The History of Education Quarterly is celebrating its sixtieth year of publication in 2020. During that time, it has published over 1,500 articles and extended reviews. An examination of these articles reveals several enduring themes that have shaped the field and that will likely continue as HEQ moves into its seventh decade. Given this, the editors have asked scholars to envision how this might happen. Using a few select articles from the past as starting points, the next few issues will feature pieces by historians of education considering future avenues of research related to a specific theme.

Contributors in this first forum on “Methods and Methodology” used Carl F. Kaestle's 1992 article, “Standards of Evidence in Historical Research: How Do We Know When We Know?” as a springboard to address Kaestle's question. David G. García and Tara J. Yosso, Kabria Baumgartner, and Ansley T. Erickson each approach the question differently in offering insights into methods for studying marginalized peoples, using theory in historical study, issues of silence and generalizability, and strategies for getting closer to the “truth.” In the process, they also offer models and reflections from their experiences teaching students ways of understanding and doing historical work.