In grade four white males performing "At or Above Basic" math skills is stated at 90% while black males were performing at only 59% "At or Above Basic" skill levels. White males in the "At or Above Proficient" skills level is stated at 49% with black males in this category stated at a mere 13%. The following labeled Figure 2 shows the statistical report of NAEP (2005) in relation to

This work provided an intensive discussion historical forces that were to lead to modern humanism but also succeeds in placing these aspects into the context of the larger social, historical and political milieu. . Online sources and databases proved to be a valid and often insightful recourse area for this topic. Of particular note is a concise and well-written article by Stephen Weldon entitled Secular Humanism in the United States.

Constructivism/Classroom History of Constructivism As long as there were people asking each other questions, we have had constructivist classrooms. Constructivism, the study of learning, is about how we all make sense of our world, and that really hasn't changed." Jacqueline Grennan Brooks (1999) The concept of constructivism is as old as Socrates, but 20th Century pioneers of the movement include Jean Piaget, John Dewey and Lev Vygotsky. Jean Piaget and John Dewey were early

"Many of our current challenges are unprecedented," the president explained. "There are no standard remedies, or go-to fixes this time around. That is why we are going to need your help. We'll need young people like you to step up. We need your daring and your enthusiasm and your energy." I will continue to offer my enthusiasm and my energy -- and hopefully I will be daring enough to

Here the emphasis is on complete neutrality, the child being exposed to all different ways of thinking and believing (Cahn, p. 421). In the end the child will make his own choice as to what is best. Such complete freedom; however, rests upon a notion that children might indeed make incorrect choices; ones that are base don incomplete knowledge of the real world. The need to make rational choice

classroom atmosphere which encourages all students to take on the desire to become lifelong learners is a challenging task. The task is even more daunting when the context of the assignment takes place within the walls of a 7th grade social studies classroom. Middle school students are progressively less interested in social history, and increasingly more interested in what the latest top 40 music group did on their last