Language Arts / Social Studies

E-Learning for Educators (Ready to Teach)

E-Learning for Educators, funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Ready to Teach program, seeks to establish successful, sustainable, statewide online professional development programs that address teacher quality and student achievement goals. Through its EdTech Leaders® Online program, EDC supports this initiative by establishing a cadre of online professional development instructors and course developers within each state.

The Ford PAS Alternative Energy

Ford PAS Alternative Energy

A collaborative effort between EDC’s Education, Employment, and Community Programs and the Center for Educational Resources and Outreach, the Ford PAS Alternative Energy project builds on the successful Ford PAS interdisciplinary high school curriculum developed by EDC in collaboration with the Ford Motor Company Fund. This new project is expanding and strengthening the science content of the existing Ford PAS materials, creating a course focusing on the physics and engineering aspects of alternative energy and expanding the module on environmental issues to create a full biology course.

Can Technology Improve Student Comprehension?

The votes are in, and Jane Addams, the social reformer and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has been selected as the “American History Idol.” Inspired by the hit TV show American Idol, EDC created a curriculum unit where students write persuasive essays on key historical figures, and the class then votes on who had the greatest impact. To gather, organize, and present information for their essays, students use the software program Draft: Builder, originally developed at EDC and now published by Don Johnston, Inc.

EDC's Teen Dating Violence Curriculum Hailed by U.S. Senators

Concerned about dating abuse among American teenagers, U.S. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) held a Washington press conference this spring to announce national distribution of Love Is Not Abuse, a curriculum developed by EDC for Liz Claiborne, Inc. Created by EDC’s Christine Blaber, with input from educators and a national advisory board, the program helps ninth graders recognize, respond to, and seek help for their friends and peers who may be victims of abuse.

Best of the Web

EDC’s Picturing Modern America Web site, a set of online activities and tools that help students learn history through primary documents, was recently honored as one of the best online resources for education in the humanities. The site includes hundreds of documents, photographs, pamphlets and films on U.S. history and culture from the Library of Congress.

"The Game of Commerce" Teaches Hands-on History

“The Game of Commerce” makes the realities of 19th century trade concrete for middle school students. Developed by senior EDC research associate Anne Shure of the Center for Educational Resources and Outreach, it continues an EDC tradition of using educational games to teach concepts in history and social studies.

From Subject to Citizen

One spring day in 1975, as the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington approached, Carol Pixton’s eighth grade history class decided to write a play about the battle. For inspiration, they turned to their innovative history curriculum, From Subject to Citizen, an EDC series that emphasized primary historical materials and experiential learning.