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The official journal of National Council for the Social Studies

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Volume 77, Number 4 September 2013

Human Rights are vital to life. Why not to education?

Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Thats Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since 1948, UN Member States have been obligated to teach the Declaration in schools and other educational institutions.1 But were you taught it at school? Most people have never heard of the Declaration. Let alone their 30 rights. So underlying human rights abuses is a fundamental problem. Very few people know what human rights are. So how can they defend themtheir own and others? Tell them about their rights. Teach them their rights. To help you, we provide educators, human rights advocates and public servants with our award-winning educational materialsat no charge. Thousands now use these materials. As one says, These resources help me not only to educate young people about human rights, but also help them get involved in working to protect the rights of all individuals. The point? Its time we made human rights as much a part of education as they are of life.
1. UN General Assembly resolution 217 A(III)

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September 2013

EdItoRIaL Staff Editor in Chief Michael Simpson Senior Editor Jennifer Bauduy Associate Editor Steven Lapham Art Director Rich Palmer DepaRtMent EdItoRs Democracy Education Diana Hess Elementary Education Mary E. Haas Instructional Technology Michael J. Berson Meghan McGlinn Manfra Looking at the Law Tiany Willey Middleton Research and Practice Walter C. Parker Sources and Strategies Lee Ann Potter Surfing the Net C. Frederick Risinger Teaching with Documents Maria Marable-Bunch
SOCIAL EDUCATION (ISSN 0037-7724) is published by National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) six times a year: September, October, Nov/Dec, Jan/Feb, March/April, and May/June. Logotype is an NCSS trademark. Contents 2013. ONLINE: Visit us at www.socialstudies.org/publications and ncss.metapress.com. READERS: The editors welcome suggestions, letters to the editor, and manuscripts to our peer-reviewed journal. Guidelines and services at www.socialstudies. org/publications; publications@ncss.org; 301-850-2498. Contributors express their own views, reecting divergent opinions. Send manuscripts for departments to the department editors. DELIVERY AND CHANGE OF ADDRESS: View and update your record, www.socialstudies.org/membership; send new address to membership@ncss.org; or call 800298-7840 ext. 111. Callers outside the U.S. and Canada use 301-588-1800 ext. 111. PERMISSION to reproduce articles for academic use, contact Copyright Clearance Center, Academic Permissions Service, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA, 01923; 978-750-8400 (phone), 978-750-4470 (fax). ADVERTISING: Visit www.socialstudies.org/ advertising for rates and specications. Contact Doran Communications, advertising@ncss.org; 302-644-0546. INDEXED by Institute of Education Sciences, eric.ed.gov and by ProQuest, www.proquest.com. POSTMASTER: Periodicals postage paid at Silver Spring, MD, and additional mailing ofces. Send address changes to Social Education NCSS, 8555 Sixteenth St. Suite 500 Silver Spring, MD 20910 USA

Contents

Volume 77, Number 4

168 Sources and Strategies Piquing Student Curiosity with Title Pages from Works by Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau Lee Ann Potter The title pages of three books from the Enlightenment provide excellent points of entry for student research into the origins of ideas in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. 174 Teaching with Documents A. Philip Randolphs Attempt at Equal Economic Opportunity: A Case Study Joel Walker The two featured documents from the 1940s offer insight into the African American struggle for economic opportunity in the South and can help teach about the greater civil rights movement. 180 Looking at the Law The Rosenberg TrialUncovering the Layers of History Bruce A. Ragsdale Newly available online documents about the trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg offer students a unique opportunity to investigate, analyze, and craft their own narratives about this high prole Cold War espionage case.

185 Under God and the Pledge of Allegiance: Examining a 1954 Sermon and Its Meaning Eric C. Groce, Tina Heafner, and Elizabeth Bellows A lesson exploring the Pledge of Allegiance, its history and the addition of the phrase under God, can serve as a jumping off point into major themes of U.S. history and First Amendment freedoms. 192 Teaching Americas Past to our Newest Americans: Immigrant Students and United States History Kerry A. Dunne and Christopher C. Martell Studying American history is a struggle for even the most diligent, high-achieving immigrant student. The strategies outlined here will make U.S. history more accessible for English language learners. 196 Research and Practice The Unfortunate Consequences of Blooms Taxonomy Roland Case Blooms taxonomy of educational objectives is one of the most popular educational theories, but it has also been the most damaging.
On the cover: Sara Orr, 10, recites the Pledge of Allegiance during a Flag Day ceremony at the Santa Clara County Government Center in San Jose, California, on June 14, 2004. On the same day, the U.S. Supreme Court preserved the phrase "one nation, under God," in the Pledge of Allegiance, ruling that a California atheist could not challenge the patriotic oath. (AP Photo/ Paul Sakuma) S e p t e m b e r 2 0 13 165

National Council for the Social Studies

Founded 1921 NCSS OFFicers Stephen Armstrong, President William H. Hall High School and King Phillip Middle School, West Hartford, CT Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT Michelle Herczog, President-Elect Los Angeles County Ofce of Education, Downey, CA Kim ONeil, Vice President Liverpool Elementary School, Liverpool, NY BoarD oF Directors Karen Burgard Franklin College, Franklin, IN (2015) Terry Cherry Naaman Forest High School, Garland, TX (2014) Andrew Demko Rainier Jr/Sr. High School, Rainier, OR (2015) Diane Hart Menlo Park, CA (2014) Kimberly Heckart Prairie Ridge Elementary, Cedar Rapids, IA (2016) Elizabeth Hinde Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (2016) Mary McCullagh Christopher Columbus High School, Miami, FL (2015) India Meissel Lakeland High School, Suffolk, VA (2015) John Moore, Past President Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY (2014) Elyse Poller Manseld Middle School, Manseld, CT (2014) Anton Schulzki William J. Palmer High School, Colorado Spring, CO (2016) Loraine Stewart Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA (2014) Charles Vaughan Richland Northeast High School, Columbia, SC (2016) EX OFFICIO William R. Daniel Chair, House of Delegates Steering Committee (2013) Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, KY Executive Director Susan Grifn Department Directors Timothy Daly Administration Brenda Luper Finance David Bailor Meetings and Exhibitions Ana Chiquillo Post External Relations and Council Communication Cassandra Roberts Membership Processing Michael Simpson Publications
MEMBERSHIPS in NCSS are open to any person or institution interested in the social studies. Join at www.socialstudies.org/membership; e-mail membership@ ncss.org; or call 800-298-7840 ext. 111. Callers outside the U.S. and Canada use 301-588-1800 ext. 111. Comprehensive members receive a journal and bulletins published during their period of membership for $82. Regular members receive a journal for $69; students, rst-year teachers, and retired members for $40. Add the other journal (get both) for $30. Members have access to the online services: Publications Archive, TSSP newsletter, and Middle Level Learning. Institutional membership comprehensive $133; regular $118. SUBSCRIPTIONS, for institutions only, through Metapress. Visit www. socialstudies.org/publications/subscriptions and ncss.metapress.com. Onlineonly subscription is world wide, IP supported, and SERU friendly for $152. In the United States, paper subscription is $70; and paper-plus-online is $162. Canada add $10, international add $22, for these mailings. SINGLE COPIES of paper journals, $6.00 member; $7.95 nonmember, 770280-4196. Single articles (PDF) are also available, $9.95 for nonmembers, at

201 The Makah Whale Hunt: A Social Studies Symposium in the Classroom Matthew Bornstein-Grove and Fred L. Hamel The use of mock symposiums in the classroom immerses students in authentic historical thinking. 206 Using Conceptual Tensions and Supreme Court Cases to Increase Critical Thinking in Government and Civics Classrooms Ayo Magwood and Krista Fantin Ferraro Students can investigate public policies in a complex and rigorous manner by examining tensions such as individual rights versus the common good. 211 Surng the Net Teaching about Terrorism Using the Internet C. Frederick Risinger These websites offer information, strategies, and lessons for teaching about terrorism. 213 Point of View Thinking Civically Jack Schneider and Michael Fuerstein Civics education must go beyond formal instruction in government, law, and democracy, and engage students in critical thinking and empathy. 215 Teaching Civics in a Time of Partisan Polarization Peter Levine and Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg The best long-term solution to gridlock in Washington may be to teach students to talk to people who disagree with them, form reasonable views, and act together constructively. 218 Q and A about the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards Michelle Herczog The C3 Framework enhances the rigor of social studies, builds the necessary skills for students to become engaged citizens, and aligns academic programs to the Common Core. 220 The Development of the C3 Framework An Interview with Susan Grifn The C3 Framework can revamp state social studies standards that have been stuck in an outdated model. 222 The Importance of the C3 Framework An Interview with Kathy Swan The C3 Framework anchors social studies in the process of inquiry while ensuring that social studies classrooms provide an emphasis on civic action.

Middle Level Learning

September/October 2013 Number 48 Available for members online
www.socialstudies.org/publications/mll
Also in this issue: Women of Action and County Names
A National Council for the Social Studies Publication Number 48 September 2013 www.socialstudies.org

Life (and Strife) in an Auto Factory

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P.O. BOX: To become a member or subscribe (as an institution) by mail, send a check to NCSS, P.O. Box 79078, Baltimore, MD 21279-0078. RETURN ADDRESS: Social Education, NCSS, 8555 Sixteenth St. Suite 500, Silver Spring, MD 20910 USA

167 Editors Notebook S o c i a l E d u c at i o n 166

224 Advertiser Index

Social Education 77(4), p 167 2013 National Council for the Social Studies

Michael Simpson

Editors Notebook
In this issue, Social Education introduces a new column, offers features and lesson plans that cover the range of social studies, and looks forward to a new Framework for state social studies standards. Our new column, Sources and Strategies, is edited by Lee Ann Potter, and utilizes the resources of the Library of Congress, where she has become the director of education outreach. This follows her many years of service in educational outreach at the National Archives, during which her regular contributions to our journal have been much appreciated and enjoyed by our readers. The inaugural feature for her new column shows how teachers can use the title pages of books by famous political philosophers to pique the interest of students and engage them in the ideas presented by the philosophers and the times in which they lived. She invites teachers and students to submit their suggestions about Books that Shaped the World on the Librarys website. Our Teaching with Documents column, which was previously edited by Lee Ann, continues as a regular feature in Social Education, and is now edited by Maria Marable-Bunch, director of education and public programs at the National Archives. Joel Walkers contribution to this issue reviews the problems arising from racial discrimination in defense industries in World War II, and examines President Roosevelts anti-discriminatory Executive Order 8802 of 1941, which was issued to induce A. Philip Randolph, the labor and civil rights leader, to call off a planned March on Washington. Walkers case study of attempts to deal with discrimination at the Alabama Dry Dock shipyard, and his suggested teaching activity, will help teachers bring this important historical episode to the classroom. Our Looking at the Law column re-examines the espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, which Bruce A. Ragsdale describes as one of the defining moments of the Cold War era. (180) Ragsdale discusses the new light shed by documents that have become available through the opening of the Soviet archives, and suggests resources and discussion questions that will facilitate class understanding of the conduct and legacy of the trial. The question of whether the words under God should be included in the Pledge of Allegiance has stimulated many debates. Americans are often unaware that the words were only included in the Pledge as late as 1954. Eric C. Groce, Tina Heafner, and Elizabeth Bellows describe the circumstances and the sermon by Rev. George MacPherson Docherty that led to the change of wording, and present a timeline and lesson plan that can foster student understanding of the issues raised by the change. Kerry A. Dunne and Christopher C. Martell examine the challenge of teaching U.S. history to immigrant students, especially those enrolled in ESL classes, who often need special attention to their language capabilities in addition to their content knowledge and skills. The authors present tested strategies and teaching tips that can help these students succeed in and enjoy U.S. history classes. In this issues Research and Practice column, Roland Case critiques the widespread misapplication of Blooms taxonomy. He argues that the taxonomy has been widely interpreted as meaning that lower order tasks should be accomplished prior to tackling higher order
167

tasks, but that this assumption is misleading and can have negative consequences; there are, for example, many cases where so-called lower order outcomes may best be taught through higher order activities. (199) A whale hunt by the Makah tribe in Washington State in 1999 provoked a great deal of controversy. Matthew Bornstein-Grove and Fred L. Hamel suggest methods of discussing and evaluating the controversy in the classroom through a symposium in which students assume the roles of Makah tribal members, environmental protestors, state officials, and other citizens with different perspectives on the whale hunt. Ayo Magwood and Krista Fantin Ferraro share their experience of developing the critical thinking skills of students by introducing them to the sets of constitutional, political, or philosophical conceptual tensions that lie at the root of every public policy issue that we wanted our students to understand. (206) When their high school students used this framework to examine Supreme Court cases, they were able to produce writing, discussions, and presentations [that] rival those of law students. (207) C. Frederick Risingers Internet column examines the challenges of teaching about terrorism. While acknowledging the complexities of the topic, he recommends a diverse set of Internet sources that can support balanced and accurate study of its different dimensions. Jack Schneider and Michael Fuerstein articulate a vision for civic education that anchors it in the moral and deliberative experiences of students. (213) The combination of these experiences with the ability to understand different perspectives could, they argue, transform civic education into a lively and meaningful experience for students. Peter Levine and Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg also focus on civic education in an article that emphasizes that many students are deprived of rich civic learning opportunities. They urge a renewed commitment to the principle that all students should have opportunities to discuss current, controversial issues. The authors present results from a CIRCLE survey of the political knowledge and civic education of thousands of young Americans that also investigated the teaching methods and goals of 720 high school teachers of civics and government. The final pages of this issue look ahead to the upcoming release of the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards. In a Q and A feature, NCSS President-Elect Michelle Herczog presents important fundamental information that social studies educators need to know about the C3 Framework. The issue concludes with two interviews. In the first, NCSS Executive Director Susan Griffin describes the process by which the C3 Framework was developed. In the second, C3 Project Director and Lead Writer Kathy Swan discusses the significant implications of the Framework for social studies education. Keep tuned to the NCSS website this month for more information about the C3 Framework and its impending release!

As always, the editors of Social Education welcome the comments of readers on any of the contributions to this issue at socialed@ncss.org.

S e p t e m b e r 2 0 13

Social Education 77(4), pp 211212 2013 National Council for the Social Studies

Surng the Net

Teaching about Terrorism Using the Internet

C. Frederick Risinger
Just about two weeks prior to the terrorist bombing of the Boston Marathon, I had begun doing research on information, strategies, and lesson plans available to teachers for teaching about terrorism. The idea had come to me while reading a survey about subject matters that classroom science teachers avoided because they was considered too controversial. The subject that ranked highest was evolution. Parents and other citizens are so divided about the concept of divine creation, Darwinian evolution, and positions in-between, that local and state school curriculum meetings become heated, policies are changed, teachers jobs are threatened, and textbook publishers are forced to ignore or downplay the topic. I thought about the issues that social studies teachers downplay or avoid because they dont want to stir up controversy in the classroom, and right away, I thought of terrorism. I know how terrorist attacks cause anger and hatred among manyprobably mostU.S. citizens. Often, Muslim places of worship are vandalized as a result. Muslim men and women wearing traditional clothing are verbally and sometimes physically attacked. There are calls for retribution, even if it means making war-like decisions such as revenge attacks or troop movements overseas. I think about the world history course I taught for seven years to high school sophomores. The course was divided into three sections: (1) a semester-long overview of world history; (2) a nineweek section titled Mans Search for Religion (that would be The Human Search today.); and (3) Mans Search for Government. Each year, my students selected the search for religion unit as their favorite. We had speakers on the major religions of the world, various denominations within Christianity, and the role of religion throughout world history. Near the end of the unit, we took all world history students to visit the Bahai Temple in nearby Wilmette, Illinois, where the primary principle is unitythe oneness of God, the oneness of religion, and the oneness of the human race. But back then, I didnt have to teach about 9-11, the Boston Marathon bombing, or the public murder of a British soldier with daggers and meat cleavers. It would be difficult to try and discuss Jihad in any kind of a rational way in a classroom today. But, I wanted to try and find resources, strategies, and even lesson plans that could help students understand that all terrorism is not based on religious beliefs, that all Muslims are not terrorists or terrorist supporters, and that terrorism has occurred throughout human history and in many cultures. Then, I found a great book that helped me understand that teaching about terrorism is essential and that it can be done effectively. The book, directed to teachers, curriculum supervisors, and teacher educators, is called Education, Extremism, and Terrorism:
S e p t e m b e r 2 0 13 211

What Should Be Taught in Citizenship and Why, and is by Diane Gereluk, a faculty member at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. I had my local library purchase the book, but a superb review by Bryan Warnick of Ohio State University is published by Education Review, www.edrev.info/ reviews/rev1215.pdf. (I subscribe to a weekly e-mail that lists the books reviewed that week. Go to www.edrev. info/index.html , click on announcements and follow the instructions to sign up.) Gereluk contends that no other topic has affected contemporary political discourse as much as the topic of terrorism. She notes that many of the curriculum guides and curriculum materials have little to do with understanding terrorism, and [have] more to do with soothing student anxiety, attempting to increase public safety, enlisting students in identifying dangerous people and situations, and promoting patriotism. She says that schools have an obligation to discuss terrorism. She also discusses whether or not a teacher who believes that U.S. or United Kingdom policies may have contributed to the growth of terrorism is able to mention this in the classroom. In his review, Warnick presents Gereluks many astute observations and expands on his own views of terrorism. Even if you dont teach courses that include terrorism, please do read Bryan Warnicks review of Diane Gereluks book. The review should be required reading for all teachers and teachers-

in-training, and the book should be in every School of Education library. Below are websites that I believe will help classroom teachers deal with terrorism-related issues and terrorist events. Most can be useful to teachers in all grade levels. Some include lesson plans that can be adapted to different courses.
TeachersFirst.com http://legacy.teachersfirst.com/lessons/terrorism.cfm U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany http://germany.usembassy.gov/

TeachersFirst is a great resource for teachers. It's free and has a wide variety of materials for all grade levels and subject areas. This page focuses on both terrorism and tolerance, has several good lesson plans, and a well-selected set of links to other websites on cross-cultural understanding, causes of terrorism, and activities for cultivating tolerance.
The Guardian Newspaper www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/teacherblog/2013/apr/21/boston-marathon-explosionsnews-resources

I saved the best site for last. This site has the most comprehensive list of organizations and other sources for teaching about terrorism using a balanced approach. It includes Internet links, lesson plans, background resources, and an excellent selection of articles and commentary on the topic. You wont get bored here. I am glad that I decided to take on a topic that I had avoided. The resources and links that Ive recommended provide a way to help teachers and supervisors teach about terrorists and terrorism with a balanced and more accurate approach.

The U.K.s Guardian has developed a good set of materials and even lesson plans. This link to their Teacher Resources section focuses on the Boston bombings, but has some other strategies and materials for other terrorism-related topics.
U.S. Department of State http://history.state.gov/education/modules/ terrorism-intro Purple Wagon www.extension.purdue.edu/purplewagon/

This link takes you to the Department of States Education Resources section and their Curriculum Modules, which include video, print materials, and other resources. This packet is titled Terrorism: A War without Borders. The full curriculum guide is available as a PDF document. While youre there, check out the module titled Documents on Diplomacy: Primary Sources and Documents and Lessons from the World of Foreign Affairs. U.S. history and civics/citizenship teachers will refer to it and use its resources frequently.

Purple Wagon is a comprehensive site developed by Judith Myers-Wall, a Purdue University professor. The site is for parents and teachers and their explorations and discussions of war, terrorism, and peacemaking. Click on Educators/Teachers, and find a large number of classroom activities and resources, including 144 Ways to Say Peace, a list of childrens books on peace, and curriculum guides from a variety of organizations and institutions. Its probably focused more on elementary students, but many of the activities can easily be adapted.

C. Frederick Risinger retired as director of

professional development and coordinator of social studies education after 31 years at Indiana University, Bloomington. He currently is working on a new writing project and working on a website designed to help current teachers and teachers-in-training.

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Social Education 77(4), pp 213214 2013 National Council for the Social Studies

Point of View

Thinking Civically
Jack Schneider and Michael Fuerstein
The way civics is usually taught in public schools begins and ends with the structure and function of government, emphasizing the acquisition of factual knowledge like how a bill becomes a law. And while many state standards documents have strong rationales for the importance of training students for democratic participation, most focus on discrete knowledge that students are instructed to describe, identify, and recognize. The word practice barely outpaces the word obey in some standards documents. If thats civics education, then criticism of it is rightly leveled. After all, its almost impossible to find an American history course that doesnt cover key moments in constitutional history, landmark national legislation, the extent of presidential power, social movements, and voting. A single unit on the Johnson administration could cover all of that. But the problem with civics instruction isnt just a matter of inefficiency in content delivery. Its also a matter of missed opportunities. NAEP results, for instance, show that students are far more likely to memorize material than to do anything resembling civic participation. And in a nation where low levels of civic engagement are perpetually lamented, its surprising that people havent turned to another favorite American pastime: school-bashing. So where are the calls to reform civics education? Theyre out there, certainly, and some of them are quite thoughtful. The Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, for instance, proposes a curriculum that includes not just formal instruction in government, history, law and democracy, but also guided discussions, active learning experiences, participation in school governance, and simulations. But there is hardly consensus about what civics education might look like, and the apprenticeship of observation is a powerful force of continuity in teaching. Unless instructional leaders, teacher educators, and teacher mentors present a coherent vision of what civic education might look like, traditional practices will likely persist. Still, there are models for such a coherent vision. In history education, for instance, the idea of historical thinking as a unique mode of thought is shaping the way educators think about teaching the past. And this kind of focuson identifying the practices of experts in the field and translating them for the K-12 environmentis not unique to history education. From the English/Language Arts classroom to the science laboratory, more and more educators are conceiving of their work as connected to the work of historians, literary critics, chemists, and biologists. If this model is to shape civic education, it begs the question what, exactly, do expert citizens do? They vote, certainly. But far too often, votes are cast on the basis of ignorance, misinformation, or shortsighted impulse. Expert citizens do far more, and they do so as a product of their ability to engage meaningfully with perspectives and values different from their own. That kind of imagination and social responsiveness is developed through the long-term development of distinctive social, emotional, and reflective dispositions. And that isnt a product of
S e p t e m b e r 2 0 13 213

accumulating stores of factual information. Instead, its the result of ongoing exposure to a diversity of moral dilemmas, social circumstances, and ideological perspectives. Great moments of moral progress in our civic history, after all, have not been brought about solely through the careful evaluation of facts, but also through the awakening of sympathy, repugnance, outrage, and solidarity. The capacity for such responses cannot be cultivated solely by reading textbooks. That isnt to say that learning about government doesnt matter. It does. But civics education motivated by the aim of thoughtful citizenship must be anchored somewhere else: in moral and deliberative experiences. What this means is that the civics classroom must draw on emotionally engaging resources that are rarely included. Thus, students should study the Constitution, but they must also have the opportunity to draw on the unique perspective of individuals with situated knowledgeindividuals whose varied personal experiences are relevant to political questions. Students should figure out where they currently stand on particular issues, but they must also be challenged to understand and empathize with alternative points of view. If we take this experiential component of civic capacity seriously, we need to begin to think more imaginatively about curricular resources. First person narratives, works of art, theater, film, and perhaps most importantly of all, interaction with real live people, are powerful sources of information that are all too often ignored or dismissed as irrelevant. These, as much as any knowledge of the structure and function of government,

are the sources of civic expertise. This kind of approach would turn the civics classroom into a laboratory of sortsa place where students learned by trial and error to think civically about all kinds of issues. Should we raise taxes or cut services when trying to balance the budget? Should the federal government guarantee health care to all citizens? Should the state intervene in a womans decision to terminate a pregnancy? Winner-take-all voting can decide these critical and divisive issues. But it cant resolve them. A class oriented around the development of civic thinking skills might take a number of different forms. But it would also be shaped by a core of key activities. Students, for instance, would regularly take on perspectives other than their ownperspectives that they had learned about through texts, videos, audio recordings, and visits from

people in the community. They would work together, across differences, to address real-world problems that lack straightforward solutions. And after inhabiting different viewpoints, they would be asked not only to put together a plan attending to the needs of all stakeholders, but also to articulate the concerns of even those they disagreed with. In terms of final products, students might be challenged to produce a consensus through deliberation, or they might represent various perspectives through the creation of dramatic dialogue, visual art, or narrative fiction. This vision, obviously, is an ambitious one; and putting together such a class would require a great deal of instructor creativity. But a civics class that engaged student capacities for both critical thinking and empathy would be a place as unique as it was valuable. And by responding to the kinds of social

challenges that made the subject seem important in the first place, we just might give civics education the kind of purpose and meaning that it so often seems to lack.

Jack Schneider is an assistant professor of education at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts and author of Excellence For All: How a New Breed of Reformers Is Transforming Americas Public Schools. He tweets @Edu_Historian.

Michael Fuerstein is an assistant professor of philosophy at St. Olaf College in Minnesota where he teaches social, political, and moral philosophy.

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Social Education 77(4), pp 215217 2013 National Council for the Social Studies

COLLEGE / CAREER / CIVIC LIFE

Teaching Civics in a Time of Partisan Polarization

Peter Levine and Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg
At every stage in our nations history, we must deliberately educate the next generation to be active and responsible citizens. That is always a complex and challenging task. But the challenges differ as the context evolves. Today, students and teachers of civics face special barriers as well as unusual opportunities. For one thing, national politics is polarized and dysfunctional, and the spectacle of gridlock and bitter struggle in Washington can alienate students entirely from public life. In this polarized climate, the very idea that young people should be active citizens has become controversial. Adults are quick to assume that educating young people about anything related to politics means indoctrinating them in one set of beliefs or mobilizing them to vote for a particular party. Yet the best long-term solution to gridlock and hyper-partisanship may be to teach students to talk to people who disagree with them, form their own reasonable views, and act together constructively. Nowadays, students will need to navigate online information and opinion and learn to communicate responsibly online as well as face-to-face. The need for civic education that includes civil discussion and information literacy is stronger than ever. Meanwhile, we are living through a time of extraordinary educational inequality, in which, for example, American children in the top quarter of the income distribution have an 80% chance of attending college while they are young adults, whereas young Americans whose families are in the bottom quarter have just a 17% chance of entering college.1 Opportunities for civic learning are almost as unbalanced, with the most engaging civics experiences reserved for students in affluent communities or on a college track. As a result, actual knowledge of civics is deeply unequal. White, wealthy students are four to six times as likely as Hispanic or Black students from low-income households to exceed the proficient level on the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) in civics. Only 7% of students whose parents didnt graduate from high school and who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch reached proficient.2 In these circumstances, the urgent need is for all students to learn to talk and work with people who are different from themselves. They must learn to address current matters of controversy and concern, not just historical or theoretical cases. To assess the challenges and opportunities facing civic education today, CIRCLE (the Center for Information
S e p t e m b e r 2 0 13 215

& Research on Civic Learning & Engagement) surveyed 4,483 representative Americans (ages 1824) by cell phone and land-line phones immediately after the 2012 election and asked them about their political knowledge, their engagement in the campaign, and what they recalled experiencing in their high school civics and government classes. Several months later, we surveyed 720 current high school civics and government teachers and asked them about their teaching methods and goals and the context in which they teach. We collected this information in order to inform a group called the Commission on Youth Voting and Civic Knowledge, which will release its extensive report on Oct 9. In this article, we present some findings from the teacher and youth surveys that are especially relevant to teachers. We found some good news. For one thing, government and civics teachers are deeply committed to the civic mission of their schools. Almost every respondent said it was either important or essential to teach students to embrace the responsibilities of citizenship, such as voting and jury duty. Some teachers told us that this was the mission that drove them to teach civics in the first place. They also said that they try to create what researchers call an open classroom

climate, in which students feel free to form and express opinions about issues. Virtually all of the teachers said that students should feel free to disagree openly with them about political and social issues, and all of them said that students should make up their own minds about issues. When we asked 18-24-yearolds to recall their high school experiences, 81 percent said they had taken a course called civics or government or something very similar. Of those, three quarters said they had talked about current events in the course, and over 80 percent remembered that teachers had encouraged students to discuss politi-

cal and social issues on which people disagree. Another piece of good news is that testing and accountability does not seem to have prevented teachers from discussing current events in class. Even though deliberation skills and current politics are not covered on states tests, more than four out of five teachers said that they could meet their course goals if they spent time discussing the 2012 election and that covering the election would help them meet state standards. Just over half said that teaching the election could help them meet the English/Language Arts Common Core standards. That

CIRCLE is
the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (www. civicyouth.org). CIRCLE focuses on young people in America, especially those who are marginalized or disadvantaged in political life. Our scholarly research informs policy and practice for healthier youth development and a better democracy.CIRCLE is based at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship & Public Service at Tufts University. In 2012, concerned about low and badly unequal levels of political knowledge and engagement, CIRCLE convened a panel of distinguished scholars to form a Commission on Youth Voting and Civic Knowledge. Research for the Commission was funded by the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the W.T. Grant Foundation, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the Youth Engagement Fund. To inform the Commissioners with timely and rigorous research, CIRCLE surveyed or interviewed 6,913 people, including 720 teachers and more than 6,000 young people (some more than once, to detect changes over time) and scanned the relevant laws of all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. The Commissions final report, titled All Together Now: Collaboration and Innovation for Youth Engagement, will be released in Washington on Oct. 9. Although the report offers many recommendations for educators, parents, policymakers at all levels of government, and leaders of other organizations, it does not promise simple, one-size-fits all solutions. Our exhaustive research finds that none of the current policies in states or major school districts comes close to achieving the goals of civic education: to provide all young people with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions they need to be active and responsible citizens. There is an urgent need to experiment with new strategies and to build partnerships between schools and other institutions and networks in society. We tell our students that they should all contribute ideas and energy to address public problems, that they must collaborate, and that they should be persistentnot expecting complex issues to have quick answers. The same advice applies to anyone who cares about youth civic engagement. We hope that the Commissions report will spur discussions and ongoing work at the local and state levels.

may be because teachers assign reading and writing assignments related to elections. In open-ended responses, teachers mentioned many inventive lessons that involved research and writing or oral presentations on the 2012 campaign. The main barrier, therefore, did not seem to be tests or standards. One important obstacle was controversy, or at least the possibility of it. A quarter (24.8%) of the teachers thought that parents or other adults in their community would object if politics were discussed in their courseeven though we were asking about a course on government or civics taught during a presidential election year. More than 16% thought that parents and other adults in the community might object to teaching about elections and voting in such a course. Some reported that they had facilitated discussions or debates during the 2008 election but had received complaints from parents and would not repeat that experience. Teachers who have not been directly criticized may fear controversy and may choose to steer away from current politics. On the whole, teachers said that their principals would support a decision to teach about the election. However, teachers were somewhat unsure of the communitys reaction to bringing politics into classrooms. In recent memory, no prominent bipartisan voices have called for politics and controversial issues to be taught in schools; all the public pressure is against that kind of teaching. To be sure, teaching controversial issues is not easy. Educators must be even-handed, sensitive to the diverse backgrounds of their students, well informed, and prepared. They must hold students accountable for using evidence and making responsible arguments. These are values and techniques that must be learned. They are not acquired automatically, and they are certainly not modeled by our political leaders and pundits. Many teachers did not learn these skills in college; only 10 states require civics teachers to be certified in civics or political science. Also, very

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few teachers recalled lasting, valuable professional development in civics after they had entered the profession. Students can learn to be constructive, deliberating citizens in other venues as well as the civics or government classroom. One important venue is the school as a whole. Students should have a sense that they can express their views constructively on matters of school policy and that they will be heard. Interestingly, 34% of 1824s recalled that students had a say in how their own high school was run, and almost the same proportion (36%) of teachers felt that the students in their schools had a say. Considering that previous research finds benefits from feeling a voice in school, this proportion should be higher. School administrators may have the most to contribute to that problem. Students can also learn deliberation and collaboration in service-learning projects. But our analysis of the youth survey data found that service-learning only boosted young peoples civic engagement when the students discussed and analyzed the root causes of social problems as part of their service-learning. When service was required without a discussion of root causes, it appeared to have a negative effect. Finally, students can learn to resolve controversies and make decisions together by participating in student-led groups. Whether it is a student government or a drama club, a group may face internal disagreements, competitors, limited resources, and turnover. Learning to deal with those challenges can prepare students for civic life. Young adults who had participated in student groups were more politically knowledgeable today. Civics and government teachers provide an important service in leading those groups. Almost three quarters told us that they advised at least one group or team. In sum, the survey confirms that civics and government teachers are dedicated to preparing young people to participate responsibly in public life. Standards, testing requirements, and professional

development opportunities do not support deliberation about current issues and controversies, yet many teachers still manage to facilitate some deliberation in their classes. Most parents would not object to even-handed discussion of politics in schools, but a substantial minority would, and they may be causing a chilling effect in many schools. Some students are getting good civic educations, but many are not, and the difference is not random: students on a college-track receive much more engaging and challenging experiences than their counterparts who are struggling academically or who attend worse-off schools. According to our 2012 youth survey, just 10% of Americans between 18 and 24 registered, voted, answered at least one (out of two) campaign knowledge questions correctly, answered four or more general political knowledge questions correctly, voted consistently with their personal opinion on a campaign issue of their choice, and followed the news fairly or very closely during the election season. If that is a measure of being an informed citizen, there is much to be done. The Commissions report will suggest a range of reforms for policymakers, among them implement[ing] state standards for civics that focus on developing advanced civic skills, such as deliberation and collaboration, rather than memorizing facts. The Commission says, Standards should be more challenging, more coherent, and more concerned with politics than the typical state standards in place today. In our view, the upcoming College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards is an important step in that direction; states should adopt the Framework. For teachers, the main advice is to make sure that all students have opportunities to discuss current, controversial issues that arise in their own classrooms and schools, their communities, their state and nation, and the world. Students should talk responsibly, civilly, and with
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good information. At least some of the time, they should put their deliberative ideas into practice by actually managing student groups and conducting projects. Unless their projects address important matterswhat our survey called the root causes of social issuestheir work will not boost their civic engagement. The classroom is one valuable venue for discussion and collaborative work, but so are extracurricular groups and the school as a whole. Many teachers have developed inventive lessons and even whole curricula that involve students in discussion and collaboration on current issues. But these teachers are generally not well supported; they deserve resources and public champions.
Notes 1. Martha J. Bailey and Susan M. Dynarski, Inequality in Postsecondary Education. In Whither Opportunity? Rising Inequality, Schools, and Childrens Life Chances, eds. Greg J. Duncan and Richard J. Murnane (New York: Russell Sage, 2011), pp. 117131. 2. National Center for Education Statistics, Nations Report Card Civics 2010 (Washington, D.C.: Institute for Education Science), Appendix Table A-8, p.55; National Center for Education Statistics. Data Explorer. (Washington, D.C.: Institute for Education Science). Calculation conducted by the authors using the Data Explorer.

Peter Levine is the Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship & Public Affairs and Director of CIRCLE (the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement) at Tufts Universitys M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg is deputy director of CIRCLE.

C3 Framework document for all standards-based, education stakeholders.

Social Education 77(4), pp 218219 2013 National Council for the Social Studies

Q and A about the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards

NCSS 2013

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The C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards will soon be released. At the request of Social Education, NCSS President-Elect Michelle Herczog, who participated in the development of the C3 Framework, has provided the following Q and A for our readers. Interviews with Susan Grifn, NCSS executive director and chair of the C3 Framework Task Force of Professional Organizations, and Kathy Swan, C3 project director and lead writer, follow this feature.

Michelle Herczog
What is the C3 Framework?

quality social studies education: Social studies prepares the nations young people for college, careers, and civic life. Inquiry is at the heart of social studies. Social studies involves interdisciplinary applications and welcomes integration of the arts and humanities. Social studies is composed of deep and enduring understandings, concepts, and skills from the disciplines. Social studies emphasizes skills and practices as preparation for democratic decision-making. Social studies education should have direct and explicit connections to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies.

The result of a three-year, state-led collaborative effort, the C3 Framework will soon be published. Its full title is College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: State Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History. The C3 Framework was developed to serve two audiences: for states to upgrade their state social studies standards, and for practitionerslocal school districts, schools, teachers and curriculum writersto strengthen their social studies programs. Its objectives are to (1) enhance the rigor of the social studies disciplines; (2) build the critical thinking, problem solving, and participatory skills necessary for students to become engaged citizens; and (3) align academic programs in social studies to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies.
What are the guiding principles?

Core State Standards, emphasizes the acquisition and application of knowledge to prepare students for college, career, and civic life. It intentionally envisions social studies instruction as an inquiry arc of interlocking and mutually reinforcing elements that speak to the intersection of ideas and learners. The Four Dimensions highlighted in the table, center on the use of questions to spark curiosity, guide instruction, deepen investigations, acquire rigorous content, and apply knowledge and ideas in real world settings to enable students to become active and engaged citizens in the twenty-first century.
Connections to the Common Core State Standards

The C3 Framework is driven by the following shared principles about high

What are the instructional shifts for social studies?

The C3 Framework, like the Common

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The C3 Framework changes the conversation about literacy instruction in social studies by creating a context that is meaningful and purposeful. The Framework emphasizes the building of disciplinary literacy in social studies subjects, and the development of the skills of reading, writing, language, speaking, and listening that are essential for success in social studies and prepare

C3 Framework Organization
Dimension 1: Developing Questions and Planning Inquiries Dimension 2: Applying Disciplinary Tools and Concepts Civics Developing Questions and Planning Inquiries Economics Geography History
The C3 framework includes appendices on psychology, sociology, and anthropology.

Dimension 3: Evaluating Sources and Using Evidence Gathering and Evaluating Sources Developing Claims and Using Evidence

Dimension 4: Communicating Conclusions and Taking Informed Action Communicating and Critiquing Conclusions

Taking Informed Action

students for college, career, and civic life. Each of the Four Dimensions is strategically aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies.
Connections to the National Social Studies Standards

The C3 Framework was purposefully designed to offer guidance for state social studies standards, not to outline specific content to be delivered. For states utilizing the C3 Framework, the ten themes of the 2010 NCSS National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: A Framework for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment will be useful for the process of identifying specific content to be delivered and concepts to be acquired. The four dimensions of the inquiry arc in the C3 Framework correspond well with four sets of learning expectations presented in the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies Questions for Exploration Knowledge: what learners need to understand Processes: what learners will be capable of doing Products: how learners demonstrate understanding
Why do we need the C3 Framework?

A number of motivating factors inspired this work: Marginalization of the Social Studies. The loss of instructional time at the

elementary level and the narrowing of instruction in response to multiplechoice high-stakes testing has significantly impacted time, resources, and support for the social studies. The introduction of the Common Core Standards provided an opportunity for social studies educators to re-frame instruction to promote disciplinary literacy in social studies in such a way as to allow social studies to regain a more balanced and elevated role in the K-12 curriculum. Motivation of Students. Children and adolescents are naturally curious about the complex and multifaceted world they inhabit. But they quickly become disengaged when instruction is limited to reading textbooks to answer end-ofchapter questions and taking multiplechoice tests that may measure content knowledge but do little to measure how knowledge is meaningful and applicable in the real world. The C3 Framework addresses this issue in fundamental ways. The Future of Our Democracy . Abundant research bears out the sad reality that fewer and fewer young people, particularly students of color and students in poverty, are receiving a high quality social studies education, despite the central role of social studies in preparing students for the responsibilities of citizenship. Active and responsible citizens are able to identify and analyze public problems, deliberate with other people about how to define and address issues, take constructive action together, reflect on their actions, create and sustain groups, and influence institutions both large and small. They vote, serve
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on juries when called, follow the news and current events, and participate in voluntary groups and efforts.Implementing the C3 Framework to teach students to be able to act in these waysas citizens significantly enhances their preparation for college and career.
Collaboration is Key

For these reasons and more, thousands of social studies experts, curriculum specialists, teachers, and scholars from across the nation and the following organizations were involved in the development of the C3 Framework.
C3 Framework Task Force of Professional Organizations
American Association of Geographers American Bar Association American Historical Association Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools Center for Civic Education Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago Constitutional Rights Foundation USA Council for Economic Education National Council for Geographic Education National Council for History Education National Council for the Social Studies National Geographic Society National History Day Street Law, Inc. World History Association

The following NCSS Affiliate Groups contributed to the C3 Framework

Council of State Social Studies Specialists National Social Studies Supervisors Association College and University Faculty Assembly International Assembly

Michelle Herczog is president-elect of National Council for the Social Studies. She is the History-Social Science Consultant for the Los Angeles County Ofce of Education in Downey, California.

Social Studies

Social Studies

Social Education 77(4), pp 220221 2013 National Council for the Social Studies
COLLEGE / CAREER / CIVIC LIFE

Interview
NCSS maintains the C3 Framework document for all standards-based, education stakeholders.

COLLEGE / CAREER / CIVIC LIFE

The Development of the C3 Framework

Susan Griffin, executive director of NCSS, was chair of the Task Force of Professional Organizations that initiated and guided the development of The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards, which will soon be released. In this interview with Social Education, Susan explains how the new Framework came into being.
NCSS has published national standards for social studies, but has not previously presented a framework for state social studies standards. What led to this new initiative aimed at the states?
NCSS 2013

NCSS maintains the C3 Framework document for all, standards-based, .education stakeholders.

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citizenship in a democratic republic.* The C3 Framework promotes this objective. We reject interpretations of the COLLEGE / CAREER / CIVIC LIFE Common Core Standards that focus only on English and math.
You were chair of the C3 Framework Task Force of Professional Organizations.** How did this Task Force come into being, and what was its role?

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The NCSS National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies are very well regarded nationwide, but in many states, social studies standards have been notoriously stuck in an outdated and unimaginative model that lists people, places, events, and disciplinary vocabulary to teach civics, economics, geography and history. The year 2010 saw the beginning of the adoption and implementation of the Common Core Standards, with well-funded science standards in the wings. This environment communicated a national disregard for the critical role of social studies in preparing students for college, career, and civic life. State social studies specialists wanted to do something to address the issue.
What did you see as the challenge posed by the Common Core Standards to social studies education?

Susan Griffin

The Common Core Standards focused on English language arts and math, though the final pages of the document on English language arts included literacy

standards for history/social studies, science, and other subjects. Economically strapped states could interpret these standards as a way of cutting back on subjects other than English language arts and mathematics while claiming that they were solving the literacy challenge that has permeated education policy for over a decade. In fact, social studies has a lot to contribute to one of the aims expressed on the first page of the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/ Social Studiesthe need for students to demonstrate the cogent reasoning and use of evidence that is essential to both private deliberation and responsible

The Council of Chief State School Officers has a Social Studies Assessment Curriculum and Instruction (SSACI) collaborative. While the Common Core Standards were being prepared, SSACI initiated a conversation about social studies standards that could be used across states. At this time, the quantifiable shrinking of social studies instruction in K-12 classrooms alarmed all professional organizations representing civics, economics, geography, and history, who were eager to be part of this conversation. National Council for the Social Studies and the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools convened a meeting of 15 national organizations to begin a conversation about a set of Common State Standards for Social Studies. By the end of the daylong meeting, they had agreed to the following conception of social studies:

* National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Ofcers, Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (Washington, D.C.: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Ofcers, 2010), 3Ed. ** The organizations comprising the C3 Framework Task Force of Professional Organizations are listed on page 219 of this issue of Social EducationEd S o c i a l E d u c at i o n 220

The social studies is an interdisciplinary exploration of the social sciences and humanities, including civics, history, economics, and geography, in order to develop responsible, informed, and engaged citizens and to foster civic, global, historical, geographic, and economic literacy. These organizations also agreed to begin working together on a set of fewer, higher, clearer social studies standards. They became the constituent members of the C3 Framework Task Force of Professional Organizations. The Task Force met with SSACI for a year in 20102011 to develop a vision of social studies that has inquiry as its foundation and prepares young people for college, career, and civic life. This conception of social studies emphasizes skills and practice as preparation for democratic decisionmaking, and shares in the responsi-

bility for literacy instruction in K-12 education. This is the vision expressed in the C3 Framework. The focus of the C3 Framework is on the disciplines of civics, economics, geography and history, though it also includes appendices dealing with psychology, sociology, and anthropology. The Task Force provided the list of scholars and teacher educators from which the writers were chosen.
What is your strategy for encouraging states to adopt the C3 Framework?

Do you think that the C3 Framework will be of more immediate interest to state social studies supervisors and curriculum developers than to classroom teachers?

We are planning for implementation, not seeking adoption like the Common Core Standards, and we will be using a variety of networks including state social studies specialists, social studies supervisors, state council conferences, conferences sponsored by other members of the Task Force, webinars, and summer workshops. We will miss no opportunity to spread the word about C3.

C3 is an essential resource for social studies supervisors and curriculum developers. That said, SSACI chose highly qualified K-12 educators from the states to form a Teacher Collaborative Council to offer feedback on early drafts of the C3 Framework. This Teacher Collaborative Council reviewed each iteration of the Framework and provided useful feedback and glowing evaluations. We encourage classroom teachers to use C3 to inform their instruction.
What is your greatest hope for the impact of the C3 Framework on public education in this country?

We urgently need to transform social studies teaching and learning at all K-12 levels, and our aim is to do this with the C3 Framework.

Teaching Reading with the Social Studies Standards: Elementary Units that Integrate Great Books, Social Studies, and the Common Core Standards
Edited by Syd Golston and Peggy Altoff
NCSS Bulletin 112, 118 pp., 2012 This book has been designed for elementary teachers who want to meet the Common Core Standards for Reading Literature as they teach social studies. The class activities recommended in this book for each grade level allow teachers to accomplish the following objectives: 1. Achieve specic learning expectations outlined in the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. 2. Achieve specic objectives outlined in the Common Core Standards for Reading Literature (as well as selected other Common Core Standards) This books opening chapters lay the groundwork for the eective teaching of standards-based social studies through the use of literature. Most of the volume consists of reviews and annotations of outstanding childrens books for the elementary grades. The contributors examine seven outstanding childrens books in depth (one for each grade from pre-K through 5) and recommend scores of other suitable books. Item 120112 Price: $29.95/NCSS Members: $19.95

How to order: Customers in U.S. and Canada only may use www.socialstudies.org/bookstore or call 800-683-0812. All customers may e-mail ncss@pbd.com, call 770-280-4196, or fax 770-280-4092, and customers outside U.S. and Canada should use only these numbers and e-mail. Mail and P.O. Orders: NCSS Publications, P.O. Box 936082, Atlanta, GA 31193-6082 USA. NCSS publications catalog and order form are available at www.socialstudies.org/publications/catalog.

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Social Education 77(4), pp 222224 2013 National Council for the Social Studies

Interview
COLLEGE / CAREER / CIVIC LIFE

COLLEGE / CAREER / CIVIC LIFE

The Importance of the C3 Framework

NCSS maintains the C3 Framework document for all standards-based, education stakeholders.

NCSS maintains the C3 Framework document for all, standards-based, .education stakeholders.

The C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards will soon be released under the title The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: State Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History. The C3 Project Director and Lead Writer was NCSS member Kathy Swan, who is associate professor of social studies education at the University of Kentucky. In an e-mail interview, Kathy responded to the following questions about the C3 Framework from Social Education.
NCSS 2013

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There are already so many standards out there: what is dierent about these?

Kathy Swan

There are definitely a lot of standards documents floating around! From disciplinary standards to 50 different state social studies standards documents to the NCSS curriculum standards, and the Common Core Standardsits a veritable stew of standards out there! The C3 Framework pulls from the best of what has been doneespecially in the disciplinesand presents a vision of social studies for the 21st century classroom. The C3 Framework features the idea of disciplinary integritythe idea that the tools, concepts, and habits of mind within civics, economics, geography, and history play a critical role in developing young peoples understanding of the world around them, and help to make them college, career, and civic ready. Dimension 2 of the Framework lays out these tools of disciplinary literacy alongside one another. The C3 Framework also creates a relationship within and among the disciplines by anchoring social studies in the process of inquiry. Dimensions 1, 3, and 4 envelop the disciplines in an active exploration of questions that both intrigue students and have intellectual merit. Taken together, the four Dimensions act as the Inquiry Arc, which provides the backbone to the Framework and set an intellectual quest for K-12 social studies students.

The other important feature, and some would say the most important feature, is the emphasis on civic action as a fundamental outcome of a meaningful social studies experience. In Dimension 4, the C3 Framework closes the Inquiry Arc with a section of indicators under the heading Taking Informed Action. We see this as the most ambitious part of the C3 Framework, and our greatest aspiration for students is that their social studies classrooms provide opportunities to learn actively about citizenship.
What do you consider the most important single contribution of C3?

around student preparedness for college and career. Instead of narrowing the purposes of K-12 education, the authors and contributors to the C3 Framework agreed COLLEGE / CAREER / CIVIC LIFE that social studies reminds educators of this essential mission. The C3 Framework prepares students for civic life in important ways. First, it encourages the civic act of inquiry by asking students to develop evidence-based arguments and to share their findings in a variety of modalitiesincluding writing, oral and visual meansto diverse audiences. Threaded throughout the Framework is the notion that students will be working in collaborative environments, either individually with their teachers or with others, to develop questions, to adopt disciplinary perspectives, make claims, and formulate conclusions. And lastly, the C3 Framework makes taking informed action an essential skill that should be practiced by all social studies students in a vibrant democracy.
In what way could the implementation of this Framework change social studies education in this country?

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I think the greatest contribution of the C3 Framework is the addition of civic readiness to the national conversation
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We certainly approached the C3 Framework as an important resource to impact state social studies standards. Many states are already utilizing the document as either a companion to existing standards, as a foundation for new standards, or as a mandate to initiate a conversation about the importance of social studies in their state.

It is important to note that the writers, participants, and reviewers of the C3 Framework see this document as more than a standards document. Certainly, standards are an important step in influencing social studies policy. But the social studies educators who have worked on the C3 Framework see it as a mission statement for a robust social studies experience. In fact, there are already efforts underway to use the C3 as a foundation for teacher development initiatives and as a template for better instructional materials. We think the ideas and key tenets of the document are timeless and should be the foundation for all aspects of building strong social studies teachers and students. The next conversations about C3 will need to be around assessments. Without thoughtful, realistic, and ambitious sets of assessments, the C3 efforts might be in vain. As a community, we need to roll up our sleeves and have the difficult but necessary conversations about building a better assessment system in social studies and this includes both classroom based and statewide assessments. By outlining the key interdisciplinary and disciplinary skills and concepts, the C3 Framework should be a starting place for talking about what exactly we want these assessments to measure and tell us about students understanding. Ultimately, we want the C3 Framework to reverberate within the social studies community and to challenge us to work together to usher in a new era of social studies reform. But this effort is grass rootsmeaning it will be up to our teachers, curriculum specialists, professional organizations, teacher educators, and policymakers to make it happen. In essence, we have to practice civic action and model that for our students.
How and why was the C3 initiative taken?

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Meet us in St. Louis this fall at the 93rd NCSS Annual Conference, the worlds largest and most comprehensive social studies professional development event. The conference will provide you with the resources, ideas, techniques, and skills that you need, and invigorate your career. ConFerence Highlights: 100+ sessions addressing Common Core ELA Standards for History/ Social Studies Introduction of the new C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards, featuring practical sessions on how to use it Keynote speakers Rep. John Lewis , Taylor Branch , and Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick Visits to popular St. Louis sites, including Busch Stadium, a premier St. Louis blues club, the Old Courthouse, Forest Park, Cahokia Mounds and more! Film screenings of The Graduates/Los Graduados, Jerusalem, and the making of Steven Spielbergs Lincoln

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The C3 Framework began three years ago as the Common Core standards were released. There was a palpable concern among state departments of education and professional organizations that

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National Council for the Social Studies
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social studies would be further marginalized if we didnt act as a community to elevate the role of social studies in K-12 curriculum. Initially, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) hosted a series of meetings between 23 states and 15 professional organizations. These groups worked together to create a structure for developing the C3 Framework. A team of writers with disciplinary and interdisciplinary expertise was hired in 2011, and they worked over an 18-month period to draft the C3 Framework. The writing process involved feedback loops with the states, professional organizations, and a collaborative of 50 teachers. Once the C3 Framework took a more final form, additional voices representing K-12 educators, university faculty, state education personnel, professional organization representatives, educational publishers, and cultural organizations were asked to weigh in during a series of targeted reviews in the spring of 2013. By May 2013, over 3,000 individuals had reviewed the C3 Framework draft and found the document compelling. The writers spent this past summer working to finalize the document and to incorporate suggestions made during the spring review. One of those suggestions was the need to include the social and behavioral sciences in the final draft. The national anthropology, psychology and sociology associations had been engaged in the early spring of 2013 and worked steadily over the late spring and summer months to produce companion documents, now featured in the appendices of the C3 Framework. We a re delighted that the C3 Framework will soon be published by the National Council for the Social Studies.
What is the connection between the C3 Framework and the Common Core Standards?

tive the Framework should seek to define disciplinary literacy for social studies. The C3 Framework builds on the foundation provided by the Common Core by elevating the purpose of literacy to be in the service of academic inquiry and civic action. We like to say literacy for a social studies purpose, as social studies content provides the context and inspiration for wanting to read, write, and communicate with others. The C3 Framework also expands the disciplinary context of social studies by placing civics, economics, geography and history on an equal footing and by recognizing that social studies includes the social and behavioral sciences. In the document, we represent these ideas and connections through a series of narratives and tables that explicitly demonstrate the relationship between the C3 indicators and the Common Core anchor standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies. We intentionally use language and concepts from the Common Core to further make these connections. For example, the terms argument and explanation; claim and counterclaim; information and evidence; and point of view and opinion appear regularly in the Common Core and throughout the Dimensions of the C3 Framework. The Framework seizes the opportunity that the Common Core has provided to define literacy in the context of social studies. Many see this as particularly important for elementary teachers who have struggled to make room for social studies instruction. The C3 is a road map for all teachers, but especially elementary teachers, for promoting meaningful literacy skill development within a social studies framework of inquiry.
What kinds of assessments are needed to support the C3 Framework?

inquiry, and civic understanding and action. But this does not mean that we have to abandon all other types of assessments. While the C3 avoids historically divisive prescriptions of curricular content names, dates, places, historical eras the document recognizes that a robust and complete social studies education includes an understanding of essential content knowledge. While performancebased assessment can measure content knowledge, there are a range of assessments that do so as well. What we do need to do as a community is ask the tough question, How do we know what students know and can do? If we can begin answering this question, we might be able to build a more balanced assessment approach that is valid, varied, feasible, and meaningful. The C3 Framework creates the impetus for these important conversations about our purpose and approach to social studies assessment.

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Because most of the states involved in the C3 Framework project had recently adopted the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, it was impera-

Because of its emphasis on skills and concepts, the C3 Framework clearly lends itself to performance-based assessments that best measure students understandings of disciplinary perspective taking,
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