influences ▪ John Dewey – saw the classroom as a laboratory, and believed students should engage in experiential learning. ▪ Experiential learning is a way to engage all students through hands-on learning activities. ▪ Part of a larger social movement – treat children, immigrants, disabled, poor, etc., as people, not objects to be institutionalized

3. 1930s – Federal government programs and outreach to rural areas ▪ New Deal programs, such as the WPA and CCC, provided young people unprecedented opportunities to leave the homestead and see more of the world. ▪ Sixteen state parks in MO; Little River Drainage District in Bootheel; courthouses, schools, sewing rooms, & school lunches

4. 1960s – War on Poverty education initiatives ▪ President Johnson’s Great Society programs, included the creation of Teacher Corps and Head Start ▪ Interns received a small stipend to teach for one year in a high-risk district, such as an inner city district, Indian reservation, or place plagued by rural poverty

5. 1983 – A Nation at Risk ▪ President Reagan’s National Commission on Excellence in Education ▪ Among other things, the report contributed to the ever-growing assertion that American schools were failing, and it touched off a wave of local, state, and federal reform efforts. Reagan's address - 44 seconds AFT response to Nation at Risk - 1:27

6. 1987 – The Bradley Commission ▪ Funded by a private endowment, this group of 16 teachers, professors, and professional historians formed to address the issue of a dearth of history education ▪ Studied history in the public school secondary curriculum, and found that 15% of American students were taking no history at all, and more were only taking U.S. history – no world or western civ. ▪ The Bradley Commission was the first national group to devote its attention exclusively to history

7. 1995 – Lies My Teacher Told Me (James Loewen) ▪ In this book, political science professor James Loewen alleges that social studies curriculum had failed millions of American schoolchildren ▪ A bestseller, but received mixed reactions from academic community http://eiffel.ilt.columbia.edu/TEACHERS/cluster_teachers/Dick _Parsons/Restoring%20the%20Past/Index/Contents.htm

8. 1999 – A People’s History of the United States (Howard Zinn) ▪ A groundbreaking study by historian Howard Zinn; tells the “bottoms-up” perspective, or people’s history, of well-known historical events. ▪ Banned in some schools Rethinking educationRethinking education – Zinn Project

9. 2001- No Child Left Behind ▪ An act of Congress based on standards and high- stakes testing, on the idea that high standards and measurable goals could improve outcomes in education ▪ Included Title I, a special provision for disadvantaged students ▪ Criticized for punishing schools by withholding funding for those that did not meet goals for 100% of student s ▪ Focused on math, reading, and later science; sometimes at the cost of social studies education NCLB - 1:37

10. 2002 – Teaching American History grants ▪ Made possible by the "Teaching American History as a Separate Subject Grants Program" within the Department of Education ▪ Provided more that $100,000,000 for history teaching projects. ▪ Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) led the effort to have American history emphasized in school curriculum ▪ Awards grants to school districts & colleges to develop workshops, curriculum, and programs

11. 2006 – Next Generation of History Teachers ▪ A conference held in 2006 by the AHA to discuss how college professors can better prepare the next generation of K-12 history teachers ▪ Came up with a list of suggestions/recommendations for history departments across the country http://blog.historians.org/2007/03/the-next-generation-of-history-teachers/ http://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/november- 2007/the-next-generation-of-history-teachers

12. 2008 - Common Core State Standards ▪ Obama Administration – a set of broadly written standards in areas of math/science and English/Language Arts – replaced NCLB ▪ Social studies falls under the ELA umbrella http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RH/9-10/

13. http://www.wordle.net/ http://nypost.com/2015/01/22/john-madden-tom-brady-may- be-to-blame-for-deflated-footballs/

14. 1983 – A Nation at Risk 1987 – The Bradley Commission 1995 – Lies My Teacher Told Me (James Loewen) 1996 – Historical Thinking Standards 1999 – A People’s History of the U.S. (Howard Zinn) 2001 – No Child Left Behind (Bush administration) 2002 – Teaching American History grants 2006 – Next Generation of History Teachers 2008 – Common Core State Standards Chronology of Important Events to Social Studies Education in the Late 20 th Century

15. SSED in Missouri ▪ Before CCSS, most states wrote their own curriculum standards http://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/cle-social-studies.pdfhttp://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/cle-social-studies.pdf = Missouri Course Level Expectations & Grade Level Expectation – bring up and go over