Teaching American History Grant’s
Freedom Project Turning Points and Learning Points in American History.
Partnerships:
Red Clay & Christina School Districts University of Delaware’s Center for Teacher Education
Acknowledgements(national)
•United States Department of Education.
▫Teaching American History Grant Award.
$997,646 over 3 years
Acknowledgments(Local)
•Becky Reed [email protected] of Social Studies & Project Co-
Director.
•Portia [email protected] Social Studies Supervisor.
Other Partners
• Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
• Delaware Historical Society.
• Delaware Public Archives.
• Office of Educational Technology.
• Center for Effective School Practices – Rutgers University.
Goals
Improve instruction.
Increase student achievement.
Foci
Deepen teachers’ content knowledge.
Identify and counter student misconceptions.
Benefits to Participants• Graduated stipends ($1300 for 1st year; then $1500 and $1700). Receive
after summer institute and all requirements are met. • $150 for participation in 3 after school PLC meetings. • Guest presenters provided by Gilder Lehrman Institute of American
History.• $500 in annual resources.• Lesson study (including release time to observe). • Food.• Primary source materials (US & Delaware).• Lectures by renowned historians & researchers in the areas of historical
thinking study (e.g. Peter Kolchin, George Rable, Abby Reisman, Sam Wineburg).
• Opportunities for graduate credit (limited subsidies - $10k per year).• Advanced placement professional development (4 teachers from Red Clay
& Christina each year).
Requirements
•1 year of participation (2 weekend workshops, 1 summer institute, 3 PLC meetings).
•Participation in lesson study.•Participation in evaluation plan (details on
next slide and handout).•Textbook readings. •Field test research lessons & contribute
student work samples (before & after).
Optional Events
•November 1: Tom Childers (Penn) WWII &
•November 8: Susan Schulten (Denver) Mapping the Nation.
•December 14-16: Williamsburg Trip.
•March 15: Sam Wineburg (Stanford History Education Group).
Evaluation Plan• Teacher pre-post tests (only those who started in Year 1…
sorry :( • Student pre-post tests (participants’ and their
comparisons’ each year).• Resource survey (each year).• Observations (each year). • State test scores (history).• Fidelity – attendance, completing assignments.
NOTE: This is PROGRAMMATIC evaluation. You are not be evaluated or reported on. The program is.
Question – is the program having an effect?
Surveys
Student Pre-Tests• Codes included in Excel document with teacher codes.• Type in students names and store securely for post-test.• Take ideally before 1st workshops (no later than Oct. 26 at 5
p.m.).• Recruit a non-participating colleague who is willing to have
his or her students serve as a comparison.
Resource Survey• Use same code number.• Take during summer institute.
Baseline Observations
•Will be conducted sometime in the near future.
•Klonda Speer (CESP-RU) will be contacting some of you by e-mail to set up.
•Follow-ups in the spring.
Contributions to Your Profession
•Unearth student misconceptions (about content and history).
•Develop a progression model.
•Create lessons and metacogntive tools that counter the misconceptions.
Cohort A: Workshops & Institutes
See http://www.tahfp.udel.edu/schedule/
for schedules and itineraries.
Cohort B: Workshops & Institutes
See http://www.tahfp.udel.edu/schedule/
for schedules and itineraries.
Freedom Why this Theme?
“No idea is more fundamental to Americans’ sense of themselves as individuals and as a nation than freedom.”
Eric Foner 2005 Professor of History, Columbia University
Lesson Study
1. Join a lesson study group.2. Select a “research lesson.”3. Meeting 1: Work with your group to design your research
lesson.4. Meeting 2: one volunteers to teach, the others observe &
record student responses. Substitutes paid for. See instructions on next page & website.
5. Meeting 3: meet to revise the lesson based on field testing.
Stipends: You may get paid $50 for each 2 hour meeting but they must occur AFTER school hours to get paid.
Teaching American History Grant’s Freedom Project
Substitute Instructions
Notification Required
Evaluation: Year 2 Findings
•See Executive Summary in binders.
•Lingering Issues•“too many teachers and students fail to
take both pre and post tests•“fail to enter valid ID numbers.”
•
Evaluation – Key PointsPositives
• Perceptions of resources received.
• Improve instruction.• Improved attention to
standards.• Teacher content knowledge
– open ended items +++.• Teacher content knowledge
– goals achieved (you v comparison teachers).
• Student achievement – multiple choice met goals.
Negatives• “too many teachers and
students fail to take both pre and post tests
• “fail to enter valid ID numbers.”
• Teacher content knowledge – multiple choice items ---.
• Student achievement – scores “so low on [open ended] items…that scores are meaningless.”
• Student achievement – “intervention has had little apparent effect…on open ended items.