Social studies, perhaps more so than any other content area, also serves as the catalyst of change when we, the people, use our experiences to our own and others’ advancements. At its core, social studies has been both a concurrent limiting and freeing pursuit of knowledge, a pursuit that discourages and encourages us to learn from and about our experiences and associations, to learn of ourselves and others. In Social Studies Instruction, Learning, and Assessment in the Contemporary Wo...

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!A growing number of Americans want to tear down what it's taken us 250 years to build—and they'll start by canceling our shared history, ideals, and culture.Traditional areas of civic agreement are vanishing. We can't agree on what makes America special. We can't even agree that America is special. We're coming to the point that we can't even agree what the word America itself means. "Disintegra...

"The definitive account of violent partisan hostilities in twenty-first–century American politics . . . one of the most important political science books in decades." —Michael Tesler, University of California, IrvinePolitical violence is rising in the United States, with Republicans and Democrats divided along racial and ethnic lines that spurred massive bloodshed and democratic collapse earlier in the nation's history. The January 6, 2021 insurrection and the part...

A look at how to teach history in the age of easily accessible—but not always reliable—information.Let's start with two truths about our era that are so inescapable as to have become clichés: We are surrounded by more readily available information than ever before. And a huge percent of it is inaccurate. Some of the bad info is well-meaning but ignorant. Some of it is deliberately deceptive. All of it is pernicious.With the Internet at our fingertips, what's ...

"[An] excellent overview of the child welfare system . . . Most importantly, [the author] provides a discussion of how to create true change." —Tina Lee, author of Catching a Case: Inequality and Fear in New York City's Child Welfare SystemA groundbreaking look at the history and politics of the American child welfare system, "When the Welfare People Come" exposes the system in its totality, from child protective investigation to foster care and ma...

An in-depth analysis of the legal entry points and remedies in the school-to-prison pipelineThe “school-to-prison pipeline” is an emerging trend that pushes large numbers of at-risk youth—particularly children of color—out of classrooms and into the juvenile justice system. The policies and practices that contribute to this trend can be seen as a pipeline with many entry points, from under-resourced K-12 public schools, to the over-use of zero-tolerance suspensions...

A powerful debunking of First Amendment orthodoxy that critiques "reckless speech," which endangers vulnerable groups, and elevates "fearless speech," which seeks to advance equality and democracy.Freedom of speech has never been more important—or more controversial. From debates about what's permissible on social media, to the politics of campus speakers and corporate advertisements, the First Amendment is incessantly in the news and constantly being held up as th...

From the fights about the teaching of evolution to the details of sex education, it may seem like American schools are hotbeds of controversy. But as Jonathan Zimmerman and Emily Robertson show in this insightful book, it is precisely because such topics are so inflammatory outside school walls that they are so commonly avoided within them. And this, they argue, is a tremendous disservice to our students. Armed with a detailed history of the development of American educational policy and n...

In Teaching America, more than 20 leading thinkers sound the alarm over a crisis in citizenship—and lay out a powerful agenda for reform. The book’s unprecedented roster of authors includes Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Senator Jon Kyl, Senator Bob Graham, Secretary Rod Paige, Alan Dershowitz, Juan Williams, Glenn Reynolds, Michael Kazin, Frederick Hess, Andrew Rotherham, Mike Feinberg, Seth Andrew, Mark Bauerlein and more.Their message: To remain America, our country has to give it...

How to make American higher education fairerIn the 1930s, American colleges and universities began to screen applications using the SAT, a mass-administered, IQ-descended standardized test. The widespread adoption of the test accompanied the development of the world’s first mass higher education system—and served to promote the idea that the United States was becoming a “meritocracy” in which admission to selective higher education institutions would be granted to ...

A revolutionary proposal for a conceptual and organizational framework for US public education that benefits all citizens.

Civics education is "on the books" in all 50 states, yet civic illiteracy is widespread. Only one third of 12th graders are able to explain the significance of the Declaration of Independence, and fewer than half of 8th graders know the purpose of the Bill of Rights. This instructional guide explores the foundations of civics education--and the reasons for its demise--with commentary from civics education leaders and scholars across the nation.Questions for eliciting civics discuss...