Research in the development of historical understanding in students has demonstrated that the use of primary source documents engages students in a more meaningful way in the study of history (Barton, 1997c; VanSledright, 2002; Wineburg, 2001). To determine if this research was supported in a local context, I conducted a series of lessons with a class of seventh grade students using primary source documents to answer the central research question: To what extent is the development of historical understanding in students enhanced by the use of primary documents? After learning about Louis Riel and engaging with a series of primary source documents, the students used the documents to answer the question: should Louis Riel have been convicted of treason at his trial in 1885? From the class, the responses of ten participants were coded using VanSledright’s (2002) four reading strategies, ranging from comprehension strategies to more sophisticated intertextual evaluations. This case study reveals that while students struggle to work at the higher levels of historical reading, the use of primary source documents enhances student self-efficacy in social studies. This study also accentuated the need for students to be specifically taught the necessary literacy skills to decode and interpret documents in isolation and intertextually.

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The dissertation explores middle-school students' abilities to engage in historical thinking. I dispute the Hallam-Piaget model, which discourages analytical thinking through the assumption that children lack skills to think critically about history. My historical narrative inquiry model (1) teaches procedural knowledge (the process of "doing" history); (2) enhances interpretative skills; (3) cultivates historical perspectives based upon evidentiary history; and (4) encourages student authorship of historical narratives. In the fall semester of 2006, with a classroom of twenty-five seventh-graders, I initiated a research study designed to explore the impact of the historical narrative inquiry model through a sequence of thirty-two lessons. The lessons involved small- and large-group activities, including oral presentations, discussions about primary documents, and consideration of the relation between narratology and the creation of written history. Students generated their own historical narratives in order to articulate their perspectives. Eight students having varied reading-level proficiency served as primary participants in the study. Each of these students received pre- and post-intervention interviews. Outcomes reflected the enhancement of pedagogy intended to facilitate historical thinking and historical empathy in the classroom.

The aim of this thesis is to show evidence and map a continuous educational development in the town of Loděnice in the Beroun region, where it is situated. The primary resources the author works with are school chronicles kept in the State regional archive in Beroun and school funds in Loděnice. The thesis has got a historical character, the author therefore uses work with sources, historical-comparative method, analysis, synthesis and interview. The thesis shows a specific period of this school, i.e. its development in 1782-1945. The author using the archive resources documents the educational development in Loděnice town in respect to the specified criteria. Furthermore, she maps the region of Beroun, its agricultural and industrial development. She highlights what influence the development in these areas had on education. Keywords Historical development, primary documents (chronicals, school documentation, inspection reports), law standards, region of Beroun, Loděnice.

The thesis is a historical character, therefore it is based on the study of primary sources, i.e., school chronicles and other similar documents, in order to clarify the development of primary school in Výprachtice (Lanškroun district). The methods used will be methods of historical research including methods of oral history. In order to understand the context in which school development takes place, it is necessary to pay attention to: a) geographical and economic development of the region b) history of primary school legislation c) the development of education in the region (in Lanškroun) d) the history of the school in Výprachtice Key words: primary documents (chronicles, school documents, etc.), historical developmet, school development, school legislation, school region

Indirect administrative costs associated with tax assessment and its proceedings are too high and the whole process is inefficient. During the tax procedure both primary documents and proper evidence are handled inefficiently which makes the tax system unnecessarily costly. In order to examine economic properties of the tax procedure in practice I used questionnaires and archive research. In order to store a quality outputs, in the form of properly assessed taxes in the shortest possible time, it is necessary to process the input data in the most efficient way possible. In my thesis, I propose austerity measures which will increase tax efficiency. Only good information system and a complete, clear systematic archiving of all transaction can guarantee productive work with low costs. Only those tax consultants or accountants who have complete documentation have a control mechanisms which allows them to offer high quality services which ultimately makes the whole tax system more efficient.