History
Education news, analysis, and opinion about how history is taught
Who Decides What History We Teach? An Explainer
Education Week breaks down how politics has long been embedded in this decision, and how new laws may affect the process.
Curriculum
As Thanksgiving Approaches, 'Unlearning' History Continues
Thanksgiving offers schools an opportunity to take a hard look at narratives that minimize colonial oppression of Native Americans.
Social Studies
A 'Roadmap' for Teaching Civics and History Is Coming. Will It Restart an Old Curriculum War?
Funding from the U.S. Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Humanities will finance an effort to strengthen content and teaching in the subjects. But the project will need to sidestep the issues that sank a 1994 effort.
Professional Development
Teachers Prepare for Tough Conversations About the Civil War
About two dozen teachers from across the country spent a week wrestling with questions about how to remember the Confederacy.
Curriculum
The '1619 Project' Curriculum Challenges Teachers to Reframe U.S. History
The curriculum is inspired by the New York Times Magazine project to observe the 400th anniversary of the beginning of slavery in the United States.
Curriculum
How Do We Teach With Primary Sources When So Many Voices Are Missing?
Teachers have been encouraged to bring more primary sources into the classroom, but doing so presents a challenge when the voices of Native Americans and other historically marginalized groups are so often missing from these documents.
Social Studies
Four States Now Require Schools to Teach LGBT History
Starting next school year, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history will be taught in Illinois public schools.
Professional Development
Teachers Prepare for Tough Classroom Conversations on the Civil War
About two dozen teachers from across the country spent a week wrestling with questions about how to remember the Confederacy.
Teaching
Opinion
Response: 'Students Need to DO History, Not Just Listen to It'
Big mistakes are made in social studies instruction. What can teachers do to avoid them? Annie Brown, Amy Okimoto, Amy Fast, Lynette Yorgason, Mike Kaechele and Dr. Rebecca Testa-Ryan weigh in.
Curriculum
A Popular Social Studies Curriculum Got an Internal Review. The Findings Weren’t Pretty
Studies Weekly's lessons had hundreds of examples of errors and racial bias.
Social Studies
History Instruction Indicted: Too Much Memorization, Too Little Meaning
Students in U.S. classrooms are startingly ignorant of American history, but it's not because their teachers have failed them. It's because the curriculum in most schools focuses on memorizing "irrelevant, boring" names and dates, a new study finds.
Social Studies
Opinion
Antisemitism Is on the Rise. Can Teaching About the Holocaust Help?
The Holocaust is practically ancient history for many students, but that doesn't make it any less relevant, argues Lindsay J. Friedman.
Social Studies
Teachers Decorating Their Doors for Black History Month Say Representation Matters
The teachers who designed them say that these artworks are more than just decoration—the door collages reflect lessons, values, and black cultural history that the educators want their students to engage with all year round.
Education
Librarians and Teachers: What Books Are You Displaying for Black History Month?
Last year, we asked you to share your curriculum ideas for teaching Black History month, and you delivered. This year, we're asking you to show, not tell.
Social Studies
Video
Teaching the Real Lessons of Thanksgiving
There’s a growing movement to help history teachers “unlearn” what they were taught about Thanksgiving so they can teach their students about that time period with a more accurate and nuanced lens.