The
American Historical Association
This is the home page of the major professional historical association
covering all fields of history. The organization's Web site contains
information about the AHA and links to other sites of interest to
prospective historians and K-12 teachers. Teachers of K-12 will find a
page devoted to their interests with links to the National History
Education Network, National History Day, and many other sites of interest
to history teachers.
ThisNation
Created by a political science professor, this nation is a guide for students and the voting public, on the US Government. The online textbook starts with an introduction "Why Government?" which explains some of the roles the government plays in our lives. The library links to many documents, speeches and constitutions of other nations. Under the area marked students, you will find some very tough self-grading quizzes. This has the easiest method to find your elected officials.
CongressLink
A new Congress has been sworn in. Do you know who's who? Visit this site to learn all about the 107th Congress, as well as access lessons on topics as broad as "Checks and Balances: The Line Item Veto," "Congressional Workloads," and "Eulogy and Obituary as Historical Evidence." Type in your zipcode to find your representatives and information including individual e-mail addresses, recent votes, and staff information.
The
U.S. Constitution
A great site that explains the details of the constitution and
the motivation for the Framers.
The Library of Congress Learning Page
The Library of Congress (LOC) has organized its digitized American Memory collection for educators. An "Educator's Page" helps teachers incorporate the LOC online collections into curriculum. Materials include photographs and recorded interviews and illustrate various political, social, and economic themes in the American experience. The electronic collections are arranged alphabetically by keyword and media type, and the entire site is searchable.
The
American Political Science Association On-Line.
This is the home of the major organization of
persons engaged in the study of politics and government. Watch this site
for new features which are slated to include a wide range of information
on teaching political science, including "collections of syllabi,
on-line classrooms, and resources on civic education." The APSA
has launched a new service
devoted to civic education as part of its
teaching website.
Avalon
Project at the Yale Law School.
This is a rich source for documents related to
"Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy, and Government."
Documents are arranged by century covering the pre-18th Century through
the 20th Century. Documents include important founding era landmarks such
as the Declaration of Independence and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.
Nineteenth Century documents include major treaties and Acts of Congress
such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Twentieth Century documents
include the Atlantic Charter and the NATO Treaty and many documents on
World War II and many other topics. This is an excellent resource of
fundamental documents useful for classroom discussion, class projects, or
supplemental reading.
Clearinghouse
for Teaching and Teacher Education
The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC)
is a federally funded, nationwide information network designed to provide
you with ready access to education literature. It is a program of the
National Library of Education, U.S. Department of Education. At the heart
of ERIC is the largest database in the world--containing more than 950,000
records of journal articles, research reports, curriculum and teaching
guides, conference papers, and books. Each year aproximately 33,000 new
records are added. The ERIC database is available in many formats at
hundreds of locations. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher
Education, one of sixteen ERIC Clearinghouses, collects, abstracts, and
indexes education materials for the ERIC database; responds to requests
for information in the subject areas of teaching; teacher education; and
health, physical education, recreation, and dance (HPERD); and produces
special publications on current research, programs, and practices.
The
Gallup Poll.
This site contains up to date information on the
latest Gallup Polls taken to gauge public opinion on various questions of
public policy, politics, and social and cultural trends. This site could
be utilized in the classroom to stimulate discussion and to elicit student
opinion on issues covered by the Gallup Polls. A list of Gallup Poll news
releases includes more than a year of Gallup Poll surveys. Gallup Poll
Data rates the president, Congress, the mood of the country, and provides
a storehouse of election polls going back to 1936.
Humanities
Online (H-Net).
This site provides diverse information primarily of
interest to history and social studies teachers at all levels, including
book and film reviews, job listings, reports on humanities related actions
of the federal government, and the H-Net Teaching Project which provides
evaluations of teaching materials and shares course descriptions and
syllabi at all levels. Within the H-Net Teaching Project is H-High-S,
designed for High School History and Social Studies teachers.
John
C. Stennis Center for Public Service.
Located in Starkville, Mississippi, near Mississippi
State University, the Stennis Center was established in 1988 with a
threefold mission: 1) to attract young people to careers in public
service; 2) to provide training and development for those in public
service; 3) to help train and equip congressional staff to perform their
jobs more efficiently. This site provides an outline of the programs of
the Stennis Center. Of particular interest to students and teachers using
CongressLink is the John C. Stennis National Student Congress, which
brings together about 400 outstanding high school students for a mock
Congress. The Stennis Center site also provides an excellent selected list
of Web sites for students and citizens interested in government and public
service.
National
Political Index.
This is one of the most comprehensive lists of
political information currently on the Internet, currently linking to
3,500 political Web sites. The sites are well organized into 32
categories, including current political news sources, federal elected
officials, tracking congressional legislation, political humor, political
science departments, and a category on political games and simulations.
Teachers will find some of the games very useful for classroom use, such
as Uncle Sam's Budget Balancer, which allows users to balance the federal
budget. Another game, "The World's Smallest Political Quiz," is
ten questions which allow persons to determine their political leanings.
It is an interesting exercise when used with care. The questions seem to
be stacked in favor of the Libertarian Party, which just happens to be the
sponsor of the quiz.
Policy.com
Policy.com is among the Internet's largest and most
widely-used policy news and information services, offering daily, in-depth
policy news and analysis from think tanks, advocacy groups, trade
associations, foundations, and government agencies. The information is
nonpartisan and is linked directly to original documents. The site
includes a fully searchable database covering such issues as labor,
education, transportation, welfare and jobs, health care, the environment,
and dozens more. It has a special section detailing programs for students,
educators, and debaters.
PollingReport.com
PollingReport.com is a nonpartisan site that reports
the results of the latest national polls. The data come from major
research organizations, such as Gallup, Harris, Yankelovich, and Princeton
Survey Research. Updated daily, it includes ratings of Congress,
congressional leaders, and the president; election surveys; and polls on
politics and public policy issues. It also features articles by
leading pollsters on such topics as how to read and interpret polls
and survey techniques.
Public Agenda
Public Agenda is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research
organization devoted to public opinion and citizen education. This
Web site covers 19 policy issues, from abortion to welfare, with balanced
background information and discussion material. Public Agenda also
analyzes public opinion on each issue, with a particular eye to when polls
might be misleading or open to misinterpretation.
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