Stephanie van Hover

From a Roar to a Murmur: Virginia's History & Social Science Standards, 1995-2009

The authors trace the development and implementation of Virginias History and Social Science standards-based accountability system from 1995 to 2009. They frame the study within an examination of the political ideologies that influence policy realization and unpack the relationship between ideological and epistemological beliefs about the nature of disciplinary knowledge and arguments regarding what knowledge is of most worth and whose voices should be included. While initial policy implementation created vociferous reactions, subsequent revisions have been met with silence. Such acquiescence, the authors suggest, reflects the ways in which high stakes testing as a vehicle for assessing learning has become normalized in Virginia. This shift in beliefs about education foreshadows the potential impact of the nationwide accountability movement and raises a concern that if Virginia ceased to test history and social science, its place within the school schedule would be lost to content areas that impact Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

Diné Bikéya: Teaching about Navajo Citizenship and Sovereignty

The Navajo Nation, comprising the largest land area allocated mainly to a Native American jurisdiction in the United States, offers a unique opportunity to enhance students’ understandings of citizenship rights and sovereignty. For example, what does sovereignty mean on the reservation? What is the relationship between the Navajo Nation and the U.S. government? What is the relationship between the Navajo people and the U.S. Constitution? In this article, the authors provide a brief overview of the history and governmental structure of the Navajo Nation, and then offer specific ideas and resources for teaching about Navajo history and sovereignty, legislation and sovereignty, and court cases and sovereignty. The appendix includes a comprehensive list of relevant court cases, along with book and website recommendations.

Teaching History to ELLs in Standards-Based Settings: Implications for Teacher Educators

This case study of a middle school U.S. history teacher examines the teacher’s decision-making and meaning-making processes in teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) in his classes. Data collection draws on the perspectives of the teacher through interviews and document collection, while a series of seven classroom observations of three separate classes provides insights into instructional practice and interaction with students. The theoretical framework of Thornton’s (Teacher as curricular-instructional gatekeeping in social studies. In: Shaver JP (ed) Handbook of research on social studies teaching and learning. Macmillan, New York, pp 237–248, 1991) characterization of the social studies teacher as curricular-instructional gatekeeper and Grant’s (History lessons: Teaching, learning and testing in U.S. high school classrooms. Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers, Mahweh, 2003) conceptualization of ambitious teaching and learning inform the data analysis. The findings indicate that the teacher focused on the skills section of the state standards as a means of bridging the official curriculum and the perceived cultural and linguistic needs of his ELLs.

From Source to Evidence? Teachers' Use of Historical Sources in Their Classrooms

ABSTRACT To explore questions in history and to construct historical narratives, historians work with evidence from the past. This approach to teaching history (inquiry involving the use of evidence) is an accepted part of the research on history teaching and is promoted widely in standards frameworks and practitioner publications as “good history instruction.” What happens in a standards-based setting where teachers are covering large bodies of content? Do teachers use sources as part of their daily instruction? If so, how? We were afforded the unique opportunity to spend time observing what 35 teachers do by analyzing 352 videos submitted over a 4-year time span. We observed a spectrum of source use within and across teacher practice. In this article we share what we noticed.