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From the Editor
Michael J. Galgano History departments are increasingly and properly being called upon to look outward, to join with advocacy and other groups to encourage the study of history and to improve history teaching across the country. Many departments and individual faculty have already assumed leadership and support roles in the two organizations reported on in this issue: National History Day and the National Council for History Education. Both work tirelessly to enhance the discipline and need the full support and encouragement of history faculty and departments. Each of the following essays includes suggestions about what some of our colleagues are already doing, as well as useful thoughts about what else can be done. I encourage you and your departments to read these essays closely and become more involved with National History Day, the NCHE, and other groups promoting history in our communities. Many states are revising school curricula or setting new examinations to assess what is being taught. Departments must be actively engaged in these deliberations. The relevance of history is often called into question. Departments should take the challenge seriously and respond fully. Michael J. Galgano is head of the Department of History, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807 <galganmj@jmu.edu> National History Day: Young People Inquiring into the Past, Understanding the Present, Building Skills for the Future Jodi Vandenberg-Daves National History Day serves the historical profession in a unique way, by sparking interest in history among young people. The National History Day program also builds bridges among academic historians, historical societies, teachers, historic site staff, and local communities whose histories are discovered by the young scholars who participate. In addition, NHD serves teachers, conducting workshops and summer institutes that inform them about the latest historical scholarship and help them work with students conducting research with primary documents. The support of Departments of History is absolutely critical to the survival of History Day programs across the nation. History departments sponsor district, state, and local contests; provide coordinators for these events; and provide judges and teacher workshops sponsors. Without this support from higher education, this program for elementary and secondary school students would notexist. Each year, more than half a million students nationwide, grades 612, make history come alive by creating imaginative exhibits, performances, documentaries, and papers through the National History Day program. They are supported by more than one million parents, and 50,000 teachers and media specialists. From large urban school systems to small rural communities, these students apply critical thinking skills and creativity to historical study in this year-long educational program. At a young age, students learn the valuable skills acquired through historical study, and they become very excited about the past by discovering it for themselves. National History Day students research historic documents and artifacts, conduct oral histories, search the Internet for information on their topics, and travel to historic sites. They present their work in a variety of ways, drawing on their creative talents as writers, dramatists, storytellers, and designers. Students brainstorm, research, revise, and present historical information to a public audience at district, state, and national History Day contests, judged by professional historians and educators. Approximately 2,000 students attend the national contest, which takes place each June in the Washington, DC area. For these students, the opportunity to share their work with other young people from across the country culminates an academic year of intensive historical research. The 1997 National History Day contest was held between June 15 and 19 at the University of Maryland, College Park. The theme was "Triumph and Tragedy in History." More students than ever attended the contest, representing 47 states. Student entries covered an enormous array of topics, drawing on local, national, and international sources, and explaining the significance of their topics in history. American history topics included: the WPA and electric power, Elizabeth Blackwell's experiences as the first American women physician, the transcontinental railroad, Jackie Robinson and baseball, the development of the polio vaccine, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and its significance for workers, women's quilts, and the development of school safety laws in the aftermath of a famous school fire in Ohio. Emily Webb, a high school senior from Pittsburgh, won a four-year, full-tuition scholarship to Case Western Reserve University for her exhibit of urban renewal in the postwar period. Students also explored a wide range of international topics in history, including the birth of modern Zionism, facets of Mayan civilization, the destruction of Pompeii and subsequent archaeological triumphs, and the life of Nelson Mandela. Upcoming National History Day themes include: "Migration in History: People, Cultures, Ideas," 1998, "Science, Technology, Invention in History: Impact, Influence, Change," 1999, and "Turning Points in History: People, Ideas, Events," 2000. You can reach the National History Day office by e-mail at hstryday@aol.com. Our website address is: www.thehistorynet.com/NationalHistoryDay. Our mailing address and phone numbers are: 0119 Cecil Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. (301) 314-9739. Jodi Vandenberg-Daves is Assistant Director of National History Day, 0119 Cecil Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. History Departments and History Day Sara M. Evans More than ever before, academic historians and Departments of History in colleges and universities have a growing stake in promoting a broader understanding of the value of historical research and study of the past. In my experience as a department chair a few years ago, I discovered there is no better form of public outreach than participation in National History Day. In Minnesota, History Day grew dramatically between 1988 and 1997, from 125 students then, to nearly 20,000 today. In some schools, History Day has become a source of excitement, school pride, and individual achievement that matches athletics and out paces the Science Fair on which it was originally modeled. Literally thousands of kids experience the joys of hands-on research and creative historical interpretation. Every year I receive at least a dozen calls (many from out of state) from students working on projects that have brought them into contact with my own writing. You and your colleagues probably have the same experience. These future students will not arrive with the history phobia that is so familiar among those whose high school classes have primarily involved rote memory of decontextualized facts. Indeed, they will know some things about research in manuscripts, government records, newspapers, and material artifacts. Even more important, as future citizens they understand how to ask historical questions and how to frame current issues and problems in an appropriate historical context. The future of our discipline -- and in many ways of our democratic society -- depends on this. The University of Minnesota History Department was involved in History Day from the beginning, in partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society. We appointed one of our experienced teaching assistants to serve as part-time staff for the project which grew so rapidly that soon our student was working with a full-time staff member at the Historical Society. Both faculty and graduate students participate as judges for the state competition on a volunteer basis, and the energy and enthusiasm generated throughout the department during that weekend (and the preceding week) is a gratifying payoff. Three years ago we persuaded theCollege of Liberal Arts to designate one of its freshman honors scholarships for the 11th grade History Day winner should that student come to the University. With one gesture, we raised the visibility of History Day and also the interest of the University in recruiting exceptional students. There are any number of ways to begin or enlarge your departmental involvement in National History Day. For starters, here are a few suggestions: Host a local or state contest. You can provide facilities, offer some faculty time to coordinate the program, and perhaps cover the cost of some mailings. Remember that History Day is an entirely volunteer effort in many states, and small gestures can reap large rewards. Assign a TA to help coordinate state programs. This is an investment not only in the program, but also in the career paths of students interested in public history. Our Ph.D.'s who have worked with history day have found public history jobs, and others report that interviewers in history departments are very interested in their history day background. It certainly pegs a candidate as willing to do community service and skilled in the techniques of active learning. Recruit judges from among faculty and graduate students. Encourage faculty to be available to students researchers. You might send a list of faculty willing to be contacted, along with their specialties, to state coordinators. Invite students to perform or display their work at a department or college-wide function. Your skeptical faculty colleagues will be won over immediately, and at small schools this can provide excellent publicity and linkage to the community. Write letters of endorsement to departments of education and keep copies that state coordinators and/or the national office of History Day can use to approach funders and legislators. If you need help in drafting such a letter, the national office would be glad to help. I have seen History Day projects that rivaled the sophistication of college seniors. I have witnessed an auditorium full of young people cheering wildly for projects on the origins of World War I, the impact of the automobile, women's suffrage, Swedish immigrants, and slavery. We owe it to ourselves, our discipline, and our future students to promote this activity in any way we can. Sara M. Evans is Professor of History, University of Minnesota, 614 Social Sciences Building, 267 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0406 s-evan@maroon.tc.umn.edu Where School and University Meet Kenneth T. Jackson Every person, every movement, every institution, and every structure has a past, and so history, in its broadest sense, exists independently of whether anyone chooses to teach or to study it. But as an academic discipline, history can do well or it can do poorly. The past quarter of a century has seen prosperity in historical research, as scholars have produced excellent books and articles by the hundreds. But this prodigious effort has had difficulty finding an audience, whether in classrooms or in bookstores. Quite simply, fewer people take history courses, fewer people buy history books, and fewer people become energized and excited by studying the past. The causes of the current crisis are many and diverse, but surely a contributing factor is the wide gulf that typically separates professors from secondary school teachers. There was a time, many long years ago, when the two groups presumably met together on a regular basis to discuss common concerns. In recent decades, however, such sessions have been infrequent. At Columbia University, where I chaired the History Department from 1994 to 1997, many faculty members have joined the National Council for History Education (NCHE) to help bridge this gap and to help stay in touch with classroom teachers. It has been a mutually beneficial experience. We certainly have much to learn from those who teach 5 or 6 classes per day, 5 days a week. And I have been impressed by the intensity with which teachers have spoken about the past to university historians at special NCHE conferences. That NCHE has become an engine of school-university contact and cooperation is no surprise to me; that is the way the organization was conceived. In 1987 I became chair of the Bradley Commission on History in Schools: a group of seventeen outstanding scholars and teachers who represented different political philosophies, geographic regions, academic specialties, and levels of instruction. They shared only a passion for the study of history and a deep concern about its place in the curriculum. Among them were past presidents of OAH and AHA: C. Vann Woodward, Michael Kammen, William E. Leuchtenburg, Gordon Craig, and Leon Litwack. What was remarkable about the Bradley Commission, however, was its inclusion of classroom teachers as full voting and deliberative members of the policy-making group. These instructors were chosen because they had earned, on the front lines of American education, reputations as master teachers. Their contributions were essential at every meeting and on every point, and they helped us bridge the gap between the school and the university. The Bradley Commission's recommendations were published in the 32-page booklet, Building a History Curriculum: Guidelines for Teaching History in Schools. That booklet is now in its third printing with more than 55,000 copies in print. The advice in that book has spurred local, state, and national curriculum- makers to place history as the core of the social studies in their periodic reviews. The Bradley Commission also published a 17-chapter book, Historical Literacy: The Case for History in American Education, which elaborated on many points raised in the 32-page booklet. First published by Macmillan in hard-cover, it was later brought out in paperback by Houghton-Mifflin and is used in education courses to prepare teachers. For two years after the publication of the Bradley Commission's recommendations, the staff and commissioners worked hard to see that they were used. We were determined that our report would not be just another booklet gathering dust on a shelf. To that end, we published a monthly newsletter, held conferences and symposia on the ideas in our publications, spoke at conferences and workshops, gave radio and TV interviews, and met with curriculum review committees in school districts around the country. However, the Bradley Commission was never intended to be a permanent organization. Its task was to provide direction, guidelines, and an initial boost to the cause of improved history education. The Commission accomplished its mission and wound down its operations in 1990. Clearly, however, we had struck a nerve. There was a groundswell of interest in improving the quantity and quality of history education in grades K12. What was needed was a permanent institution dedicated to the promotion and advocacy of history as the core of social studies in schools; an organization that would maintain the momentum for history education created by the Bradley Commission, one that could accommodate both university historians and school history teachers, museum and historical society personnel, parents, administrators, education specialists, and anyone else who loved history and cared about how it is taught. In 1990, I put out a call for 180 distinguished historians and educators to join me in founding such a new, permanent organization. That became the National Council for History Education. Under the energetic and forceful leadership of Professor Theodore Rabb of Princeton University, it has grown and prospered. Many other distinguished scholars have also served as NCHE Trustees; among them are: David McCullough, William H. McNeill, Phillip Curtin, Gary Nash, Gordon Wood, Mitch Yamasaki, Mary Beth Norton, and Paul Gagnon. NCHE has given thousands of people a way to become involved in the cause of improving history education. History has emerged onto the national agenda and is now counted as one of the fivecore subjects about which students need to know. NCHE has had much to do with making history more visible at the national level. NCHE is working for improved history education on several fronts:
NCHE activities are diverse, but the organization's goal is simple. NCHE believes that the study of the past is necessary both for informed citizenship and for a reflective life. We believe that history is as important for bartenders as for physicians, and we believe it can be as inspirational to radicals as to conservatives. This goal is held by school teachers and historians, and it explains how both belong so easily to NCHE. There are organizations that you join because they are good for you professionally. But NCHE is an organization to join, not because it benefits you in particular, but rather you join it because it is good for history. I recommend the National Council for History Education to you, because it is an organization that supports the profession we love. Kenneth T. Jackson is Jacques Barzun Professor of History and Social Sciences, Department of History, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027; KTJ1@Columbia.edu. The National Council for History Education Mary Beth Norton The National Council for History Education, a small but effective group, is the successor to the Bradley Commission, which issued an influential report on the teaching of history in U.S. elementary and secondary schools. NCHE's mission is to improve K12 education in history and to make history more central to the teaching of social studies at those levels. The organization brings together scholars of history, museum staff, and K12 teachers, all in an effort to use our knowledge to help those who are laboring in the trenches of public and private K12 education. Many states currently require only minimal background in history for people to obtain credentials to teach social studies in the schools, especially in the elementary grades. As many states rewrite their standards for history and social science instruction and their credentialing rules, the NCHE is acting as a watchdog for the historical profession, helping to persuade state boards of education to institute higher standards in all areas. NCHE also serves as a clearing house for teachers who wish to upgrade the history curricula in their schools. It has produced pamphlets to aid them in that process, has organized summer and weekend institutes for K12 teachers, and has sponsored national and regional conferences focusing on K12 historyinstruction. The NCHE materials stress the importance of updating the content of history courses and teaching students skills in critical thinking. NCHE is always in search of new members, either departmental or individual. Basic dues are $30 a year. For that, members receive a monthly newsletter and the opportunity to assist in this important effort. Members may be asked to aid teachers in local schools to present better and more accurate historical information in their classes, to speak to groups of such teachers, or to review state curriculum and standards proposals. NCHE's work should be of deep concern to all of us, since the K12 history students of today are the students in our classes tomorrow -- the very students whose lack of proper preparation concerns us all. Please join! Mary Beth Norton is a Trustee of the National Council for History Education and Acting Chair, History Department, Cornell University, 450 McGraw Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-4601 mbn1@cornell.edu. What Should A School History Teacher Know About History? Theodore K. Rabb Along with the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents, NCHE will convene a national conference on a key topic for history education: "Preparing Knowledgeable and Effective History Teachers." We are particularly interested in the views of History Department Chairs on how their departments can help prepare history teachers; what problems they foresee in working with colleges of education; and what should be the best mix of history courses that should be taken by those who will teach history at Grades 512. The conference is a response to one of the recommendations made by the NCHE/Library of Congress Symposium on Reinvigorating History in U.S. Schools in March of 1996. The history education of students depends, in large measure, on the ability, enthusiasm, and knowledge of classroom teachers. This conference will examine ways to assure that teachers-in-training receive a proper background in the history they will teach, and that current classroom history teachers continue to study the discipline they are teaching. Theodore Sizer, Chairman of the Coalition of Essential Schools at Brown University, former Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and author of Horace's Compromise, Horace's School, and Horace's Hope will speak to the Conference about the kind of historical education teachers need. Diane Ravitch, who served on the Bradley Commission on History in Schools, was a U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education, and is currently at New York University, will address the question of whowill prepare teachers of history. There will be panels on the pre-service and in-service education of teachers, bringing together speakers from college and university history departments, from schools of education, and from the world of public history. Among the panelists will be: Kenneth T. Jackson, Paul Gagnon, D. Stephen Elliott, Cathy Gorn, Arthur Zilversmit, Frank Murray, Sheldon Lubar, Eugene Hickock, Suzanne Wilson and Sheldon Stern. [Check the NCHE World Wide Web site Calendar Page www.history.org/nche; for other panelist names and registration details.] Audience participation will be solicited by all panels. The meeting will be held at The Abbey Hotel and Conference Center on Lake Geneva, Fontana, Wisconsin. We will begin the meetings mid-day on Friday, October 17, and continue through the day on Saturday, October 18. The Abbey is located in southeast Wisconsin with ground transportation available from both Milwaukee (40 min) and Chicago O'Hare (75 min) airports. A small fund is available to provide partial travel expense scholarships for History Department Chairs. If you would be interested in such a scholarship, please write a letter to the NCHE Office (26915 Westwood Rd., Suite B-2, Westlake, OH 44145 e-mail: nche19@mail.idt.net explaining why and how your attendance at this conference could improve the preparation of history teachers. Whether you would like a travel scholarship or not, contact the NCHE office for a pre-registration form and a more complete conference program, including hotel and ground transportation information. Theodore K. Rabb is Chair, NCHE Board of Trustees, and Professor of History, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 085441017, e-mail tkrabb@Phoenix.princeton.edu. Wisconsin's History Standards: One Department's Involvement Bruce Fetter and David Hoeveler Few Wisconsin academics are satisfied with the level of college preparation exhibited by current high school graduates. Part of this lamentable situation is the result of forces beyond pedagogical control: the influence of television, the difficulty of maintaining order in the classroom. Nonetheless, part of the problem must be attributed to the expectations which teachers and school administrators have for student achievement. This assumption first led David Hoeveler, chair of the UW-Milwaukee department from 1989 to 1992, to the question of standards for the teaching of history. Stimulated by the debate over the national standards proposed by Gary Nash and his associates, Hoeveler later applied for and received a grant from the Organization of American Historians to organize a conferenceheld in May 1997. In the meantime, however, the debate over standards moved much closer to home. Following eighteen months of deliberations and public hearings, the Department of Public Instruction Social Studies Task force (one of four K12 subject areas) issued in October, 1996 a set of state standards, closely modeled after the standards issued by the National Council for the Social Studies. The Wisconsin version attracted the attention of Phyllis Krutch, a member of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, who passed them on to the National Council for History Education. Its Chair, Theodore Rabb of Princeton, thereupon circulated the standards to every history department in the state, with a request that chairs send their comments to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Among others, Bruce Fetter, Chair at UW-M, responded to the call, condemning the draft standards document as "a collection of half-baked abstractions which require no effort on the part of students to master any particular events in history." Stung by these and other criticisms, the Task Force issued a revised -- and substantially improved -- set of standards, but by that time, the issues raised had become embroiled with state politics. John Benson, the superintendent of Public Instruction, one of the few Democrats still holding an at-large elected state office, was up for re-election. Three-term Republican Governor Tommy Thompson issued an executive order augmenting the existing task forces, and Lieutenant Governor Scott McCallum appointed Fetter co-chair of the expanded task force. The expanded task force therefore overlapped the spring elections. The primary was held in February, always a time of low voter participation. School teachers turned out in large numbers and Benson was renominated to run against Barbara Cross, who had been his opponent four years earlier. Cross' educational values were the antithesis of Benson's; her standards included memorizing U.S. presidents in chronological order and the 72 counties of Wisconsin, and she was known as an opponent of teacher unions. Benson defeated her handily in the April run-off, after the first meeting of the expanded task force. The Wisconsin Task Force Before we review the deliberations of the expanded committee, let us examine the stakeholders who were involved. University historians were in a distinct minority, and if members of the profession are to play a major role in standards development, they must understand the concerns and vested interests of other players. The original task force consisted of three groups which have traditionally controlled education policy in the Wisconsin public schools: the Department of Public Instruction; universitydepartments of education; and the organized teachers. The DPI sets rules for certification of teachers, requirements for high school graduation (which include three years of high school social studies), and conducts uniform examinations for students in grades 4,8 and 10. The schools of education, particularly the departments of curriculum and instruction, have traditionally served as the main authorities giving advice to the DPI. (The state legislature has traditionally played a relatively small role, mandating that students have some instruction on the history of American Indians and a year of civics). The teachers have been concerned with traditional teacher issues; conditions for teaching, salaries, and working conditions. The expanded task force brought two additional stakeholders to the table: disciplinary professionals (Fetter and Hoeveler) and representatives of the state's 426 elected boards of education. The latter hire teachers, establish curricula, and levy taxes to pay for the schools. Local discontent with property taxes led to a transfer of most funding from the school districts to the state government, which now pays for 2/3 of per pupil instructional costs. Despite this diminished fiscal responsibility for the schools, the school board representatives, like the professional historians, proved to be dogged advocates of higher standards. Indeed, districts judge each other on how well their students do on state and other standardized tests. In addition to expanding the task force, the governor's office also obtained an alternate set of standards prepared by Sally Kilgore for the Hudson Institute, called Raising Expectations: Wisconsin's Model Academic Standards, also known as "The Little Red Schoolhouse." These standards covered the four subject areas included in the initial task forces -- social studies, mathematics, science, and language arts. The social studies standards, however, were disciplinarily narrower than those of the first Wisconsin task force; they included only history and geography; while the Wisconsin and National Council for the Social Studies' versions detailed standards for seven disciplines and three interdisciplinary topics. The Little Red Schoolhouse standards for grade twelve, moreover, were keyed to the College Board's Advanced Placement program. The job of the expanded task force was to arrive at a document that was acceptable to both the state educational establishment and to the governor's appointees. Before negotiations could begin, however, many of the new members had to be familiarized with existing statues, ordinances, and the division of authority. The members of the earlier task force were resigned to further changes in their original document, and the new members came quickly to appreciate the limits to which state wide standards could affect curriculum determined by locally elected school boards. Both sides immediately moved toward compromise and, at its first meeting, the expanded task force recommended that statewide assessment tests be moved from October to spring (otherwise to only statewide tests for high schoolers would havebeen administered two months into the sophomore year). The committee also recommended that the standards be identified for grades 4, 8 and 12 and asked the legislature for money for staff development. The two subsequent meetings saw a similar level of compromise. Given the diversity of curriculum among Wisconsin's school districts and breadth of course offerings, the task force concluded that it could not limit standards to the two disciplines of history and geography advocated by "The Little Red Schoolhouse." It therefore began with the second version of the DPI standards and incorporated elements from the Hudson Institute document as well as tightening the language of the earlier document. School board members and the governor's representatives were particularly concerned about how the lay public would react to the standards, constantly warning against phrases that might evoke derision. Cooperation between the two groups continued in the OAH-sponsored forum, which had been planned long before the political furor. Although university historians attacked existing standards and the general preparation of incoming freshmen, they listened respectfully to the members of the educational establishment who explained how the original standards were devised. At the time of this writing, the standards of the social studies task force are ready for submission to the governor's committee, which is charged with establishing a single document to cover all four of the major divisions of the K12 curriculum. Once that is done the revised standards will be displayed in a series of public meetings. The governor has promised action on the amended standards in September/October 1997. Looking for Generalizations Despite the intense debate over national history standards, the interaction between Wisconsin academics and the social science curriculum comes very early in the standards debate at the state level. We will conclude with a few general principles for the consideration of our disciplinary colleagues. 1.If we are unhappy with the level of the students sent to us from the public schools, we must be prepared to spend more of our time with our colleagues in schools of education, with public school teachers, and with the politicians and school board members who control the purse strings. For example, when our department held this year's conference on the Standards, we invited all high school social studies teachers in the Milwaukee area. One session featured a panel discussion by teachers who had agreed to use the National in their classroom instruction during the year. 2.In order to be effective in the determination of new policy, wemust familiarize ourselves with the existing system. This includes the balance between state governments and local school districts, the powers of state departments of education, and the requirements for teacher certification, graduation, and funding. 3.However much we may be rewarded for writing for an audience of colleagues, we must increase our interaction with the teachers whom we have helped prepare for the schools. They are members of the same discipline and are capable of doing a better job of training students than they now do. Indeed, academic historians also ought to concern themselves with the needs of their former students now teaching. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, for example, has established an "Ask History" site on its web page in order to respond to teacher requests for historiographic and bibliographic questions. 4.We must establish closer linkages with our colleagues in the schools of education and in the state education departments. They deal with situations we can not even imagine. Indeed, they may be able to give us advice on pedagogical matters. With them, we might be able to negotiate entry of some of our graduate students into school jobs. Bruce Fetter is Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2442 E. Hartford Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53211. David Hoeveler is Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2442 E. Hartford Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53211 The can both be reached at History@csd.uwm.edu. Inaugural Conference: Virginia Council of History Education Robert M. Saunders Led by the dynamic duo of my friends and colleagues, Dr. Mary Bicouvaris (aka Mother Mary) and Dr. Mario Mazzarella (aka Mazz) the VCHE held its inaugural conference at Christopher Newport University on March 8, 1997. Mother Mary and Mazz, ably assisted by Sue Jones, Marie Meehan and Bonnie Tingle, spent countless hours preparing for the conference. Mother Mary has an unmatched capacity for networking and a Rolodex equal to that of President Clinton. She successfully involved our university administration and gained financial backing from area businesses. Mazz cheerfully responded to Mother Mary's every command to "write that down." More than a 100 people attended the conference from all parts of the state. Dr. Akira Iriye of Harvard University delivered the keynote address on the "Importance of Knowledge of World Civilizations as We Prepare for the Coming Century." The conference succeeded in bringing college faculty and teachers together to discuss common concerns and to develop appropriate strategies. John Quarstein, Director of the Virginia War Museum, hosted a very lively and informative hands-on presentation for teaching the Civil War from a local perspective. Joe Gutierrez, Education Director for the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, provided an equally lively and informative session with numerous hands-on props for studying the Powhatan Indians. Robert Saunders, Professor of History at CNU, presented a critique of the National Standards for U.S. and World History. Saunders provided suggestions on how to simplify the Standards and make them more practical in the classroom. Presided over by Mother Mary, lunch was a whirlwind of activities. Elaine Reed, Executive Secretary for the NCHE, extended greetings and recognition from the National chapter. Several award winning teachers were recognized: Marsha Bevacqua, Virginia Geography Teacher of the Year; Linda Karen Miller, NCSS Secondary Social Studies Teacher of the Year; and James A. Percoco, Outstanding Achievement in Teaching Social Studies. Professor Dale Hoak, College of William and Mary History Professor and 1997 recipient of the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) Outstanding Faculty Award, presented a witty and insightful personal view of doing historical research. After lunch, Dick Weber, Supervisor of Social Studies for the Newport News Public Schools and one of the statewide leaders in developing the Virginia Standards of Learning in History and Social Studies, introduced teachers in the Newport News school system who have implemented the Standards of Learning in their classrooms. Paula Brown and Rhonda Diamond of Carver Elementary and Linda Olson and Carol Wiatt of McIntosh Elementary demonstrated their work integrating technology and the social studies to a very appreciative audience. The Conference culminated with a Japanese Tea Ceremony. Friends of the Tea House at Christopher Newport University provided an awe inspiring tea ceremony for an enraptured audience. The Conference concluded with Mother Mary presenting a wide array of door prizes. Officers for the VCHE are as follows: Robert M. Saunders, President; Pete Pitard, Vice-President; Mario D. Mazzarella, Secretary; Bonnie Tingle, Treasurer. The organization also includes a Board of Directors. Planning for the next year's conference will be solidified this summer. The Board of Directors will elect a Chair and Vice Chair and select the theme for the 1998 conference. In September the Board will meet in Richmond to elect committees and designate other functions for the conference. In addition, a newsletter network will be developed. Inquiries about membership or any function of the VCHE are welcome. We are particularly anxious to add members at the college level and from the Richmond area. This new state organization is one of many like chapters being established around the country. Check with Elaine Reed at NCHE about the chapter in your state or region. Robert M. Saunders is Professor of History at Christopher Newport University, 50 Shoe Lane, Newport News, VA 23606. saunders@cnu.edu. Announcements The American Association for Higher Education is planning its Sixth National Conference on the Education and Employment of Graduate Teaching Assistants from Thursday, 6 November, through Sunday, 9 November 1997 at the Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis, MN. The conference is being hosted by the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. For information about the sessions and local arrangements, contact the AAHE at One Dupont Circle, Suite 360, Washington, DC 200061110 or phone 202/293-6440. John Stovel, a secondary teacher from Williamstown, Massachusetts, is preparing a revised teacher's guide for Advanced Placement European history teachers. He seeks the help of college faculty willing to recommend about six recent titles from their areas of specialization for inclusion in the guide. These works will form a working bibliography for teachers of European history from the Renaissance to the present. If you are willing to suggest some works, please write, e-mail, or fax John Stovel at 175 Longview Terrace, Williamstown, MA 01267 stovel@meol.mass.edu, fax: 434-458-2856. |
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