NCSS Endorsements and Special Projects

Alliance for Curriculum Reform
Alliance for Curriculum Reform (ACR), a coalition of nonprofit organizations, encourages educators and the public to explore and discuss important curriculum issues; locates, develops, and disseminates exemplary models of curriculum and instruction; supports and assists states, districts, and schools in their reform efforts; and provides guidance and advice to parents, business and industry, cultural leaders, and policymakers. NCSS staff regularly attend ACR meetings.

America's Legislators Back to School Day
America's Legislators Back to School Day is an annual event sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislators and endorsed by NCSS and other organizations for the purpose of building closer links between legislators and schools. Every year, on the third Friday of September, legislators all across the country go to schools to talk about what it is like to be a legislator--the processes, pressures, debate, negotiation, and compromise that are the essence of the American system of democracy. See www.ncsl.org.

The American President
In 1999, NCSS endorsed this ten-part PBS series that examines the story of the forty-one U.S. presidencies. The series premiered April 9, 2000. Presidential history teaching resources are available at www.americanpresident.org.

The American Promise
NCSS endorsed this PBS series on participatory democracy and has become extremely involved in the training of social studies teachers in incorporating the series into their teaching. See www.americanpromise.com.

A Biography of America
NCSS has agreed to endorse A Biography of America, a twenty-six-part television video series produced by WGBH Boston in cooperation with the National Archives and the Library of Congress, and funded by Annenberg/CPB. This first-year college-level American history survey course brings historical events alive by connecting the viewer to individuals' personal stories as well as by using a thought-provoking approach that introduces cooperating but differing intellectual stances on historical events from distinguished history scholars. A web site, special teacher guides for high school users, and a series of video workshops on how to teach history will accompany the series. See www.learner.org/catalog/history/baseries.

National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement
The National Research Center on English Learning and Achievement (CELA) is dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of the English language arts. CELA's research agenda, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, seeks to learn what elements of curriculum, instruction, and assessment are essential to developing high literacy and how schools can best help students achieve success. See cela.albany.edu/

Campaign for Economic Literacy
NCSS has endorsed the National Council of Economic Education's (NCEE) Campaign for Economic Literacy, a five-year initiative focused on increasing public awareness of the importance of economic education and providing local and national demonstration models of what can be done to improve economic and financial literacy. The goal of the campaign is to have better prepared and better assisted teachers, with improved print and electronic materials based on national content standards, to give students a better grounding in decision-making skills based on sound economics. NCSS serves on NCEE's Board of Founders, which meets annually with the NCEE Board of Directors to review program plans and priorities. See www.nationalcouncil.org and www.ncee.net/cel/.

Children's Democracy Project
NCSS endorsed the Children's Democracy Project, which resulted from a collaboration between The Media Center of Judge Baker Children's Center and Family Communications, Inc. The project will feature six short video programs and a teacher's guide designed to help first through third grade students explore the fundamental principles of democracy. NCSS member Sherry Field serves as the NCSS representative on the project advisory board, which will help focus project content, suggest teachers who can help design and pilot the teacher's guide, review scripts, and suggest funding sources.

Civil War Explorer Project
NCSS endorsed and publicized the Civil War Explorer Project, a Civil War Trust project that is an interactive, multimedia computer program to facilitate teaching and learning about the Civil War. In addition, NCSS serves as a member of the steering committee. See www.civilwar.org.

Comprehensive Social Studies Assessment Project
This cooperative effort of twenty-three states led by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and American College Testing aims to develop high-level thinking assessments in history, geography, civics, and economics for elementary and secondary students. NCSS member Janet Alleman serves as NCSS representative.

Educational Testing Service/Praxis II
NCSS has nominated representatives to serve on the National Advisory Committee, which will determine the assessment specifications and review the assessment prototypes and initial forms that are developed to meet the specifications for the Praxis II, which are assessments that measure candidates' knowledge of the subjects they will teach and knowledge of how to teach those subjects.

A Force More Powerful
NCSS participated in education outreach activities for and endorsed the WETA-TV documentary series A Force More Powerful, which aired on PBS in the fall of 2000. The series examines the use of nonviolent protest by a number of popular movements. WETA-TV will provide one-year off-air recording rights and distribute 50,000 poster/study guides and viewing guides. Community grants will enable outreach directors in twenty-five public television markets to work with the most significant partners in their communities. To encourage long-term use in the classroom, NCSS member and curriculum writer Christine A. Allen wrote three lessons. See www.pbs.org/weta/aforcemorepowerful.

Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation Education Outreach Programs
The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation is an educational institution of the Commonwealth of Virginia that administers two accredited living history museums--Jamestown Settlement and the Yorktown Victory Center. NCSS has agreed to endorse the foundation's education outreach programs, which, through exciting curriculum-based, inquiry oriented, hands-on activities, make history come alive in the classroom. See www.historyisfun.org.

Jazz in America: The National Jazz Curriculum
Developed by the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz, this unique program will integrate the development of jazz during the 1900s with the sociopolitical development of American culture. Major cities that were influenced by jazz, the role of women in the development of music, and the impact of jazz in other aspects of society will be highlighted. This NCSS endorsed curriculum will be available at no cost to teachers and students in the fifth, eighth, and eleventh grades nationwide at www.jazzinamerica.org.

Joint Commission on Social Justice in Teacher Education
NCSS is cooperating with the Association of Teacher Educators on this joint commission. NCSS Past President Susan Adler and NCSS Members Rich Diem and Sandy Senior-Dauer serve as NCSS representatives.

Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy
NCSS is a partner in this coalition, which evaluates the financial literacy of young adults, encourages the use of personal finance guidelines and benchmarks for grades K-12, and promotes the teaching of personal finance. See www.jumpstartcoalition.org.

Kids Voting USA
NCSS continues to support Kids Voting USA, a program that enables students to visit official polling sites on election day, accompanied by parent or guardian, to cast a ballot similar in content to the official ballot. The program provides a grade-specific curriculum for grades K-12 to supplement and enhance the civic education that students receive at school and encourage critical thinking, creativity, and parental involvement. See www.kidsvotingusa.org.

Learning for Longer Life: A Guide for Developers of K-12 Curriculum and Instructional Materials
NCSS has agreed to endorse the second printing of this book, which encourages the infusion of topics on aging into curriculum and instructional materials for a variety of subjects and grade levels. This second edition will include a statement from Richard Theisen, NCSS President 1999-2000, about the relevance of the book's subject matter to social studies. See www.unt.edu/natla.

Let's Send Video Messages to the World!
This Sony Foundation for Science Education project is designed to help Japanese junior high school students reach out and communicate with an international audience of young people by expressing themselves in English through video messages. In the videos, the students introduce their hometowns, local communities, and culture as well as their daily lives and school events. NCSS disseminates information on this program and mails videotapes to interested parties (shipping and handling charges apply).

Library of Congress Center for the Book
The Center for the Book was established to stimulate public interest in books, reading, libraries, and literacy. As a reading promotion partner, NCSS helps bring the national reading promotion themes of the Center for the Book to the attention of its members and to the general public. See lcweb.loc.gov/loc/cfbook.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Social Sciences Core-Course Review Subcommittee
This subcommittee develops course requirements for academic eligibility for participation in intercollegiate athletics. NCSS is represented by NCSS member Stephen Armstrong and NCSS President 2002-2003 Stephen Johnson.

National Commission on Asia in the Schools
NCSS will participate in this commission created by the Asia Society to raise the quality of teaching and learning about Asia in U.S. elementary and secondary classrooms. NCSS President Susan Adler will serve as the NCSS representative to this commission.

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education
The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), a professional association of teachers, teacher educators, content specialists, and local and state policymakers, serves as an independent accrediting agency for teacher education programs. NCSS member Alberta Dougan serves as the NCSS representative on the NCATE Executive Board. NCSS is represented on the Board of Examiners, which makes on-site accreditation visits at institutions, by NCSS Past President Susan Adler and NCSS members Gayle Thieman, Cherry McGee Banks, Marjorie Montgomery, and Ceola Ross Baber.
Institutions seeking NCATE accreditation are required to respond to the NCSS Program Standards for the Initial Preparation of Social Studies Teachers. This document is based on the National Standards for Social Studies Teachers approved by the NCSS Board of Directors in 1997. NCSS reviews programs for initial preparation of social studies teachers according to these standards. NCSS member Charles Myers serves as Program Review Coordinator for NCSS and trains a network of NCSS member volunteers to review program folios.
NCSS is also cooperating on a Social Studies Assessment Criteria Project funded by NCATE. Charles Myers serves as the director of this project, which has developed a guidebook for institutions that prepare social studies teachers. The guidebook, which will be published this year, advises institutions on how to assess the activities they use to prepare teachers. NCSS members involved with this project include Alberta Dougan, Wayne Dumas, William Fernekes, David Harris, Gerald Marker, Mary McFarland, Pat Nickell, and Walter Parker. See www.ncate.org.

National History Day
NCSS is a sponsor of this year-long educational program, and NCSS Executive Director Susan Griffin serves on the Board of Trustees. In addition to acquiring useful historical knowledge and perspective during the series of district, state, and national competitions, students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will help them manage and use information now and in the future. See www.thehistorynet.com/NationalHistoryDay.

The National History Education Network
With the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians, NCSS is a founding member of the National History Education Network (NHEN), a membership organization devoted to strengthening history education. This collaborative project of individuals and organizations brings together university faculty, educators, and historians from across the professional spectrum. NHEN serves as a clearinghouse for information related to teaching history and serves as an advocate for improved history education in the schools. NCSS Executive Director Susan Griffin serves on the NHEN Policy Board.

Network to Freedom Interpretive Studies Program
NCSS has endorsed this project and named NCSS member W. Chris Stewart to serve as NCSS representative on the program advisory committee. The Network to Freedom Interpretive Studies Program is a comprehensive three-phase program that allows youth to study the Underground Railroad, race relations, the civil rights movement, and human rights in South Africa.

New Media Classroom
Directed by the American Social History Project Center for Media and Learning (City University of New York), this project is a network of teaching with technology centers located on college and secondary school campuses across the country. See www.ashp.cuny.edu/index_new.

Newspapers in Education Week
Newspapers in Education (NIE) Week, a collaborative effort supported by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) Foundation, the International Reading Association, and NCSS, brings attention to the value of using newspapers as a tool for learning any subject in school. See www.naa.org/foundation.

People of America Foundation?s Education Initiative
NCSS has agreed to endorse the foundation's education initiative, which seeks to promote the understanding of the social and economic benefits created by America's diversity. The initiative will be implemented in four stages: (1) distributing (in print and electronic format) existing comparative historical information about various population groups that helped build the United States; (2) funding the development of state-specific resource materials in the areas of social history and diversity; (3) manufacturing and distributing the state-specific materials to schools within each state and consolidating state materials for the foundation's web site; and (4) providing support for the next ten years by funding statewide staff development programs and a national communication network. NCSS is represented on the advisory council by NCSS Executive Director Susan Griffin.

Schools for Global Citizenship Through Technology
NCSS endorsed this Institute of International Education (IIE) program, which aims to establish working partnerships between secondary schools in the United States and abroad. IIE promotes excellence in international education exchange and forges partnerships between public and private sectors to design and implement international programs, with special emphasis on areas such as promoting a global perspective in U.S. education and strengthening civil society. NCSS member Christine Allen will be participating in various activities of this project. See www.iie.org.

World Affairs Challenge
NCSS has endorsed World Affairs Challenge, which is a distinctive academic program designed to stimulate interest and action among middle and high school students by encouraging them to think critically and work collaboratively as they formulate solutions to authentic problems facing the world. Each year, more than 500 students inColoradoengage in physical and political geography, global perspectives, and real world issues, spending up to twelve weeks on research and analysis before competing in the Challenge.
Due to interest expressed from university representatives in other states, the program is expanding across the country. For more information on where the Challenge is being held, or how to participate in this program please visit: www.du.edu/worldaffairschallenge.

For more information on NCSS Special Projects and Endorsements, please contact Ana Post, apost@ncss.org.