This fictional case presents the challenges school districts face when developing a new curriculum. After the school board voted to create a global studies program at Northern High School, the social studies supervisor had the responsibility of designing and implementing the curriculum. With only a few months to implement the curriculum, the…

In 1969, four years after passage of the Voting Rights Act, African Americans in Greene County, Alabama, reclaimed control of local government, becoming the first community in the South to do so since Reconstruction. A half century later, however, Greene County remains an impoverished and largely segregated area with poor educational outcomes,…

In the United States, political polarization has increased markedly since 2000, with consequences for local governments and state-level policymaking. Redistricting, and the role of social media as the dominant source of information for many in the U.S. has contributed to state and national legislatures that reflect more extreme political views. A…

When music educators discuss repertoire, they often discuss "what" pieces to perform and "when" in the year to perform them. In this article, I ask, "Who should choose the music for ensemble study, and "how" should it be chosen?" I share a rationale for why music educators might include students in ensemble…

The 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, a year after being passed by Congress. It extended the right to vote to many women, but not all. Excluded from this landmark constitutional victory were women like Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, who was born in Guangzhou (then Canton), China, in 1896, but who immigrated to New York as a child. From 1882 to…

When teachers discuss the 2020 presidential election with students, now and in future years, they will, appropriately, place front and center the ramifications of the baseless challenges by Donald Trump and his supporters to Joe Biden's victory. Even as state and federal courts across the nation tossed out lawsuits challenging vote counts, the…

Teachers' positionality within the political landscape has evolved rapidly over recent election cycles. In Texas, nationwide teacher advocacy and anti-teacher state legislation motivated teachers to become politically involved. Increased teacher voting greatly impacted the 2018 election results, which led statewide leaders and legislators of the…

Young people must systematically learn to become voters, and this is especially the case for those who grow up with little to no access to structured civic opportunities like extracurricular activities and community organizing. With those principles in mind, and based on 2018 research and experience with practitioners and partners, the authors…

Civics education is an important component of what we do in adult ESL classes. Therefore, in the fall of 2016, although most of the adults in my class were not yet citizens, and, therefore, not eligible to vote, I wanted the learners to understand the upcoming election and especially the significance of red and blue states as reflected in the…

Karen Gross, former president of Southern Vermont College and author of "Breakaway Learners: Strategies for Post-Secondary Success with At-Risk Students," writes of the impact the recent March for Our Lives at hundreds of locations around the globe had on her. As she stood in the middle of hundreds of thousands of protesters in…

Amid a devastating pandemic and increasing polarization, how can US colleges and universities help students bridge divides, make their voices heard, and understand their responsibilities to others in a democratic society? This article is an interview of Nancy Thomas, director of the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts…

Civic engagement starts with our nation's young people, since engagement in adolescence increases the likelihood of engagement in adulthood. As 3 in 4 superintendents agree that preparing students for engaged citizenship is a challenge for their district, it is important to recognize that afterschool and summer learning programs are critical…

The authors have experienced increasing demand from undergraduate students, particularly those in the early years of study, to be able to access more "test-style" material to help with revision, as well as guidance on how to approach their university assessments. With increased use of multiple-choice questions (MCQs) in university…

This teaching note outlines an innovative simulation game realized in response to post-pandemic experiential learning needs. The game introduces a fictional African country experiencing a series of political and financial shocks. Students are assigned membership in social groups and must implement the national policies that would improve outcomes…

The 2016 presidential election was the first since the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in which full voting protections were not in place for historically marginalized voters. This shift was largely due to a 5-4 decision in "Shelby v. Holder" (2013) in which the Supreme Court ruled that states with a history of voter discrimination…