Greg Timmons, OCSS board member and delegate to NCSS

November - BALTIMORE: Hey, I think I'm getting to like all this conference travel and rubbing elbows with educational colleagues. Attending workshops, being wined and dined by textbook publishers, meeting people from all over the country, eating at banquets and fine local restaurants, getting dizzy at the publishers' exhibition hall. this is pretty exciting stuff! How did I ever have a life before this?

Well, you might think that sums up this year's NCSS National Conference. But as it turns out some serious business was conducted and some very good workshops and internationally renowned speakers appeared. I can't go into the vast list of top-rate workshops presented in this short space, but if you are curious, you can click on http://www.socialstudies.org/conference/ and go to the different days' conference sessions in the "Conference Program Book." Conference attendees were also treated to great presentations by historian Gary Wills, political writer Samantha Power, and NAACP chair Julian Bond among many other speakers.

The House of Delegates met November 19 th and 20 th to discuss and vote on several important resolutions worthy of mentioning:

• The NCSS Board is to encourage Congress to provide more funding for the Teaching American History Grants.
• NCSS is to encourage all state councils to request that the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) include 12 th grade assessments in Social Studies content areas.
• NCSS commends members of the Minnesota Council of the Social Studies for their brave stand against a renegade Commissioner of Education who wanted to instill an inaccurate and biased agenda into Minnesota's Social Studies standards. (This story was featured in my December column and is also featured in the Nov-Dec edition of Social Education ).
• NCSS Data Gathering Survey.
• An interesting resolution calling for the US to end the occupation of Iraq now.

All resolutions passed with the exception of the resolution calling for an immediate end to US occupation in Iraq. Though there was lively discussion surrounding the 13 point resolution, it was defeated. Many of the delegates were sympathetic to the cause but felt the resolution contained too many articles of political opinion or conjecture.

I will focus on the Data Gathering Survey resolution because it will compliment important issues previously discussed in this column regarding the effects of No Child Left Behind on Social Studies education. I also want to show you how NCSS is working hard to keep the Social Studies as a core curriculum.

Last November at the 2003 NCSS Annual Conference, the House of Delegates voted to address the concern of NCLB through the state councils with a resolution that had the state councils:

• Take a sustained and proactive role in monitoring and disseminating information regarding NCLB;
• Provide NCSS with annual updates on legislation, policy implementation and advocacy regarding NCLB;
• And that NCSS would: Provide a forum at the national convention for discussion and report on the federal impact and status of NCLB for Social Studies.

A good start, to be sure. But the participants at the 2004 NCSS Summer Leadership Institute in July felt more action needed to be taken and it needed to start with NCSS. Many felt last year's resolution did not produce the evidence needed to show that NCLB has caused a decrease in instructional time for the Social Studies. Indeed, many participants at the 2004 Summer Institute reported that legislators they talked to understood the importance of Social Studies education but needed hard data showing a decrease in instructional time due to other priorities (math and science instruction in lieu of studies instruction) to take any action in support of the Social Studies.

Supporters of the resolution were also spurred on by a recent study of the Council for Basic Education entitled "Academic Atrophy: The Condition of Liberal Arts in America's Public Schools," which found solid evidence of an exclusive focus "on mathematic, reading and eventually science [that] is diverting significant time and resources from other academic subjects."

After some strong support from representatives of the state councils sponsoring the resolution and nearly all the candidates running for NCSS offices, the following resolution passed unanimously:

NCSS will explore with the College and University Faculty Assembly (CUFA) and other relevant organizations, mechanisms to develop, distribute, collect, analyze and disseminate findings to support the inclusion of the Social Studies as a core academic area in NCLB. This data will be made available at the 2005 Summer Leadership Institute to be delivered to legislators and request their support for the inclusion of the Social Studies as a core academic area in the 2006 NCLB reauthorization.

The survey will be developed in the next few months and most likely will be implemented through the state councils, hopefully through their websites in the coming year. Teachers will be asked if their instructional time for teaching Social Studies has been reduced and if so, has this been a result of more time scheduled for the instruction of math and language Aarts. The proposed amendment will provide participants to the 2005 Summer Leadership Institute with solid and convincing statistical evidence to have the NCLB Act amended to include the Social Studies in the 2006 reauthorization.

We all hope you all had a great holiday season and a restful winter break. after all the shopping. visiting relatives. and holiday parties.

Tracy Faulconer, Ph.D., Pacific University, OCSS Board Member

Gayle Thieman, Portland State University faculty member and OCSS President, is currently standing for the office of NCSS Vice President. In her speech to the NCSS House of Delegates last month, Gayle described her vision of her role as Vice President of NCSS:

"Leadership," she said, "is the art of visioning the impossible and working collaboratively to help individuals and organizations achieve more than they thought possible."

As NCSS Vice President, Gayle would like to help create a more flexible and responsive organization, attract a more diverse membership, and increase NCSS's reputation as a credible information source. She feels it is essential to increase NCSS's effectiveness as an advocate for social studies as a core discipline and as a lobbying institution for resources and professional development opportunities.

Gayle has been an active member of the Oregon, Washington, and Alaska Councils for the Social Studies and served as council president in Alaska and Oregon. Her involvement in NCSS spans more than seventeen years. She has served as chair for the Fund for Advancement of Social Studies Education (FASSE), as a member of both the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors and the Board of Directors, and she has been a representative to the NCSS House of Delegates every year since 1987. Among her successes during her tenure at NCSS, she helped establish active membership goals for NCSS, and effectively increased the FASSE fund by over 50%.

As Vice President, and ultimately, President, Gayle will bring to NCSS a style that is inclusive, collaborative, and visionary. In addition to the goals mentioned above, she will work enthusiastically to expand NCSS membership, provide a forum for dialogue, increase services and collaboration with affiliate councils, create an NCSS endowment, and capitalize on NCSS's outstanding publications and website.

Gayle brings a wealth of experience to her campaign for this position. She has been a high school teacher and administrator in Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, and Washington. Presently, she is a faculty member at Portland State University's Graduate School of Education, specializing in social studies methods and pre-service teacher education. Her scholarly work includes many publications and national presentations related to Social Studies curriculum and instruction, and she has successfully written a number of grants to further her work in these areas.

All Oregon teachers, administrators, and university faculty members who are involved in Social Studies education stand to benefit from Gayle's election to this position. The OCSS board has enthusiastically endorsed Gayle as candidate for NCSS Vice President,and encourages all OCSS members and Social Studies professionals in Oregon to actively lend her their support. In order to vote in this election, it is necessary be an NCSS member. Ballots will be mailed to members in early February.

The OCSS board strongly encourages all its members and other Social Studies professionals in Oregon to become members of NCSS. Currently, there are several Oregon teachers and university faculty members who are active in NCSS. The higher our Oregon membership, the more effective our NCSS representatives can be in representing the interests of our state and its teachers.

There are many reasons Oregon teachers would want to become NCSS members. Members receive a subscription to one of the outstanding Social Studies journals. Social Education is the leading journal for Middle School and High School teachers, and Social Studies and the Young Learner is geared toward K-6 teachers. Both journals offer resources, teaching materials, lessons, and ideas, theoretical essays, and current information on instructional technology. The newsletter, The Social Studies Professional, provides up-to-date information on professional opportunities, new resources, free and low-cost teaching materials, travel and study programs, as well as the latest council activities. Discounts to the NCSS annual conference and publications come with membership. NCSS members are kept informed of relevant legislative developments, can apply to the NCSS Legal Defense Fund, and have opportunities to become leaders in Social Studies education at the national level.

It is important to note that first year teachers, students, and retired teachers receive a substantial discount in membership fees. For more details on the benefits of NCSS membership and for an online application, please visit the very friendly NCSS website at http://www.socialstudies.org/membership/benefits/

Social Science Analysis Scoring Guide training for teachers is available via teleconference January 18, 2005 at 3:30-4:30 PM and repeats on January 25, 2005 at 3:30-4:30 PM. The training sessions will include a review of the instructional development tools, CIM and Benchmark 3 scoring guides, and an opportunity to practice scoring student work. Leslie Phillips, Oregon Department of Education Social Sciences Assessment Specialist and Andrea Morgan, ODE Social Sciences Curriculum Specialist will be the presenters. Those registered to participate in the videoconference will be contacted by e-mail prior to the event with information about accessing handouts and materials for the activities.

You can participate in the videoconference at one of the following host sites:

Tuesday, January 18, 2005:
S. Coast ESD
Clackamas ESD
Northwest Regional ESD
Oregon Department of Education
Southern Oregon ESD
Umatilla-Morrow ESD

Tuesday, January 25, 2005:
Bend-LaPine SD
Arlington HS
Douglas ESD
Malheur ESD
Oregon Department of Education
Region 9 ESD

You can also access either videoconference at your computer through Live Streaming (if you plan to view the Live Streaming, please contact Camille Cole at camille.cole@state.or.us, or 503-378-3600 Ext. 4433.) To register for the event, go to the Oregon Department of Education Events Registration site at http://www.ode.state.or.us/news/events/. For more information about the interactive videoconference, please contact Leslie Phillips at leslie.phillips@state.or.us or 503-378-3600 Ext. 2317, or Andrea Morgan at andrea.morgan@state.or.us or 503-378-3600 Ext. 2289.

The newly adopted Social Science Analysis Scoring Guide and implementation schedule begins phase-in in 2005-2006, and will be fully implemented as part of the Social Sciences Endorsement assessment by 2007-2008. For further information concerning social sciences knowledge and skills test items or the implementation of social science analysis, go to the assessment webpage at www.ode.state.or/asmt/socialsciences.

2005 Student Online Essay Contest
During the 60th anniversary of the last year of World War II, The National D-Day Museum in New Orleans is exploring and commemorating the momentous events of 1945: the Allied crossing of the Rhine River, Iwo Jima, the deaths of FDR and Hitler, V-E Day, Okinawa, the dropping of the atomic bombs, V-J Day, the creation of the U.N., the Nuremberg Trials. The National D-Day Museum-recently designated by Congress as "America's National World War II Museum"-wants you to consider these questions: What do these and other events of WWII have to do with our lives today? Are there lessons to be learned from this history? What other reasons are there for studying WWII? Is this history being taught as it should; and, if not, what is missing? In your own words, tell us why you think it is important for students to study the history of WWII. This is NOT a research paper. Your essay will be judged for originality, clarity of expression, adherence to contest theme, historical accuracy, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. D-Day Museum staff and a panel of historians will read and evaluate entries.

Awards
First place winner will receive $500; second place winner will receive $250; and third place winner will receive $100. Each winning essay will be posted on our web site. Excerpts of the first place entry will also be printed in our quarterly newsletter (which is mailed to more than 80,000 people across the United States). The teachers of winning students will receive a selection of WWII books and teaching materials from the Museum. All qualifying participants will receive a certificate of participation.

Rules

• Contest is open to all high school students in the United States and United States Territories.
• Your essay must be 1,000 words or less. Only one essay per student may be submitted.
• Submissions must be e-mailed to The National D-Day Museum by March 31, 2005, 5:00pm CST.
• Winners will be notified and announced on May 2, 2005. . Museum will accept the first 500 entries only. You will be notified if your entry is judged.
• All entries become property of The National D-Day Museum and may be reproduced, in whole or part, by the Museum in printed or electronic form. Proper attribution will be made.

Submission
Go to www.ddaymuseum.org/studentessays.html for guidelines to submit your entry via e-mail.

OCSS Welcomes Feedback to DRAFT strategic plan
OCSS board members reviewed input from attendees at the 2003 OCSS conference and developed a draft strategic plan to guide the organization in the next several years. To comment on the plan, please email the OCSS president.   thiemag@attglobal.net. You may also post your comments to the OCSS FORUM

OCSS seeks to become the umbrella Social Studies organization for the state and will focus on five areas of service: raising a political voice, improving education, providing training, promoting research, and actively disseminating information.

Raise our Political Voices

• Articulate critical issues in the world through workshops and conferences
• Provide a discussion forum through the OCSS website
• Provide links to current events information/resources for teachers via the OCSS webpage

Improve Education

• Help students become effective citizens
• Help students know the world and feel part of it
• Strengthen social studies for elementary students and ELL students

Provide Training

• Collaborate with social studies content area organizations
• Develop closer connections with pre-service teachers and teacher preparation program
• Expand connections between K-12 and 12-16 content areas
• Present regional workshops
• Promote the integrated and interdisciplinary nature of social studies
• Offer study circles within districts or via distance delivery

Promote Research

• Survey the status of social studies teaching in Oregon
• Promote action research

Actively Disseminate Information

• Expand the fall OCSS Conference
• Develop and maintain an OCSS website
• Increase the frequency of publication of the OCSS newsletter and journal
• Publicize instructional resources, grants, and grant writing workshops for educators

"It's October 2004. It's a great time to be a social studies teacher, isn't it?

I mean, just TRY to avoid social studies this year.it's impossible. It's everywhere - 24/7 civics, government, polls, and politics. Wall-to-wall on TV, radio, movies, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet. Even MTV is doing a "Choose or Lose" voter information campaign. And all of this creates great opportunities for geography, history and economics lessons. Isn't it great?

The challenge, of course, is how to enhance Social Studies education to make it relevant and engaging. How to make our students CARE enough to be informed participants. Polls have shown (Chalkboard Project research) that parents think that one of the most important roles that school can fill is to prepare kids to be engaged citizens. Poll question: "Why do we need strong schools?" The highest ranked answer at 94% was to "reduce crime and social problems"; the second highest answer at 93% was "teaching kids the basics of citizenship and civic involvement.

But other polls have shown that adults often lack very basic information that is highly relevant to evaluating the claims of candidates and the merits of ballot measures. Polls done by the Washington Post in 1996 showed that raw political knowledge led to political participation.  People who correctly answered questions (like who is the Speaker of the House?) were much more likely to vote.  Indeed, two-thirds of that portion of the most informed group who said they weren't interested in politics still voted.

What we know about adults is that many of them don't have a good sense of what government actually does with their tax dollars. Two years ago, we did a news conference on April 15 th : "Where your tax dollar goes." We covered very basic information about the subject. And it was news. Reporters told me, "Thanks. That was very interesting."

Only about 20% of Oregonians know that education is the largest item in the state budget - even though it is by far the largest item in the state budget. At the Federal level, polls have shown, for instance, that most people think we spend more money on foreign aid than on Medicare, when in fact we spend more than ten times as much on Medicare. As a result, people don't really know what tough fiscal choices face elected officials and governments. They don't realize that most of the money goes to basic, essential services, which means, for instance, that when budgets are cut, the choice is between cutting basic, essential services or raising taxes.

And unfortunately, candidates on the campaign trail don't really help very much.

Few candidates tell the voters that we face the choice between cutting programs we need or increasing taxes. So candidates pretend that they can deliver all the services people want by raising some tiny tax that few people pay, or cutting some tiny expenditure that nobody really cares about, or by cutting unspecified "waste."

I know that talking about where our tax dollars go is relevant when we're preparing students to evaluate the kind of claims candidates will make in campaigns. Most students probably don't see themselves as future legislators - although we should encourage more of them to see themselves that way. But all of them see themselves as future taxpayers. Letting them know how the budgets are divided up - with the state spending its money mostly on education, health care and public safety, and the Feds spending money mostly on health care, defense and Social Security, and property taxes going primarily to schools and public safety - is an important part of civics education.especially in Oregon."

The audience listened spellbound to Judge Tanzer's stories of supporting African Americans who dared to register to vote in the South at a time when fundamental civil rights of voting and peaceful public demonstration were matters of great controversy and resulted in violence and death for some who dared to stand up for equality and fundamental Constitutional rights. Here is an excerpt from a pre-service teacher:

"The judge who served for Southern Law Policy under Robert Kennedity in the 60's in the South gave a diaspora of living history that affected everyone in the room. His testimonies of the affect of Jim Crow on the dignity of a people marked him indelibly on us for a short time. It is always a pleasure to meet and listen to a man or woman who represents living history, and he reminded us that it's been only 40 years since segregation was abolished, that social justice is a continual struggle, and that we must struggle to ascertain that for ourselves and others in small ways every day."

Conference evaluation forms reiterated the high quality of the 24 workshops and 39 exhibitors.
"I felt there wasn't enough time to get to all the workshops. So many present day topics ranging from the presidential election to events in Africa and the Middle East addressed how to present large amounts of content in an array of well thought-out classroom activities that not only would engage the students but also jump start their higher thinking level.

The [classroom] teachers teaching teachers approach was very beneficial..

Networking was an added benefit of the conference for attendees. "Being able to have other social studies educators go over what did and did not work for them, helps me get an understanding of what to expect. Making contacts that I can depend on to help me when I run into problems as I teach or having someone in my field to help with ideas aboutt unit plans and activities."

Commenting on the exhibitors:
"We were swamped with a variety of companies that write books and lesson materials for social studies teachers. I was given so many different materials that could be used to help facilitate numerous social studies lessons, and ideas for creating new exercises."

"At the in-service I walked away with lots of materials, strategy possibilities, and an enormous amount of lesson plans. It was great!"