As we near the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the 19th Amendment in 1920, it is a fitting time for elementary educators to reconsider ways of addressing and enhancing women’s studies in the PK-6 social studies curriculum. Contributors to this guest-edited issue of Social Studies and the Young Learner have done just that. I hope you find these articles as instructive and useful as we have. And when you implement some of these lessons and approaches, drop us a line—we’d love to hear about your classroom successes. -- Bárbara C. Cruz, Guest Editor  

This issue of Social Education offers a rich array of current topics, stimulating historical documents, and research-based findings about the kind of teaching that engages students, develops their thinking skills, and prepares them for effective citizenship. 

This issue of Social Studies and the Young Learner challenges readers to consider examples of challenging and innovative lessons, adapt activities for their own student population, and try them out in the classroom. Read More

This is a time of extraordinary polarization and lack of civility in our national political discourse. As social studies educators, it is part of our mission to teach students how to evaluate different perspectives on important issues and how to discuss them with civility and respect. In 2016, a survey of NCSS members ranked teaching about controversial issues first among the special topics that they would like to see covered in Social Education. This issue includes a special section on that subject whose guest editor, Diana E. Hess, is an expert on the discussion of controversies in the…