Table of ContentsLetting the Text Take Center Stage (PDF) (HTML)
How the Common Core State Standards Will Transform English Language Arts Instruction
By Timothy Shanahan
With the Common Core State Standards, instruction in English language arts will dramatically change. Unlike prior state standards, these new standards place a greater emphasis on reading challenging texts. To that end, teachers will need to support students in paying closer attention to such texts. Instead of focusing on pre-reading activities that often have little to do with the text and may inadvertently deprive students of the opportunity to enjoy reading, teachers—thanks to these new standards—will be able to move ideas in both fiction and nonfiction texts back where they belong: at the center of the reading curriculum.
Strengthening the Student Toolbox
Study Strategies to Boost Learning
By John Dunlosky
Highlighting, rereading, and cramming are study strategies that many students use. But just because they're popular doesn't mean they work. Research shows that while these three strategies are ineffective, many other practices can help students learn.
Teaching the March on Washington
The Move to Unity (PDF) (HTML)
Labor's Role in the March on Washington
By William P. Jones
The March on Washington is often remembered as the largest nonviolent protest in American history and for the "I Have a Dream" speech that Martin Luther King Jr. gave that day. Less well known is the role that the labor movement played. Many of the march's leaders were trade unionists who argued that the struggle for equal rights and decent jobs belonged not only to African Americans but to all workers.
Key Figures behind the March
By Charles Euchner
Profiles of A. Philip Randolph (PDF) (HTML), Bayard Rustin (PDF) (HTML), and Walter Reuther (PDF) (HTML), and their work to mobilize support for the march.
Living History (PDF) (HTML)
Two Civil Rights Activists Remember the March on Washington
By Norman Hill and Velma Murphy Hill
A husband and wife reflect on this historic event.
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About American Educator
American Educator is a quarterly journal of educational research and ideas published by the American Federation of Teachers. Recent articles have focused on such topics as reducing the achievement gap between poor and affluent students, heading off student discipline problems, teaching an appreciation and understanding of democracy, the benefits of a common coherent curriculum, and other issues affecting children and education here and abroad. Total circulation, as of our most recent issue, is over 900,000.