On December 2, 2021, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed legislation to require lessons on the Holocaust and other mass atrocities and to support school districts to develop lesson plans for middle and high school classrooms. Massachusetts follows nineteen other states that have already mandated the study of genocide in the school curriculum. “By this bill […]
CALL FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS – NERC49
09/06/2018 by Leave a Comment
MASSACHUSETTS COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES present 49TH ANNUAL NORTHEAST REGIONAL CONFERENCE FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES (NERC49) MARCH 18 & 19, 2019 (with snow date of March 20, 2019) FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY Framingham, Massachusetts CALL FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 1, 2018 THIS YEAR’S THEME IS “E PLURIBUS UNUM: OUT OF MANY, ONE” E PLURIBUS UNUM. […]
Full (Complete) Statement from Gorman Lee, Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies, to MA Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
05/22/2018 by Leave a Comment
May 22, 2018 Good morning. My name is Gorman Lee of Boston, Massachusetts. I started my teaching career in Massachusetts in 1993. I taught in Medford and Braintree, and currently serve as the K-12 Director of Social Studies for the Braintree Public Schools. I am also the Director of Professional Development Programming and past […]
Participate in Mass Council’s Legislative Day at the State House on Wednesday, March 29, 2017!
01/27/2017 by Leave a Comment
The Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies (Mass Council) recently held a Legislative Day to advocate, promote, and support social studies education in our public, private, and charter schools at the Massachusetts State House on Wednesday, March 29, 2017. Twenty educators (both active and retired), college/university faculty, and interested stakeholders scheduled and met with over 35 […]
Reaction to the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election
11/14/2016 by Leave a Comment
After taking some time for my own reflection on the historic political events that have occurred this past week, I thought I would share some articles and remind you with some sage advice: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/teachers-lounge-teaching-politics-in-the-age-of-trump/ http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/11/11/501604685/teaching-after-trump You can remind students about the fundamental principles of limited government, separation of powers, and system of checks and balances; […]
Social Studies Education in Crisis
03/22/2015 by Leave a Comment
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s decision to indefinitely suspend the History and Social Science MCAS in 2009 has placed social studies education in a high risk of marginalization in K-12 public school districts across the Commonwealth. The problem has only exacerbated with increased emphases of English language arts and mathematics in the […]
