Search

The Texas State Board of Education approved standards for U.S. history and other social studies courses Friday. That is national news because of Texas’ huge role in shaping textbooks across the country. Given that conservative Christians dominate the board, the result was predictable.

When I was in fifth grade and new to suburbia, my teacher introduced the concepts of racism, civil rights and fairness. And she began the task of helping 10-years olds—all of us white—learn how to talk about race in constructive ways. I’d moved from a gritty urban neighborhood where whites, blacks and Puerto Ricans lived together rather warily. My parents maintained a chilly silence on the issue of race, although they forbade racial epithets; on the street I heard plenty. In this place, the black kids came mostly from the projects, the Puerto Ricans lived in apartments and the better-off among the white families might have an entire house. I knew that race divided.

Last week’s Federal Partners in Bullying Prevention Summit in Washington, D.C., shone light on an often overlooked group—immigrant students.

What tools and strategies do you use to address wealth and poverty?

This toolkit for “Segregation Forever?” provides an activity for students to use statistics and written analysis to express complex ideas about history.

Uncover the deeper meaning of Matt Shepard’s story through the lens of our best practices guide 'Civil Rights Done Right.'

How parents can teach kids that all history counts.