Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Department of Education's website offers a free list of resources on the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but comes with a disclaimer that the department can't promise the materials are accurate. 
• The disclaimer explains that the resources were created by federal grantees and agencies and that "ED does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of these materials, nor does the inclusion of links to these materials represent an endorsement of these materials or organizations that created them."
• Washington Post blogger Valerie Strauss finds this somewhat bizarre, commenting, "Aren’t 9/11 materials something you would want to be certain are accurate, relevant, timely and complete?" 

Dive Insight:

While staffers in the Department of Education are probably pretty busy and may not have time to fact-check a dozen websites and lesson plans, it's hard to argue with Strauss's point. With so much emphasis on good teaching and rigorous standards, it seems a bit ridiculous for the Department of Education to disseminate potentially inaccurate — and therefore useless — lesson plans.  

While this is somewhat short notice, there are a number of other sites educators can utilize for 9/11 lesson plans — none of which carry disclaimers. Among them: The National September 11 Memorial & Museum,  Scholastic. org, the New York City schools website, and The National History Clearing House at George Mason University.