History

Education news, analysis, and opinion about how history is taught

Explainer

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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.
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Teaching Opinion Response: Ways To Deal With 'History Myths' In The Classroom
Craig Perrier asked:
Larry Ferlazzo, January 12, 2013
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10 min read
Teaching Opinion How Do We Deal With 'History Myths" In The Classroom?
Craig Perrier asks:
What history myths are being perpetuated by textbooks that you attempt to break down/challenge in your classroom? How do you do that?
Larry Ferlazzo, January 10, 2013
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1 min read
Classroom Technology Opinion Big History: An Organizing Principle for a Compelling Class, Block or School
After Bill Gates saw a series of lectures by David Christian on big history Gates said, "He really blew me away. Here's a guy who's read across the sciences, humanities, and social sciences and brought it together in a single framework. It made me wish that I could have taken big history when I was young, because it would have given me a way to think about all of the school work and reading that followed. In particular, it really put the sciences in an interesting historical context and explained how they apply to a lot of contemporary concerns."
Tom Vander Ark, December 13, 2012
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5 min read
Standards & Accountability History Teachers Closing the Textbooks
On the 71st anniversary of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, an article poses questions on on history teaching in schools.
Anthony Rebora, December 7, 2012
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1 min read
Shilpa Duvoor reviews primary source documents with her 7th and 8th grade students during a lesson on American slavery during summer school at Sunnyvale Middle School in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Shilpa Duvoor reviews primary source documents with her 7th and 8th grade students during a lesson on American slavery during summer school at Sunnyvale Middle School in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Ramin Rahimian for Education Week
Reading & Literacy History Lessons Blend Content Knowledge, Literacy
As schools prepare for changes under the Common Core, some educators are turning to a program that strengthens students' history knowledge and reading comprehension.
Catherine Gewertz, July 30, 2012
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11 min read
School & District Management Opinion The Largest Classroom Tech Infusion in History
This fall, I'd like to see an unprecedented amount of new technology enter our nation's classrooms. It's powerful, it's easy, and it won't cost a dime.
Justin Baeder, July 20, 2012
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1 min read
Reading & Literacy Literacy Wins, History Loses in Federal Budget
Congress revives the Striving Readers program, but scraps funding for history, foreign language, civics, and economics education.
Erik W. Robelen, January 6, 2012
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5 min read
Education Opinion What About History Education?
So much of the nation's attention has been focused on literacy, numeracy and science since No Child Left Behind became law that history has been lost in the shuffle. A new book by David Feith titled Teaching America (Rowman & Littlefield, 2011) calls the situation a "crisis" ("Boot Camp For Citizens," The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 9). I'm troubled by the neglect of the subject as much as Feith is, but I hasten to point out that fears about students' knowledge of history are not new.
Walt Gardner, December 12, 2011
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2 min read
Teaching Profession Teacher Leaders Network Teaching History Through Inquiry
Stephen Lazar describes how teachers can impart both critical thinking skills and cultural literacy through the use of historical documents and strategic questioning.
Stephen Lazar, November 1, 2011
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5 min read
Education Opinion Ignorance of History Permeates All Levels
The latest test scores in history posted by students in 4th, 8th and 12th grade on the National Assessment of Educational Progress are cited as evidence that public schools are not doing their job. Only 20 percent, 17 percent and 12 percent, respectively, of the students tested demonstrated proficiency ("U.S. Students Remain Poor at History, Tests Show," The New York Times, June 15).
Walt Gardner, June 22, 2011
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2 min read
A statue of Abraham Lincoln when he was nine years-old sits in front of Lincoln's boyhood home in Indiana, in this scene at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Ill. The complex houses one of the world's largest collections of Lincoln documents and artifacts, from letters he wrote as a young lawyer to an original copy of the Gettysburg Address.
A statue of Abraham Lincoln when he was nine years-old sits in front of Lincoln's boyhood home in Indiana, in this scene at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Ill. The complex houses one of the world's largest collections of Lincoln documents and artifacts, from letters he wrote as a young lawyer to an original copy of the Gettysburg Address.
Seth Perlman/AP-File
Education Funding Federal History-Grant Program Takes Budget Hit for Fiscal 2011
The Teaching American History grants program could see its budget cut from $119 million in fiscal 2010 to $46 million in the current year.
Erik W. Robelen, April 19, 2011
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2 min read
Social Studies Collection Civil War
One hundred and fifty years after shots fired at Fort Sumter ignited the Civil War, a growing number of teachers are digging directly into primary sources and using technology to help their students better understand the conflict and bring it to life.
April 18, 2011
Federal Opinion Let's Save the Teaching American History Grants
The fate of the Teaching American History grants program hangs in the balance, unless the Senate can be persuaded to fund it, writes historian John Fea.
John Fea, March 22, 2011
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3 min read
School & District Management 'National History Day' Lifts Achievement, Study Finds
An independent evaluation found that participants in National History Day not only saw higher test scores but also are better writers and more capable researchers.
Erik W. Robelen, January 28, 2011
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1 min read
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