Subject: URGENT – Funding for Social Studies — Civic Learning & History

This from our friends at the National Council for Social Studies. Please take a moment to read and act! It is critical that we raise every voice to ensure that critical funding is available for our schools. Many recent reports have shown the increased relevance and importance of Social Studies (and Geography) to the success of our children as they develop the skills that will make them successful and productive adults. Maps.com is committed to not only creating products and services that are an essential part of our children’s education, but also to promoting and advocating for the resources that our schools need.

Subject: URGENT – Funding for Social Studies — Civic Learning & History

Dear Supporter: We need your support for funding for civic learning and history.  A high-quality social studies education plays a vital role in preparing students for college, careers and citizenship.  In the next few days, members of Congress will submit their funding priorities to the Appropriations committees in the House and Senate for consideration as part of the Fiscal Year 2014 funding legislation. We urge you to be in touch with your members of Congress this weekend to ask them to support civic learning and history in the 2014 Budget.  Just the link at the bottom of this message and follow the prompts.  After you send your message, please do forward this message to your colleagues by using the prompts that will be provided. Thank you in advance for taking this important step! Ana Post Director of External Relations & Council Communications National Council for the Social Studies Click the link below to log in and send your message: http://www.votervoice.net/link/target/ncss/GW898q5F.aspx You have received this message because you have subscribed to a mailing list of National Council for the Social Studies. If you do not wish to receive periodic emails from this source, please click below to unsubscribe.

learn about how else you can help at the NCSS Advocacy page.

See also the following links for more about the increasing importance of geography to our collective future:

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-geography-main-20130407,0,2690536,full.story

http://blog.telemapics.com/?p=411

U.S. Opens New Tehran Embassy, Well Sort Of

No, U.S. diplomats haven’t returned to Iran to face the mob that overran the British Embassy last week. No feet are required on the ground for this first-ever virtual embassy launched by the U.S. State Department as part of its friend-making campaign towards the Iranian people.

Under Secretary Wendy Sherman made the announcement today, saying that the U.S. wants “to communicate directly to the people of Iran. We want all Iranians, especially the very large population of young people inside Iran, to see that the United States has deep respect for the Iranian people and its civilization. We want to support a more direct and robust engagement between us and the people of Iran, as we have in other countries where we have physical embassies. The virtual embassy is a hub in Persian and English for information not only on U.S. policy towards Iran but also a place to get insight into American culture and society, find visa applications, learn about opportunities to study in the United States. Virtual Embassy Tehran is a launch pad for our interactive efforts, our blogs, our Persian Facebook and Twitter pages, and our YouTube channel.”

The relationship between the U.S. and Iran has been made more tense of late by the Iranian administrations continued attempts to develop nuclear material  and the recent crash of a CIA drone in Iranian territory. The Iranian government will likely attempt to block the site from networks within the country, as they have for many site they deem inappropriate or counter to their own message. At the time of the announcement, the site had been operating for several hours with no attacks or blockage. Should it happen, the U.S. will do whatever it can to reset access and is confident that they can keep it up and accessible.

This does not signal a change in the diplomatic relationship, or lack thereof, between the two countries, but a new tactic to reach directly to the Iranian people.

PROFILE

Geography
Area: 1.6 million sq. km. (636,295 sq. mi., slightly larger than Alaska).
Arable land: 9.78% of the country.
Cities: Capital–Tehran. Other cities–Isfahan, Tabriz, Mashhad, Shiraz, Yazd, Qom.
Terrain: Desert and mountains.
Climate: Semiarid; subtropical along the Caspian coast.

People
Nationality: Noun and adjective–Iranian(s).
Population (July 2010 est.): 76,923,300 million.
Population growth rate (July 2010): 0. 1.253%%.
Ethnic groups: Persians 51%, Azeri 24%, Gilaki and Mazandarani 8%, Kurd 7%, Arab 3%, Lur 2%, Baloch 2%, Turkmen 2%, other 1%.
Religions: Shi’a Muslim 89%; Sunni Muslim 9%; Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, and Baha’i 2%.
Languages: Persian and Persian dialects 58%, Turkic languages (besides Turkish) 26%, Kurdish 9%, Luri 2%, Balochi 1%, Arabic 1%, Turkish 1%, other 2%.
Education: Literacy (total population age 15 and over who can read and write, 2003)–79% (male: 86%, female: 73%).
Health (2010 est.): Infant mortality rate— 43.45 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy at birth (2010)–total population: 69.77yrs.

Government
Type: Islamic republic.
Constitution: Ratified in December 1979, revised 1989.
Branches: Executive–Supreme Leader (head of state), President (head of government), Council of Ministers, Assembly of Experts, Expediency Council, Council of Guardians.Legislative–290-member Majles (National Assembly, or Islamic Consultative Assembly).Judicial–Supreme Judiciary.
Suffrage: Universal suffrage; 18 years of age.

 Sources: Maps.com, Maps101,  U.S. State Department

Does the Lone Star State still put the ‘Tex’ in ‘Textbook’?

Cartographers who create maps solutions for school textbooks have often used Texas and California as their guiding lights as to what content is likely to be adopted in other states. With Texas currently debating their new Social Studies adoption,  Paul Weber reveals how the influence of the State on the national education curriculum is waning:-

Texas (c) Maps101.com

Experts: Texas textbooks are unlikely to spread

By PAUL J. WEBER (AP) – 1 day ago

SAN ANTONIO — Pop quiz: Does the school curriculum adopted in Texas really wind up in textbooks nationwide? If you answered yes, you might get a failing grade.

As the second-largest purchaser of textbooks behind California, the Lone Star State has historically wielded enormous clout in deciding what material appears in classrooms across the country. That’s why the state school board’s recent decision to adopt new social studies standards was closely watched far beyond Texas.

Critics feared the new, more conservative curriculum in Texas would spread elsewhere. But publishing experts say those concerns are overblown.

“It’s easier nowadays to create one edition for one situation and a different edition for another situation,” said Bob Resnick, founder of Education Market Research, based in New York. “I don’t believe the Texas curriculum will spread anyplace else.”

After months of discussion, the Texas Board of Education last week approved placing greater emphasis on the Judeo-Christian influences of the nation’s Founding Fathers and teaching schoolchildren that the words “separation of church and state” do not appear in the Constitution.

In Washington, Education Secretary Arne Duncan called the process a case of politicians deciding curriculum. California lawmakers went a step further, proposing that education officials there comb through textbooks to ensure that Texas material isn’t twisting the history curriculum.

This year, as states weigh which textbooks to buy, many “are going to be asking whether this was the book that went to Texas,” said Kathy Mickey, an analyst at Simba Information, a market research firm.

The influence of Texas on the $7 billion U.S. textbook market has steadily weakened.

Technology has made it easier and more affordable for publishers to tailor textbooks to different standards. That’s especially true in the 20 other states like Texas where education boards approve textbooks for statewide use.

Substitutions are an easy fix. And publishers won’t gamble on incorporating one state’s controversial curriculum into a one-size-fits-all product for other markets, said Jay Diskey, executive director of the schools division of the Association of American Publishers.

Diskey’s group is the trade group for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill and Pearson Education Inc., which together publish more than 75 percent of the nation’s K-12 textbooks.

“Why would we walk in with stuff that we know might be rejected and knock us out of a business opportunity?” Diskey said.

Even Idaho, which has just 279,000 students in public schools, can sometimes command changes from publishers as easily as Texas does for its 4.8 million schoolchildren.

“Some publishers have added content to their textbooks or other material to make sure they meet Idaho standards,” said Melissa McGrath, spokeswoman for Idaho’s Department of Education.

Other states aren’t so sure of being beyond Texas’ shadow.

In Washington state, which has about 1 million public school students, a spokesman for the state superintendent of public instruction said some districts may be using Texas textbooks.

The superintendent has noted that if all 50 states were to approve national education standards, appropriate textbooks would be easier to find. Only two states have balked at those standards — Alaska and Texas.

As for Texas schools, local districts can choose textbooks that the state board deems “nonconforming,” but those books must still contain at least 50 percent of the adopted curriculum.

The state board has only approved fully conforming books in the last three years.

Associated Press writers Donna Gordon Blankinship in Seattle, Jessie Bonner in Boise, Idaho, and Dorie Turner in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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