I think it’s fair to say we are in the midst of another round of history wars. Today’s so-called “activist historians” invoke a usable past to preach political and social agendas, while more traditional historians (of all political persuasions–from Trotskyite...
Jim Grossman, the executive director of the American Historian Association, and Jeremy C. Young, the senior manager for free expression and education at PEN America, weigh-in on attempts by state legislatures to influence what happens in K-12 history classrooms. Here...
James F. O’Connor, the president of the Ohio Council for the Social Studies, explains in a piece at the Cincinnati Inquirer: A famous tale about Benjamin Franklin goes as follows: Franklin was walking out of Independence Hall after the Constitutional...
A delegate of the General Assembly of Virginia wants better citizenship education for the students of the Commonwealth. Earlier this week Wren Williams proposed a bill (House Bill 781) to amend the Code of Virginia to strengthen “student citizenship skills.”...
In this episode we talk with Nathan McAlister, Humanities Program Manager at the Kansas State Department of Education in Topeka. When it comes to history education, Kansas is doing it the right way. Join us for a wide-ranging discussion on...
Here is Rob Way and Jared Kofsky of WCSC TV: South Carolina lawmakers are considering a bill that would require “instruction in United States foundational history” for all public middle and high school students in a way that is consistent...
When Trump announced the 1776 Commission we all knew it was a campaign stunt. We should thus not be surprised that he issued an executive order today that established the aforesaid commission. Of course if Trump loses tonight, the 1776...
Monday, August 31, 2022, in Trumpland began with news that House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican and Trump supporter, doctored a video to make it appear that Biden wants to defund the police. I am expecting Scalise’s GOP...
A lot of conservatives liked Trump’s speech on Friday night. I am told that The Wall Street Journal gave it a positive review. I commented on the speech here, but I thought I would say a few more things about Trump’s...
Steven Mintz, one of our leading authorities on the history of the American family, makes the case for history at Inside Higher Ed: History is back with a vengeance. After a decade-long holiday from history, when joblessness fell to record lows and...
Over at The Washington Examiner, Patrick Richards, the chief communications and strategy officer at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation in Princeton, links historical training with civics. Here is a taste: A generation of students has learned of Alexander Hamilton and...
Sari Beth Rosenberg is writing for us this weekend from Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association in New York City. She is a U.S. history teacher and writer in New York City. Sari helped write the new social studies...
This weekend (Sunday and Monday) I made my first visit to Wichita, Kansas. The Kansas Council of History Education (KCHE) invited me to deliver the keynote address at their annual meeting. It was held this year on the campus of...
Now that most everyone carries a search engine in their pocket, why do we still need to study history? Our present age demonstrates just how deceiving the internet can truly be. Host John Fea and producer Drew Dyrli Hermeling make...
I love this interview at Slate. It is not only a subject–historical thinking in schools–that I interests me, but both participants in the interview are former guests on The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast. Sam Wineburg was a guest on...
First, here is some background on the National Assessment of Educational Progress report. It is often described as “the nation’s report card.” And here is a taste of critique of the NAEP by Sam Wineburg, Mark Smith, and Joel Breakstone:...
For their differences with the Confederate founders For protecting us against theocracy For the fact that there are statues memorializing them For defending small government For setting an example of equality that our current POTUS ignores For their views on...
Here are the details from The National Coalition for History: Federal Funding Opportunity for K-12 History and Civics Grants Announced Federal Competitive Grant funding is now available for K-12 History and Civics Education professional development! The US Department of Education has...
Pennsylvania, the state where I live, has just taken another step toward passing Senate Bill 723. Here is a taste of the bill: Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled “An act relating to the public school...
Fred Johnson, a history professor at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, insists that we “claim some territory” for history at our colleges and universities. I appreciate Fred’s spirited call. Here is a taste: After years of sniping and hurling poisonous...
