There is increasing urgency to broaden access to inclusive and culturally sustaining K-12 civic education. Civic education can foster young people's development of their civic identity, which can support a functioning American democracy. Civic education often includes opportunities for learners to develop civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions,…

Over the past twenty years, economic conditions, deteriorating public support, governmental and societal demands for accountability, and greater numbers of students from historically underrepresented groups have increased pressures on colleges and universities to provide a meaningful education to students while meeting ever increasing expectations…

Educators bring up the importance of character education periodically in articles written and speeches given at teacher education conventions. They believe that pupils need to develop well in the moral as well as academic dimensions. There are major problems in society today such as drug abuse, gang membership, intoxication, teenage pregnancy,…

Many people are anxious about values, morality, and religion in the schools. Business, political, religious, and educational leaders are concerned; confusion is widespread. This document aims at assisting interested parties to understand better the source of some of the difficulties faced by parents, school board members, teachers, legislators,…

Argues that the greatest deficiency in U.S. education is the development of behavior that is attitude and value-driven, not information-driven. Urges social studies teachers to recognize that middle school education is a moral enterprise and adjust examples, discussion, and teaching activities accordingly. Reviews research and instructional…

Discusses California's Middle Grade Task Force and its report, "Caught in the Middle: Educational Reform for Young Adolescents in California Public Schools." Describes the 1987 revision of the California history-social science framework which emphasizes character development through studying the moral and ethical struggles of literary…

Although most schools use some type of character-education program, a select number do an exceptional job in fostering their students' development of character, values, and ethical judgment. An overview of how these schools achieve this excellence is offered here. The text assesses the programs used by the schools, and each chapter summarizes…

The basic premise of the paper is that the Constitution should be the main theme of courses in United States history at grade 8. Students should study a unit on the Constitution, as is commonly done at that level. In addition, other units taught throughout the school year should emphasize constitutional principles, values, and issues. Three…

Asserts that there is a need to provide students with an array of life skills, including the ability to be productive citizens contributing to the good of one's community. Examines the nature of ethics education in a college curriculum--the justification, other than pragmatism, for providing this kind of education; ways of providing ethics…

This report recommends ways to integrate values education into schools' curricula. Societal problems indicate that values play as important a role in students' development as math and science, as suggested by statistics on increasing teenage suicide, pregnancies, and dropping out. While it is important to ensure that at-risk students become…

Examines changes in social studies education from the late 1960s into 1980s, stating that it is important today to teach about social issues using some form of values clarification. Advocates the use of such methods so that students may effectively confront today's challenges, namely Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, drug abuse, alcoholism, sex…

This task force report is designed to focus attention on the young adolescent learner and provide direction for developing appropriate and meaningful social studies instruction for the middle school. Schools at the middle level characteristically focus on the unique developmental needs of young adolescents. A number of these needs are listed, in…