Using myASCD allows members to delve deep into the archives of education history through their computers.
A first lady of the United States has penned an article in an issue of Educational Leadership on the theme "Teaching in Wartime." No, you didn't miss an appearance by Laura Bush. The article appeared in the first issue of Educational Leadership in October 1943. It was written by Eleanor Roosevelt.
The article is available to ASCD members via myASCD's Online Library. Once members have logged on to myASCD (https://my.ascd.org), they can select Educational Leadership from the Online Library and click Archived Issues. There, they will see more than a half century of education history laid out before them, organized chronologically and listed by each issue's theme.
In addition to Educational Leadership, deep archives ofEducation Update, Infobrief, ResearchBrief, and several discontinued publications are available.
Critical and Controversial Issues
Several magazine issues from 1943 and 1944 covered education in a time of war from the perspectives of educators and students, including the responsibilities and concerns of each group. Articles from these issues serve as interesting historical documents as well as tools for discussion in classrooms, particularly given their relevance today.
Roosevelt stated in "It's Patriotic to Teach," for example, that unless called into military service, teachers "have a greater obligation and a greater opportunity for service to their country in the teaching profession than in any other work which they could undertake." Although global conflict in 1943 was substantively different than it is in 2007, the message throughout the "Teaching in Wartime" issue remains the same: teachers have a vital role to play in the education of citizens. This theme continued in subsequent issues, such as the October 1953 issue, "Education for Liberty."
As the century progressed, Educational Leadership addressed the issues of the day with insight, from desegregation to the confrontations and unrest of the Vietnam era. "When Segregation Ends," by A. G. Richardson, appeared in the November 1954 issue; in November 1968, the issue theme was "Racial Integration: Roads to Understanding." ASCD addressed the political tumult of the 1960s in its October 1972 issue, "Beyond Confrontation," which included the article "Alternative to Violence?" urging schools to be mindful of the political, racial, and ecological issues of the day.
The More Things Change . . .
Today's educators employ differentiated instruction to more effectively teach all students; educators faced similar challenges decades ago. In December 1953, Educational Leadership'stheme was "The Challenge of Individual Difference." Articles such as "Teaching the Individual Adolescent" remain interesting and relevant from historical and comparative perspectives.
Older articles detailing technology are fun and fascinating reading. For example, the November 1970 Educational Leadership theme was "Technology and the Further Reach"; the February 1974 issue asked, "Technology: Use or Abuse?"
Educational Leadership archives are also handy for retrieving recent articles that discuss best practices and timely research. There's no need to spend time hunting down last month's issue; every single article is available in the archive. If you need to get up to speed on a major education topic, odds are good that ASCD has covered it recently, be it literacy, science, or closing the achievement gap.
Newsletters Galore
In addition to Educational Leadership, the archives of the newsletter Education Update, dating back to January 1993, are available through myASCD. In addition to providing coverage of education issues ranging from school leadership to high school reform, the archives cover news specific to the ASCD community, including elections and the Association's annual conferences.
The archives also include several policy-related newsletters, including Infobrief, which is published quarterly and provides concise information on many critical topics, such as high-stakes testing and the whole child initiative.
Finally, a number of discontinued but still valuable publications live in the Online Library, including Curriculum Update, the Curriculum Handbook, Classroom Leadership, andCurriculum Technology Quarterly.