Leading and Partnering with Purpose in Social Studies

The National Center for Educational Statistics, or the “Nation’s Report Card,” released the most recent test results for History and Civics.

Picture it—fall semester 2008—a new social studies teacher prepares for a year of developing young students into knowledgeable and civic-minded members of society.

Partnerships are ubiquitous in our lives, yet we often take them for granted rather than interrogating them to discover how to make them richer, more effective, and ultimately more meaningful.

Imagine building a piece of Ikea without the instructions.

Become a teacher, they said! It’ll be fun, they said!  Truly, there is no more rewarding job than teaching and making a difference in students’ lives each and every day.

  Are leaders creating opportunities that will ensure that the next generation of educators has a sound foundation to stand on? Are we building capacity to create the next generation of change agents? I posed this very question to my colleagues some time ago.

Social studies is an important subject for students in special education, as it provides them with an understanding of the world around them and the history, culture, and society of different groups of people.

  In today’s world, data is everywhere.

After the events of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, an interesting phenomenon occurred in the town where I lived.